Ridgewood prohibits artificial lighting that creates a nuisance across residential lot lines or casts directly onto neighboring dwellings during nighttime use.
Chapter 194 of the Ridgewood Code targets light trespass directly. Within residential districts, no artificial source of light may be installed or operated in a manner that creates a nuisance across property lot lines. When lighted for nighttime use, lights are not permitted to cast directly upon any nearby dwelling. The ordinance applies to floodlights, landscape lighting, security fixtures, sign illumination, and decorative lighting. Together with the one-lumen-per-square-foot cap on exposed sources, this language gives neighbors a direct enforcement path when intrusive lighting affects their windows, yards, or sleeping areas.
Lights that spill onto adjoining property, glare into bedrooms, or otherwise create a nuisance can be ordered modified, shielded, or removed, with fines for non-compliance.
See how other cities in Bergen County handle light trespass.
See how Ridgewood's light trespass rules stack up against other locations.
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