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

Section 34-702 is the Land Development Code's design standards section for off-street parking and loading, and subsection (g) is its lighting rule. The rule has two parts. First, any lighting an owner installs over an off-street parking area has to be designed and installed to prevent harsh glare or excessive light from spilling onto adjacent property and streets. Second, the code puts a number on the residential edge: the illumination projected onto a residentially zoned property or use from another property cannot exceed 0.3 footcandles, measured at ten (10) feet from the property line onto the adjacent residential property. The reading is taken on the neighbor's side of the line, not at the light pole.

The rule is triggered only if the parking area is lighted. Nothing in subsection (g) requires lighting, so it works as a cap and a design duty for lots that choose to have it.

The same section shapes the lot around the lighting. Parking areas sit at least ten (10) feet from any corner and five (5) feet from any established right-of-way or property line, and curbing or wheel stops go in at least five (5) feet from any property line so vehicles do not encroach on adjacent property. Off-street parking and loading areas and the access ways to them must be paved, striped and landscaped, with landscaping done under section 34-745.

Other parts of Chapter 34 print their own lighting limits for particular settings. For limited commercial uses allowed as conditional uses in the RM-1 and RM-2 residential districts, section 34-558 caps illumination at all property lines at one-half (0.5) footcandles when buildings or parking areas sit next to residential areas, and one (1.0) footcandle when abutting other non-residential properties. In the central business district, section 34-623 requires exterior lighting on buildings and parking lots to be self-contained to that building or lot without glare or shine onto areas off the site.