Lee's Summit, MO Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Lee's Summit's outdoor lighting standards state their purpose up front: to 'reduce or eliminate glare, light trespass/spillover and overlighting from on premise light sources to off-premise properties' (UDO Sec. 190(A)). The specific numeric ceiling for that purpose lives in the parking lot lighting section, Sec. 250. ' Height is scaled to distance from residential land under Subsection D: fixtures within the 'perimeter area,' defined as 100 feet from the residential property line, cannot exceed 15 feet, rising to 20 feet outside that perimeter, and up to 24 or 28 feet where an arterial street separates the properties.

Wattage is capped in parallel under Subsection G, from 175 watts per head on developments adjoining residential uses up to 400 watts on developments adjoining only commercial, office or industrial districts. Subsection K adds a time-based control: on lots with four or more light poles, the City requires lighting levels to drop 'by at least 50 percent of the full operational levels within 60 minutes after the close of business,' whether by shutting off half the fixtures or dimming to half brightness. Every fixture covered by this section must also carry 'flat lens fixtures with full cut-offs' mounted at 90 degrees and non-adjustable (Subsection B), the same full-cutoff standard the code applies to all outdoor lighting under Sec. 220(B) to keep glare and spill off adjacent properties generally.