Worcester County, MD Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Worcester County Code § ZS 1-323(a) covers all exterior lighting, including lights on signs, buildings, parking lots, streetlights and lighting needed for the safety and protection of property. Each must be directed, controlled and focused within the site's property lines to minimize glare and illumination of neighboring properties, protect the night sky from light pollution, and specifically direct the light away from adjoining lots or roads. The text prints a flat prohibition: light trespass (spillover lighting) onto adjacent properties and glare onto roadways are not permitted.

It applies to all building and site lighting, and the section names the tools for compliance: appropriate luminaire intensities, mounting heights, landscaping and fixture shields. Light quality and intensity must also be controlled so that glare does not reduce the visibility of surrounding buildings. The zoning definitions define LIGHT TRESPASS as light spill falling over property lines that illuminates adjacent grounds or buildings in an objectionable manner. Subsection (c), titled nuisance lighting, goes further than spill: decorative or other forms of lighting, even if not illuminating adjoining properties, cannot cause or create patterns, colors or intermittent lighting effects directed onto adjacent or nearby properties, whether intentionally or unintentionally, where the effect proves vexatious.

Related provisions reinforce the rule. Parking area lighting under § ZS 1-320 must direct light away from adjoining lots and public rights-of-way, and sign lighting under § ZS 1-324(h)(2) cannot shine or reflect on or into residential structures. The landscaping section, § ZS 1-322(a), lists reducing light trespass or glare as one of its purposes. The section prints no foot-candle measurement, so compliance turns on fixture design and aiming. It applies in unincorporated Worcester County; Ocean City, Berlin, Snow Hill and Pocomoke City have their own codes.