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

Section 9-4.2816, part of Article 28 (Off-Street Parking) of the Pacifica Zoning Code, sets a single but binding rule: any lighting installed to illuminate an off-street parking area must be directed away from residential properties so that it does not create a nuisance. The section sits alongside two related standards Planning applies together with it: Section 9-4.2815 requires parking areas with more than ten spaces to be screened from adjoining residential districts with a wall, fence, or dense hedge between three and six feet high, and Section 9-4.2814 requires the paved surface itself to be a durable, dust-free, all-weather material approved by the City Engineer. Together these sections form the design-standards package Planning applies when it reviews site plans for shopping centers, apartment complexes, churches, and any other use with a parking lot adjoining a residential district in the City of Pacifica.

Because the rule is written into the Zoning Code, it is enforced administratively at the permit stage: the Planning Administrator can condition or deny approval of a lighting plan that spills glare onto adjacent homes, and existing installations that create a nuisance can be cited. Pacifica's general penalty chapter, Section 1-2.01 of Title 1, makes any violation of a Code requirement, including this lighting standard, a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, imprisonment in the County Jail for up to six months, or both, with each day the condition continues charged as a new, separate offense. The City Attorney or Public Prosecutor may instead elect to charge a given violation as an infraction, which carries escalating fines of $100, $200, and $500 for a first, second, and third conviction within a year.