Seattle, WA Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

022 sets Seattle's light-and-glare standards for lots in Commercial (C) and Neighborhood Commercial (NC) zones. Subsection A requires exterior lighting to be shielded and directed away from adjacent uses, and subsection B extends that shielding duty to interior parking-garage lighting so it doesn't create nighttime glare for nearby properties. Subsection C targets headlight trespass: any driveway or parking area serving more than two vehicles must be screened from adjacent properties by a fence or wall between 5 and 6 feet tall, or by a solid evergreen hedge or landscaped berm at least 5 feet tall; if the lot's grade already creates a difference in elevation, that drop can count toward the required screen height as long as the screen itself is still at least 3 feet tall.

The Director of SDCI can waive this vehicle-light screening where topography, an existing fence agreement, or the nature of the adjacent use makes it unnecessary. Subsection D caps light poles at 30 feet from finished grade, rising to 40 feet in zones with a height limit of 40 feet or more, provided the fixture's wattage-to-area ratio runs at least 20 percent below the maximum the Energy Code allows. Athletic-field light poles on public school sites can go up to 100 feet with Director approval and an engineer's glare-impact report.

Subsection E requires a glare diagram whenever a building over 65 feet uses more than 30 percent reflective or tinted glass on a facade oriented toward a residential zone within 200 feet, or toward an arterial carrying more than 15,000 vehicle trips a day within 400 feet; the Director can then order design changes such as tilting glass panels or breaking up the reflective surface.