Wylie, TX Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Wylie's Residential Adjacency and Proximity Standards, Appendix B Section 7.1, protect neighborhoods from the effects of nearby nonresidential development, and subsection E addresses light trespass directly. The Lighting Standard in Section 7.1.E.1 sets a hard ceiling: light from a nonresidential property cannot exceed 0.5 foot-candle, measured at a height of 4 feet, at the property line of an adjacent residential lot. Section 7.1.E.2 then requires that every source of light on the nonresidential property, expressly including security lighting, illuminated signs, and vehicular headlights, be either aimed away from the residential property or screened so the 0.5 foot-candle ceiling is never exceeded.

These lighting rules sit alongside the article's broader noise standards for the same properties, which cap sound at 56 dBA during the day and 49 dBA overnight at a residential property line, and its screening provisions, which require a masonry or concrete wall between more intensive commercial or industrial districts and adjoining agricultural, single-family, or townhouse property. The Planning Department and Code Enforcement review lighting complaints against this foot-candle ceiling, and site plans for new nonresidential development adjacent to a residential district are checked against Section 7.1 before approval.

Because the standard is measured at the residential property line rather than at the light source, a business cannot satisfy the rule simply by using shielded fixtures if the resulting spill onto the neighboring yard still exceeds half a foot-candle.