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

The Margate Land Development Code defines light trespass in § 40.201 as light produced by a lighting fixture that illuminates a surface beyond the boundaries of the property on which it is located. It defines nuisance lighting as including, but not limited to, glare, light trespass, and skyglow. The numeric control sits in § 40.705(G), the lighting standards for off-street parking facilities, which cover vehicular use areas and pedestrian areas in non-residential, multi-family, and mixed-use developments.

Under § 40.705(G), all exterior parking lot lighting fixtures must be fully shielded to prevent nuisance lighting. Pole fixtures within vehicular areas must be mounted between 15 and 25 feet in height, and wall-mounted fixtures must be at least 10 feet high and cannot be placed on or extend past the roofline of any structure. Obtrusive spill light and up light must be controlled with efficient luminaires using cut-off optics and shields. The residential edge rule is 0.5 footcandle at the property line of the adjacent residentially zoned parcel, measured horizontally six feet above grade level.

The same subsection requires a photometric plan with every site plan or special exception application involving new construction or redevelopment, including light contributions from pole fixtures, wall fixtures, illuminated signs and adjacent streetlights, with footcandle readings on a ten-foot grid. Before a certificate of occupancy or completion issues, a design professional must certify to the Margate Department of Environmental and Engineering Services that the exterior lighting complies.

Other sections reach the same problem. Section 40.613(G) requires lights at vehicle fuel stations to be designed and arranged so as not to cause a direct glare onto an adjacent right-of-way or property. Section 40.531(F)5 bars direct or sky-reflected glare that casts a distinct shadow of an object at the property line in the M-1A industrial park district. Section 40.353(A) lists glare among the conditions that count as a nuisance.