Imperial County, CA Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass (2026)

Imperial County does not have a dedicated light-trespass (spill-light) ordinance regulating how much light may cross onto a neighbor's property in unincorporated areas. The closest enforceable standards are tied to specific uses in Title 9, Division 4. Section 90402.13.L requires that lights used to illuminate parking areas be directed away from any adjacent properties and streets. For signs, the code repeatedly requires that lighting be arranged so as not to produce glare on adjacent properties or public streets and so that the source of the light is not visible from adjacent property or the public street - this appears for monument signs (Section 90401.01.E), pole signs (Section 90401.02.E), signs attached to buildings (Section 90401.03.B), off-site advertising signs (Section 90401.04.E), and institutional identification signs, whose lighting must be indirect and non-flashing (Section 90401.12.F). There is no measured foot-candle limit at the property line in the county code. For residential-to-residential light trespass not connected to a sign or parking lot, the county code provides no specific remedy; affected residents typically rely on California's private-nuisance statute (Civil Code 3479-3480), which treats anything that is injurious to health or indecent or offensive to the senses, or that obstructs the free use of property, as a nuisance. Discretionary permits may also impose project-specific lighting and shielding conditions enforceable by the county.