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

00 states that "lighting fixtures that produce illumination off the subject project site is considered an undesirable condition in which exterior lights produce illumination in an area where it is not wanted," naming this condition "Light Trespass," a definition repeated in the chapter's separate definitions list at Subsection (C). The operative control comes from Subsection (A)(6), requiring "all luminaries with total lamp Mean lumens above 4800" to be full-cutoff, with a narrow signage exception limiting shielded advertising displays to "100 lumens per square foot," and a public-recreation exception requiring glare-control devices instead.

Related provisions round out the trespass control scheme: Subsection (A)(7) and (A)(8) separately define "Disability Glare" and "Discomfort Glare" as forms of excess luminance that a trespassing fixture can cause, Subsection (A)(15) requires multifamily and nonresidential developments to provide "glare-free light fixtures at project site entrances, building entrances and exits," and Subsection (A)(16) caps nonresidential entrance-lighting height at 10 feet. For hillside, multifamily and nonresidential projects, Subsection (A)(18) requires a photometric lighting plan showing point-by-point light levels extending "ten feet (10'0\") beyond the project property lines," the mechanism the City uses to confirm on paper that a proposed lighting layout will not trespass onto the neighboring parcel before it is built.