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

5) foot candle at any point along the property line of the subject parcel or an adjacent parcel; perimeter fixtures serving that limit must be pole-mounted no higher than twenty-five feet above paved surfaces. The same section requires every exterior and parking-lot fixture to use shielded designs with well-defined cut-offs that direct light downward and confine illumination on-site, and it flatly bans any lighting directed upward that does not actually illuminate a building, landscaped area, or site surface. 320. Parking areas must otherwise maintain a 3-to-1 uniformity ratio with an average of one foot-candle and a minimum of half a foot-candle, and any lighting in access drives or internal circulation areas must be shielded and verified against the chapter through a photometric study.

Multifamily residential lighting has its own carve-out: parking, garage, and carport areas need a minimum one foot-candle during darkness, and on-site walkways need at least a quarter foot-candle, both confined to the site with wall- or ground-mounted deflectors so light does not spill onto neighboring dwelling units. All fixtures require City approval as part of permitting, and every non-residential project must use the lowest wattage and highest energy-efficient lamps available.