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

Chapter 219's exterior-lighting article requires owners to light garages and accessory structures used by occupants after dark so all unlocked, accessible areas and paths of egress are visible; where the space is not kept locked, that lighting must run continually from a half hour before sunset to a half hour after sunrise unless it is on a dusk-to-dawn photoelectric cell. Locked garages may instead use manually operated switches near the point of entry. D requires that illumination of common areas be situated so it does not shine into adjacent dwelling units: a specific anti-glare, anti-spillover rule aimed at protecting neighboring residents from light cast by a building's own common-area fixtures.

Subsection E extends the same dusk-to-dawn lighting duty to exterior parking areas, pedestrian walkways, and other portions of the premises subject to regular nighttime use by occupants, again allowing a photoelectric dusk-to-dawn control in place of continuous lighting. Because this article sits inside the Property Maintenance Code (Chapter 219), it is enforced by the Housing Officer under the same inspection, notice-of-violation, and penalty procedures that apply to every other Chapter 219 maintenance requirement, meaning a landlord whose common-area fixtures cast light into a neighboring unit can be cited the same way as for any other maintenance defect.