Ascension Parish, LA Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Section 17-2088, Lighting standards, of the Unified Land Development Code is the parish's light-trespass rule for the unincorporated area. 1 states its purpose: regulating the spillover of light and glare onto motorists, pedestrians and adjacent land uses from a commercial light source, protecting public safety for vehicles and addressing the nuisance and hazard of careless lighting in other cases. 2, Standards, requires that any lighting illuminating an off-street parking area, sign or other structure be arranged to deflect light away from an adjoining residential zone or the public streets.

Direct or reflected glare, including from floodlights or high-temperature sources such as combustion or welding, cannot be directed into adjoining property. Light sources must be hooded or otherwise controlled so they do not light adjacent property, and bare incandescent bulbs cannot be in view of adjacent property or an adjacent public right-of-way. The rule reaches every parking lot in the parish: Section 17-2081(F)(4) requires each off-street parking lot to conform to the Section 17-2088 exterior lighting standards, alongside the sign, landscaping and street-access standards. Bufferyards required under Section 17-2084 between commercial or industrial property and an abutting residential use are separately designed, in part, to address lighting glare as one of the listed nuisances a buffer strip must mitigate.

Lighting plans and specifications are also a required part of the site plan submitted with a development-permit application under Section 17-2090(E)(1)(g)(vii), giving the Zoning Official a chance to catch a trespass problem before construction begins.