Melbourne, FL Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)
Key Facts
- Spillover limit
- 1.0 footcandle onto residential lot
- Park lighting exemption
- 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight
- Also exempt
- Public street lights, residential security lights
- Measurement height cap
- Up to 20 feet vertical
- Enforcing official
- Building official
Summary
Melbourne caps light spilling from any property onto a neighboring residential lot at one footcandle. Parks lighting until midnight, public street lights, and residential security lights are exempt, and the building official can order a light shut off to measure a complaint.
Any use, operation or activity on a lot must be conducted, operated and situated so that light spillover onto another lot used for residential purposes does not occur in excess of one footcandle. Lighting for parks from 6:00 a.m. until 12:00 midnight, public street lighting in the right-of-way at all times and residential security lights shall be exempt from this standard.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 32).
Full Breakdown
Sec. until 12:00 midnight, public street lighting in the right-of-way at all times, and residential security lights. Subsection (b) prescribes how compliance is measured: an inspector takes a baseline reading with the suspect light off at or beyond the common lot line, at a vertical height up to 20 feet, then re-measures with the light on; the difference must not exceed one footcandle, and both readings must be taken at substantially the same time of day. Subsection (c) gives the building official authority to require the property owner to turn off the light source to take the baseline reading, and treats refusal to comply as prima facie evidence of a violation.
Melbourne pairs this with a separate glare standard in Sec. 26-61, which independently bars any light source from producing direct glare causing visual discomfort on an abutting property, and deems a glare violation a public nuisance.
Violations & Fines
A confirmed light-trespass or glare violation is enforced by the building official as a Code violation; refusing an official's request to shut off the light for measurement is itself treated as prima facie evidence of violation under Sec. 26-60(c), and general Code penalties under Sec. 1-14 (up to $500.00 or 60 days, or both) apply absent a more specific penalty.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much light can spill onto my neighbor's yard in Melbourne?
Are security lights exempt from Melbourne's light trespass rule?
What happens if I refuse to turn off my light for an inspection?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Melbourne
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Melbourne to another location·View the Florida outdoor lighting overview
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Light Trespass & Shielding in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Brevard County handle light trespass & shielding.