Terrebonne Parish, LA Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Terrebonne Parish's zoning ordinance addresses light trespass through Sec. 28-71(c), a supplementary use regulation that applies in every zoning district established under Article III of Chapter 28, within the zoned areas of Terrebonne Parish (the Houma area). The rule targets outdoor lighting installed for signs, parking lots, or any other purpose: fixtures must be arranged so the light source itself is concealed from adjacent residential properties, and the lighting cannot interfere with traffic. The section sits alongside two related supplementary use regulations, one addressing areas subject to flooding and one addressing mineral extraction, all enforced by the parish's zoning administrator.

Nearby, Sec. 28-74(i) requires screen planting at least eight feet tall wherever it is used to buffer a use, specifically to afford protection 'from the glare of lights' as well as noise, dust and visual encroachment. The parish's protection standards at Sec. 28-80(b) add a separate, general nuisance-style limit: no use may emit objectionable heat, glare or vibration perceptible beyond the boundary of the building site. Large retail developments over 25,000 square feet face an even more specific pedestrian-lighting cap under Sec. 28-75, limiting fixture height along walkways to twelve feet, and the Major Corridor Overlay District at Sec.

28-76(c)(5) caps lighting standards at twenty-five feet and requires fixtures to project light downward. Together these sections give the parish's zoning administrator and planning department the tools to require shielding, reorientation, or replacement of fixtures that spill glare onto a neighboring house.