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

Section 9271hh opens with a purpose-and-standard clause at (a), requiring that outdoor lighting be designed so as to minimize impacts from light pollution including light trespass and glare, to minimize conflict caused by unnecessary illumination. It's the broader standard that the more specific fixture-shielding rule in clause (b) exists to carry out, and together the two clauses make up the entirety of the Light and Glare standards inside the Specific Provisions of Tustin's Zoning Code (Article 9, Chapter 2, Part 2). Clause (a) is written broadly enough to cover more than shielding alone: it reaches any outdoor lighting design choice, fixture type, timer, mounting height or intensity, that produces light trespass onto a neighboring property or glare that creates conflict, not just an unshielded bulb.

The clause dates to Ordinance No. 1429 (Section II.48, adopted May 21, 2013). Community Development Department staff apply it during design review of new commercial, multi-family and mixed-use projects citywide, weighing site and lighting plans against both the light-trespass purpose in (a) and the shielding requirement in (b) before signing off. A resident affected by a neighboring business's or development's lighting can bring a light-trespass complaint to Code Enforcement, which investigates under the same Section 9271hh standard rather than a separate nuisance ordinance.