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

Section 3-5-512 sits in the commercial design standards article (Article XXIV), which section 3-5-501 applies to new development, standalone buildings and redevelopment adding more than fifty percent of gross floor area in the commercial general, commercial intensive, commercial tourist, commercial neighborhood, commercial highway and commercial office park zoning districts. Within that scope, subsection (c) caps light fixture height at thirty feet in parking areas and fifteen feet in all other site areas, and bars any fixture from rising above the roofline of the building it serves.

Subsection (d) requires lighting to prevent glare or spillage onto adjacent properties and hazardous interference with traffic, mandating directional fixtures with recessed bulbs, filters or shielding to conceal the light source. Subsection (e) requires low-level lighting, meaning the illuminated element sits four feet or less above grade and points downward, along pedestrian walkways. Subsection (f) preserves security lighting so long as it does not interfere with adjacent properties. Compliance is documented in the architectural drawings and site plans a developer files with the community development department when applying for a building permit or site plan review, and the zoning official can approve alternative designs that meet the same intent. 1 or the appeal procedure in section 3-9-6.