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

090 opens by stating its purpose directly: exterior lighting for commercial, office, and industrial developments is regulated to eliminate light spillover and glare on motor vehicle operators, pedestrians, and neighboring land uses, with safety as the primary justification. 090(B)(1) requires that all exterior lights be designed, located, installed, directed, and shielded to prevent objectionable light at, and glare across, property lines, and directs that fixtures point downward and away from adjacent properties and public rights-of-way. The code defines shielded precisely: the light rays must be directed onto the site, and the bulb or tube itself must not be visible from an adjacent property or right-of-way.

090(B)(2) requiring full shielding to stop spillover at the property line. 090(B)(3): it must be fully shielded with no upward light distribution, and floodlighting, while discouraged outright, is only permitted if shielded to prevent light trespass beyond the property line and any beam above a ninety-degree horizontal plane, the same threshold the code's own definitions section uses when it defines Light Trespass as light from an artificial source intruding into an area where it is not wanted or does not belong. 090(A) showing fixture locations, heights, orientation, and wattage before the Development Services Director will approve the project, giving the city a chance to catch trespass problems before installation rather than after a neighbor complains.