Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

070 pair a lighting-containment rule with the district's other buffering requirements between residential, commercial, and industrial land. The lighting entry states that glare and illumination associated with exterior lighting must be contained on the subject property and must not impact adjacent properties, lands, or the night sky, and it separately requires that glare be shielded from vehicular traffic so it does not impair traffic safety. Read together with the district's vegetative-buffer and privacy-fencing standards, capped at eight feet with an option for chain-link plus privacy slats, the lighting-containment clause functions as the district's light-trespass control: a property owner installing exterior fixtures has to keep the beam on their own lot rather than letting it spill onto a neighbor's yard, a public road, or the surrounding dark sky.

The Planning and Land Use Department director can still approve directed exterior illumination where personal security, special security needs, emergency services, or public safety concerns are shown, factoring in site characteristics and pedestrian or vehicle conflict, but that exception does not remove the base containment duty. As with the district's shielding rule, this containment standard applies only within the Knik Sled Dog and Recreation Special Land Use District; it is not a borough-wide light-trespass ordinance, and Wasilla, Palmer, and Houston regulate light spillover within their own city limits separately.