Stafford County, VA Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Stafford County Code § 28-87(c)(6) sets the county's core light-trespass limit: lighting levels can't exceed five-tenths footcandle at any property line next to land zoned residential or agricultural, with the one exception of light produced by pedestrian street lights. 5-footcandle ceiling reappears throughout the ordinance's use-specific standards so it can't be designed around: subsection (d)(2) repeats it for nonresidential lighting schemes, subsection (e)(1) applies the identical cap to multifamily residential developments at their common property lines, and subsection (d)(7)(b)v extends it to outdoor recreational facilities with lighted playing fields sitting next to residential, agricultural or mixed-use land.

Anyone installing outdoor lighting as part of a site or subdivision plan must submit a photometric plan showing calculated footcandle readings on a ten-foot grid so the county can confirm the property-line reading before approving fixtures, and lighting professionals preparing that plan must be either certified or a Virginia-licensed engineer, architect, landscape architect or surveyor. Parking lot and nonresidential lighting levels must also be knocked down to security levels within 30 minutes after a business closes, typically by turning off at least half the fixtures or dimming to half power, which further limits any residual spillover onto neighboring parcels after hours.