New Brunswick, NJ Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Section 17.07.080 of the New Brunswick Municipal Code is the lighting standard in the design and performance chapter of the zoning title. Subsection A requires adequate lighting where off-street parking spaces and pedestrian areas are used at night, and adds that the lighting shall be installed to minimize glare on property in a residential district. Subsection B is headed All Direct Glare is Prohibited: the maximum amount of light permitted is that produced by lights on standards not exceeding the maximum height allowed in the zone, shielded to restrict the maximum apex angle of the cone of illumination to one hundred thirty-five degrees.

Subsection C covers spotlights and other artificial lighting used to illuminate signs, building faces or other objects, which cannot be located so that beams of light reflect upon any adjoining property, public street or vehicular circulation area. Subsection G, headed Light Pollution, says the direction and illumination from outdoor artificial light should not create night light glare or light pollution in the sky, or exceed 0.5 fc at any residential property line. Subsection D sets a fairly uniform lighting pattern of at least 1.0 foot-candles throughout the lot, so the code pairs a floor inside the lot with a ceiling at the residential line.

Related sign rules add to this. Section 17.06.030 prohibits any sign that directly or indirectly causes glare into a street or upon a dwelling unit and requires exposed light sources to be shielded so as not to create a nuisance across lot lines, and Section 17.06.050 requires illumination devices to be placed and shielded to prevent rays from being cast into neighboring property. The approving board applies these standards to site plans, and the zoning officer enforces Title 17.