Rothschild, WI Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Two provisions work together to control light trespass in Rothschild. Section 590-36, Glare and Heat, sits in Chapter 590's Environmental Performance Standards article and applies to every use in every zoning district: no activity may emit glare or heat that is visible or measurable outside its own premises, any operation producing intense glare or heat has to be conducted inside a fully enclosed building, and any exposed light source must be shielded so it cannot be seen outside its district. That is a villagewide baseline with no numeric test attached; it turns on whether the glare or light is visible or measurable off-site at all.

0 at the property line. That zero-footcandle standard leaves no allowance for incidental spillover the way many communities' 'no more than X footcandles' rules do, so a site's lighting plan and fixture placement have to be engineered to keep the property line reading dark. Both standards are enforced through the Planning and Zoning Commission's site plan review for covered projects and, for general nuisance complaints under § 590-36, through the Zoning Administrator's complaint process for any use villagewide.