Lafayette, LA Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Section 89-37's stated purpose is direct: protect and maintain the residential character of established neighborhoods and residential properties by regulating the artificial lighting installed for adjacent commercial developments. Four general standards in subsection (b) do that work. ' Second, it must 'illuminate only those areas for which it is designed', a fixture cannot be aimed or sized to wash light across areas beyond its intended purpose. Third, 'lights shall not be taller than the structures they are serving,' tying fixture height to the building rather than letting freestanding poles tower over the site.

Fourth, parking-lot lighting poles are capped at 60 feet regardless of location. These four baseline standards apply on top of the section's separate residential-shielding rule in (b)(5) and its 20-foot low-mount rule near housing in (b)(6). The section reaches new multifamily, commercial, and industrial construction inside the City of Lafayette and in the unincorporated areas of Lafayette Parish, and CDP checks compliance at building-permit application or at final certificate-of-occupancy inspection, there is no separate outdoor-lighting permit process. Single-family homes, developments without a vehicular-use area, and use changes without new construction fall outside the section entirely, and a lot that predates these standards is grandfathered unless a later expansion crosses the size-based percentage thresholds set out in subsection (a)(3).