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

050 is the general lighting-requirements section that carries Rancho Cucamonga's light trespass rule. Subsection (A), captioned Nuisance prevention, requires that all outdoor lighting be designed, located, installed, directed downward or toward structures, fully shielded, and maintained specifically to prevent glare and light trespass or spillover onto adjacent properties, along with general light pollution. Subsection (C), Shielding, backs that up with a hard design rule: except for lighting the chapter exempts, every outdoor fixture must be recessed and/or built with full downward shielding, and must be directed downward and away from adjoining properties and public rights-of-way so that no light fixture directly illuminates an area outside of the project site intended to be illuminated.

050-2, which applicants use when designing pole and wall-mounted lights for a project. Subsection (B) layers on a maintenance duty: fixtures must stay in good working order, remain graffiti-free, and have their finishes kept up so that environmental wear or physical damage doesn't compromise the shielding the fixture was approved with. 030 exempts only holiday decorations, government emergency lighting, and approved temporary or special-event lighting from the trespass rule.