Long Beach, CA Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

41 (Off-Street Parking and Loading) of the Zoning Regulations, is the City's general, citywide light-trespass standard for vehicle parking areas: it is not limited to any specific plan or overlay district the way the Title 22 dark-sky standard is. ' The section then sets a physical height cap tied to distance from the property line: light standards may not exceed the height of the principal use structure on the site, or one foot of height for every two feet of distance between the light standard and the nearest property line, whichever allowance is greater.

Finally, the section requires that all lighting meet 'the applicable standards of the Illuminating Engineers Society,' tying the local rule to the same industry benchmark used elsewhere in the code's lighting sections. Because the standard applies to 'all parking lots and garages' rather than a single use category, it reaches everything from a small commercial lot to a large parking structure serving an office or residential project, and it is reviewed as part of site plan and building permit review by the Department of Development Services. 110 for supplemental parking-structure lighting requirements aimed at the same light-trespass concern.