Newport News, VA Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Article XXX of the zoning ordinance, which governs off-street parking and loading, places both a screening duty and a lighting duty on surface parking lots in a single section. 02 of the City Code, unless the more specific buffer-area requirements of Article XXVIII already apply. The fence itself has to be architecturally compatible with the surrounding neighborhood, cannot block air and light, and cannot obstruct sight distance for traffic safety. A property owner who wants less fencing or no treed buffer at all cannot simply skip it: relief only comes through a special exception from the board of zoning appeals under Article XXXII, Section 45-3204(e)(9), and that relief is limited by ordinance to community-facility uses listed in Section 45-402 or to uses inside a Neighborhood Conservation district under Article XXXI, and the applicant must demonstrate the site's own layout, existing fencing, or proximity to adjacent residences makes the standard screen unnecessary.

Filing the request costs a non-refundable $250 under Section 45-3208(a), plus a $100 fee if the hearing is deferred under Section 45-3209(a). The lighting half of Section 45-3002 is broader: wherever lighting is required by the zoning ordinance or any other city ordinance, it must be erected and shielded so it is directed inward toward the property being developed, preventing glare from crossing onto adjacent properties or spilling onto public streets and rights-of-way. The department of planning checks compliance with both halves of the section at site plan review.