Under Municipal Code Section 22.75.060, outdoor lighting in or adjacent to residential zones in the City of Santa Barbara must control glare and prevent light trespass onto neighboring properties. Enforcement is complaint-based: the City can abate nuisance lighting after a written complaint and finding that it unreasonably affects a neighboring resident.
The City's outdoor lighting ordinance, Municipal Code Chapter 22.75 (Ordinance 5035), defines 'light trespass' in Section 22.75.020 as light from a fixture that illuminates a surface beyond the boundaries of the property on which it is located. Section 22.75.060 requires that outdoor lighting in residential zones, and on properties adjacent to residential zones, be designed, installed, and operated to be compatible with the neighborhood's ambient lighting and to control glare, prevent light trespass onto adjacent areas, minimize direct upward light emission, and use the minimum intensity needed. Fixtures aimed only toward a property line are flatly prohibited under Section 22.75.030. The City's Outdoor Lighting Design Guidelines reinforce this with quantitative targets: where lighting is adjacent to residential uses, illuminance should not exceed 0.1 foot-candle (1/10) at 10 feet beyond the property line (0.2 foot-candle adjacent to commercial uses), and applicants must provide a foot-candle plot showing illuminance to 20 feet beyond the property line. Enforcement under Section 22.75.060 is complaint-driven: Community Development staff act only upon a written complaint and a determination that the lighting is nuisance lighting unreasonably and negatively affecting a neighboring resident, after which the City may require shielding, re-aiming, vegetation screening, restricted hours, timers or motion detectors, or a professional lighting plan. Any aggrieved person may also bring a private civil action for injunctive relief. These are City rules; the County has its own lighting standards for unincorporated areas.
Lighting that spills onto a neighbor's property and is found to be nuisance lighting can be declared a public nuisance and abated by the City; remedies include shielding, re-aiming, screening, hour restrictions, or a required lighting plan, plus possible private injunctive action.
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