Gainesville, FL Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Section 30-6.12.D.2 of the Gainesville Land Development Code sets numeric light-trespass limits measured line-of-sight at the property line of the receiving property. Lighting on a site must otherwise meet the illuminance, uniformity and glare-control standards published by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) unless the code states a different number.

The trespass ceilings are: 1.0 footcandle for non-residential and multifamily sites, 0.5 footcandle for residential sites, 0.4 footcandle for nature parks, and 5.0 footcandles for public and private streets. Two carve-outs adjust those numbers. Where an alley of 20 feet or less separates a receiving property with single-family use or zoning, the street standard drops to 2.0 footcandles. Along Main Street north of NW 16th Avenue and along NW 39th Avenue between NE 2nd Street and NE 10th Street, the public-street standard rises to 10 footcandles for portions abutting automobile dealers, but only where that stretch of street is at least 500 feet from any single-family property; light trespass onto private streets in that same area must still meet the base standards.

These numeric caps work alongside the general shielding requirements in Section 30-6.12.D.1, so a site can meet the footcandle ceiling and still be cited if its fixtures are unshielded or aimed skyward. Site plans for nonresidential, multifamily and institutional development are checked against these limits before approval, and a photometric plan showing property-line footcandle readings is part of that review record.