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

080 requires lighting fixtures on private property to be shielded or recessed to reduce light bleed onto adjoining properties in two specific ways: the light source itself, the bulb or lamp, cannot be visible from off the site, and glare and reflections must be confined within the site boundaries to the maximum extent feasible. The same subsection requires every fixture to be directed downward and away from adjoining properties and public rights-of-way, so that no on-site fixture directly illuminates an area off the site. Subsection E backs that shielding rule with a hard number for residential neighbors: no lighting on private property may produce an illumination level greater than one footcandle on any property within a residential zoning district, except on the site of the light source itself.

Because Chapter 20-30 applies citywide to all new and existing land uses, this cap reaches a homeowner's floodlight and a commercial parking lot's pole lights alike whenever either sits near a residential lot line. Staff confirm compliance during Design Review or building permit plan check by reviewing the applicant's photometric plan and fixture cut sheets, checking that light levels at the property line fall at or below the one-footcandle ceiling. Subsection F further prohibits blinking, flashing, or unusually bright permanently installed fixtures, which the Director of Community Development can enforce against an existing installation after a neighbor complaint.