Gilroy, CA Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Gilroy City Code § 30.50.44(c) makes exterior lighting control a standard condition of architectural and site approval. The rule has two parts. First, no unobstructed beam of exterior lighting may be directed outward from the site toward any residential use or public right-of-way, which targets fixtures aimed straight at a neighboring yard, window or street rather than down onto the project's own site. Second, lighting must be constructed or located so that only the intended area is illuminated and off-site glare is fully controlled, a broader standard that reaches spill and glare even where no single beam points directly outward.

Because this sits inside Article L's architectural and site approval conditions, it attaches at the same permit stage as the trash enclosure and mechanical-equipment screening rules in the same section, meaning the planning director reviews site lighting plans before issuing approval and can condition or deny a plan that would send glare onto adjacent residential parcels. The same section also requires mechanical equipment on rooftops to be screened from ground level at the far side of the adjacent right-of-way and outdoor storage to be screened from public view, showing the city's broader pattern of controlling a site's visual and light impact on its neighbors as part of the same approval.

Chapter 30's general enforcement provisions apply to any lighting installed out of conformance with an approved plan: under § 30.53.20 a violation of any Chapter 30 provision, including an attached condition of approval, is an infraction under Government Code Section 36900, with each day of continuing noncompliance a separate offense, and the city attorney can seek abatement of a nonconforming installation as a public nuisance under § 30.53.30.