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

Sec. 5803 is a single, direct performance standard sitting in Article 58 alongside the City's parking lot and building lighting minimums: lighting installed to illuminate private property for security purposes must be shielded so it does not produce obtrusive glare onto the public right-of-way or onto adjoining properties, and this duty applies in all districts, residential, commercial, and industrial alike. It works as the flip side of Sec. 5802, which set minimum foot-candle levels a property must provide; Sec. 5803 makes sure that meeting those minimums, or simply choosing bright security lighting, does not come at the expense of the property next door or drivers and pedestrians in the street.

The code does not set a numeric glare or footcandle limit at the property line for this section, it uses the performance standard of avoiding obtrusive glare, so compliance is evaluated when photometric data is reviewed under Sec. 5804 as part of the building permit process, the same review point used to confirm the required parking lot and building lighting levels and the 18-foot fixture height cap. A property owner installing floodlights, wall packs, or motion-activated security fixtures aimed toward a fence line or the street should angle and shield them at installation, since retrofitting after a neighbor complaint is far more disruptive than specifying a shielded fixture up front.