Youngstown, OH Outdoor Lighting: Light Trespass & Shielding (2026)

Youngstown Codified Ordinances § 1102.03(f) directs the Design Review Committee to review the design, scale and placement of every lighting fixture proposed within the Central Area, matching materials to existing street furnishings and the building being lit. Street lights are typically mounted at a height of thirty feet, with lower mounts reserved for streets of aesthetic or historic importance, and primary pedestrian-way fixtures are mounted between ten and fifteen feet, with supplemental low-level lighting required near grade changes or steps. The controlling glare rule states that lighting shall not create a glare or become a nuisance to an adjacent property owner, particularly in residential areas, and the section cross-references the Zoning Ordinance, Section 77, for additional parking lot lighting requirements.

Decorative or accent lighting, such as floodlighting historic buildings, fountains or landscaping, is reviewed under § 1102.03(f)(1). Commercial and private parking lots operating during evening hours must be well lit for pedestrian safety under § 1102.03(f)(2): the interior parking area is lit with omni-directional floodlighting along the principal parking aisles, entrances must be well lit and clearly marked, and accent lighting placed in the perimeter landscape strip cannot obstruct pedestrians. Ground-level or low-mounted fixtures must avoid obstructing pedestrians and must be designed against accidental disturbance, vandalism and electric shock.

Together these standards let the Committee reject or condition a lighting plan at the building-permit stage if a fixture's glare would spill onto a neighboring lot.