Woodbury, MN Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)
Key Facts
- Trespass limit
- 1 footcandle at property line/street
- Applies to
- Nonresidential and licensed multi-family
- Fixture rule
- Hooded, directed away from residences
- Parking lot fixture height cap
- 25 feet
- Pavement illumination range
- 1 to 4 footcandles
- Governing section
- City Code Sec. 24-236(a)-(b)
Summary
In Woodbury, nonresidential and licensed multi-family properties can't cast more than one footcandle of light onto a public street centerline or a residential property line. City Code Sec. 24-236(a)-(b) treats excess spillover as light trespass and requires fixtures to be hooded and directed away from adjoining residential land.
(a)Purpose. The regulation of exterior lighting is necessary to prevent misdirected or excessive artificial light, caused by inappropriate or misaligned light fixtures that produce glare, light trespass (nuisance light), and/or unnecessary sky glow; such regulation is necessary to discourage the waste of electricity and to improve or maintain nighttime public safety, utility, and security.(b)Nonresidential and licensed multiple family dwelling. ...All exterior lighting shall be directed away from any adjoining residential property and from public streets. The source of lights shall be hooded or controlled in a manner so as not to light adjacent properties. Lighting fixture lamps and globes shall be opaque to eliminate glare. ...Illumination cast from any light or combination of lights shall not exceed one-foot candle (meter reading) as measured from the centerline of a public street or residential property line.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 48).
Full Breakdown
Sec. " The same subsection sets parking-lot design standards, capping fixture height at 25 feet, requiring sodium-vapor shoebox-style downward-facing flush-lens fixtures, and setting pavement-level illumination between one and four footcandles, though a property can seek a different design through final site and building plan review or from the zoning administrator. Woodbury's light-trespass ceiling isn't a subjective glare standard; it's a metered one-footcandle cap read at the residential or street boundary.
Violations & Fines
Illumination measured above one footcandle at a residential property line or street centerline puts a commercial or multi-family owner in violation of Sec. 24-236(b), and the zoning administrator can require refitting, shielding, or hooding of fixtures to bring the site back under the limit before the lighting is allowed to continue as installed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much light can spill onto my property from a nearby business in Woodbury?
Do Woodbury parking lots have a lighting fixture height limit?
What is the purpose behind Woodbury's outdoor lighting ordinance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Woodbury
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