Tonawanda, NY Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

The Town Board's Zoning Law addresses light trespass directly at § 215-33.4.C: all lighting fixtures on covered nonresidential, mixed-use and multi-family projects must be shielded and directed so illumination crossing onto an adjacent nonresidential property does not exceed one footcandle, and onto an adjacent residential property does not exceed 0.1 footcandle, a tenfold stricter limit for homes than for businesses. To make that limit enforceable before construction, § 215-33.3 requires a lighting plan, prepared by a lighting professional and submitted with the development plan review application, that specifically shows Subsection B: the level of illumination at all property lines and five feet beyond, based on every proposed and existing fixture, plus cut sheets for lamp type and wattage and the shielding method used to cut off direct light to neighboring properties.

Section 215-33.4.E adds a height control that limits how far trespassing light can travel in the first place, capping pole-mounted fixtures at 18 feet above grade, with an exception only where New York State or Erie County Department of Transportation regulations require a taller pole. Together the footcandle ceiling, the mapped lighting plan, and the height cap give the reviewing body under Article 42 concrete, measurable grounds to reject or condition a site plan whose spillover onto a neighboring residential yard would exceed 0.1 footcandle.