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

Section 21-608 of the Zoning Chapter applies to every building and lot in Piscataway Township: buildings and areas may be lit, but the source of illumination must be shielded from public view so that no glare is visible from a public right-of-way or from an adjacent property. That is the baseline rule enforced against any homeowner or business whose floodlight, sign light or security light spills onto a neighbor's yard or the street. For projects that go through site plan review under Chapter 24, Section 24-704.1 adds design-level lighting standards the Planning Board checks before approving a plan: freestanding light standards may not exceed the height of the principal building or 25 feet, whichever is less, and every fixture must be shielded to restrict the cone of illumination to a maximum 150-degree apex angle.

The section also sets target footcandle intensities: an average of 0.5 footcandle throughout a parking lot, three footcandles at intersections within the site, an average of 0.6 footcandle in residential portions of a development, and, critically for neighboring properties, a maximum of 0.5 footcandle measured at the property line. Applicants must submit a lighting plan showing the location, type, radius and footcandle intensity of every fixture as part of the site plan application. Spotlight fixtures mounted on buildings are discouraged under the same section, and lights along property lines that would be visible to adjacent residents must be shielded.

Together, Sections 21-608 and 24-704.1 give Piscataway two legal hooks against light trespass: a general glare prohibition that applies everywhere, and a numeric property-line footcandle ceiling that applies whenever a formal site plan is required.