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

Chapter 15.08, the city's Building Security Regulations, requires multi-family developments to light aisles, passageways and recesses to at least .25 foot-candles at ground level, and open parking lots and carports to a maintained minimum of one foot-candle, during the hours of darkness, with covers that resist weather and vandalism. Section 15.08.100(C)(3) then adds the light-trespass rule at the center of this page: all required lighting must turn on automatically, and luminaries must be directed or shielded so they are not directly visible from any dwelling unit or cause off-site glare or nuisances.

Section 15.08.110(L) applies the identical standard to commercial buildings, pairing it with illuminated address numbers at least six inches tall and a one foot-candle minimum on public parking lots from dusk until closing. The building official and the code enforcement division, acting under the building division's approval per § 15.08.140, review plans before any permit is finalized and may inspect properties between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. under § 15.08.150. A board of the fire chief, city planner and chief of police hears appeals over alternate lighting designs under § 15.08.130, with further appeal to the city council.

Because the chapter was last amended by Ordinance No. 2336 on March 10, 2010, any pre-2010 fixture retrofit or new multi-family project plan set should confirm shielding and photometric compliance against the current text before submittal.