Okaloosa County, FL Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Chapter 6.11, adopted by Ordinance No. 21-25 in 2021, governs outdoor lighting for any development that requires a county development order, plus billboards and other advertising media. Section 6.11.04(1) sets the operative standard: exterior lighting for recreational, advertising, off-street parking, or any other purpose must be designed so overspill onto adjacent properties does not exceed zero footcandles, and luminaires or diffuser screening cannot be visible from next door. That is a true zero-tolerance rule, not a dimmed-down cap, and it applies to recreational lighting, parking lot lighting, and advertising lighting alike.

Before construction, an applicant must submit a lighting plan under Section 6.11.03, drawn and signed by a licensed design professional and showing the footcandles the design produces at every adjacent property line, as part of the Growth Management Department's development order review. Once installed, the fixture cannot go into permanent use until a registered engineer or architect certifies in writing that the installation was field-checked and meets the standard. Fixtures carrying a recognized 'dark sky certification' are deemed compliant without further field verification. Up-lighting of billboards and other advertising media is banned outright regardless of whether a development order is otherwise required.

The rule reaches only new lighting; Section 6.11.04(4) does not force retrofitting of fixtures lawfully installed before the ordinance took effect, though the county encourages voluntary upgrades. Emergency lighting and temporary construction lighting for public infrastructure projects are exempt under Section 6.11.05.