Sumner County's Zoning Resolution requires all site lighting to be shielded so directly emitted light stays within the property line, and caps glare at 0.5 foot-candles at a residential boundary. Single-family neighbors rely on city rules or a nuisance claim.
Section 1107 of the Sumner County Zoning Resolution addresses light spilling onto other property: all site lighting must be shielded so that substantially all directly emitted light falls within the property line of the lot emitting it, and no light may interfere with the safe operation of vehicles on public streets. Glare measured at a residential district boundary or the street right-of-way may not exceed 0.5 foot-candles. The resolution's definitions treat light crossing a property line above 0.1 foot-candles as light trespass. A homeowner troubled by a neighbor's floodlight often turns to city zoning where it applies, or to a common-law private-nuisance claim. Gallatin, Hendersonville, and Portland regulate glare through their own codes.
The county enforces Section 1107 at site-plan and permit review, requiring an offending light to be shielded or reaimed. Between neighbors, remedies come from city ordinances or a private-nuisance suit, where a court can order a light dimmed or redirected.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Sumner County, TN
Sumner County does not regulate holiday decorations on residential property. No county permit is needed for lights, inflatables, or yard displays. Keep them ...
Sumner County, TN
Garage-sale signs count as temporary signs in Sumner County. The zoning resolution lets you post them on any residential lot, capped at 16 square feet, but b...
Sumner County, TN
Sumner County protects yard political signs. Its zoning resolution defers election signage to the Tennessee Freedom of Speech Act, Tenn. Code Ann. §2-7-143, ...
Sumner County, TN
Sumner County runs no rental registration or landlord-licensing program, and Tennessee has no statewide registry. A landlord owes the county no permit, filin...
Sumner County, TN
Tennessee has no just-cause eviction law. In Sumner County a landlord may end a month-to-month tenancy without giving a reason, using the 30-day written noti...
Sumner County, TN
Neither Sumner County nor Gallatin, Hendersonville, or Portland can cap rent. Tenn. Code Ann. §66-35-102 bars every Tennessee local government from enacting ...
See how Sumner County's light trespass rules stack up against other locations.
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