Jefferson Parish, LA Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Sec. 2(b) is the parish's light-trespass rule, written into the outdoor lighting standards that apply to multiple-family, commercial, industrial, and civic development sites under Sec. 3. It reaches every kind of fixture covered by the section, lighting any building, seating area, plaza, courtyard, landscaping, sign, or similar purpose, and it bans the light from being aimed, directed, reflected, focused, or mounted to cause direct light from the luminaire to be directed toward residential uses. The same sentence adds a second, separate prohibition against creating up light, spill light, or glare perceptible to persons operating motor vehicles on public ways, so the rule reaches both trespass onto a neighboring residential lot and glare that could blind or distract drivers passing on the street.

Because the rule is written around how a fixture is aimed and mounted rather than a numeric footcandle limit at the property line, a planning department site plan reviewer checks the lighting plan's fixture orientation, shielding, and mounting height against subsection (b) before issuing a permit for a covered development. The same section separately bans mercury-vapor fixtures under subsection (c) and caps mounting height under subsection (a) in the CPZ-Ped and TCMU districts, but subsection (b) is the operative rule for a homeowner complaining that a neighboring business's parking-lot or sign lighting spills onto their property or shines into their windows at night.