Granville County, NC Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Sec. 32-386 backs its cutoff-fixture and no-visible-glare rules with two numeric footcandle ceilings that apply at the property line rather than at the light source, so the measurement point is the neighbor's boundary, not the fixture itself. Where a lit use adjoins a residential property, the limit is strict: no more than 0.5 footcandle, reflecting the higher sensitivity given to residential neighbors under the county's Land Development Code. Where the adjoining use is anything other than residential, the ceiling relaxes to two footcandles, four times brighter.

The county does not publish a separate light meter protocol for footcandle readings the way it does for the ANSI sound standard in Sec. 32-384, so Development Services applies a standard light meter at the property line during complaint investigations and site plan review. Because Sec. 32-381 makes the environmental performance standards binding on every permitted use, the footcandle limits reach parking lot lighting, security lighting, sports field lighting and sign illumination alike wherever glare or trespass crosses onto neighboring land. The obligation continues after occupancy: Sec.

32-382 makes noncompliance with any performance standard, including this one, a continuing violation subject to penalty regardless of when the lighting was installed or approved.