Outdoor Lighting in Colorado (2026)

Adams County has no formal dark-sky ordinance, but its operational standards require exterior lighting to be shielded…

In unincorporated Arapahoe County, any outdoor light fixture emitting more than 900 lumens must be fully shielded from…

Arvada requires every new or altered exterior light fixture to be a full cutoff, downward-directed fixture with a flat…

Aurora's Unified Development Ordinance requires full cutoff shielded fixtures for on-site streets, parking areas, and…

Boulder's outdoor lighting code, Section 9-9-16, exists partly to keep the Milky Way visible from the city's dark sky…

Boulder County has strong dark-sky lighting rules in Article 7-1600 of the Land Use Code. All outdoor lighting on new…

Centennial's Land Development Code sets outdoor lighting standards city-wide to curb glare and light pollution…

New construction, major expansions, and lighting retrofits in Colorado Springs must meet the dark-sky shielding…

Denver's zoning code requires all outdoor light sources to be concealed in full cutoff fixtures that direct light…

Douglas County's lighting standards protect the night sky by requiring most outdoor fixtures to be full cutoff, so no…

El Paso County requires most outdoor light fixtures to be full cutoff, concealed, and aimed no higher than 90 degrees…

New development in Fort Collins had to cap outdoor light color at 3000 Kelvin, use anodized poles to cut glare, and…

Fountain requires every light fixture in a multifamily or nonresidential off-street parking lot to be concealed and…

Commercial, mixed-use and industrial sites in Greeley must use LED, International Dark-Sky Association-compliant…

Jeffco Section 12 requires exterior lights to be full cut-off fixtures above set brightness thresholds - all lamps in…

Lakewood's Zoning Ordinance requires shielded, adjustable-reflector fixtures with non-protruding diffusers on…

Unincorporated Larimer County has no countywide dark-sky ordinance, but mountain-gateway Estes Park applies…

Littleton's Unified Land Use Code requires exterior luminaires to be full cutoff fixtures aimed downward, never above…

Longmont requires every new or replacement outdoor light fixture to be full cutoff, keeping light from escaping above…

Loveland requires roadway, parking lot, walkway, and building-mounted light fixtures to be full cut-off, flat-lensed…

Manitou Springs requires all exterior fixtures on a Development Plan application to be full cutoff and capped at a…

Unincorporated Mesa County caps outdoor light sources at 35 feet in height and requires full cutoff fixtures on pole…

Pueblo requires full cut-off fixtures and bans uplighting citywide to cut sky glow, with narrow carve-outs for monument…

For non-residential off-street parking used after dark in the South Thornton Urban Renewal Authority area, City Code…

Weld County has no formal dark-sky ordinance, but the Agricultural-zone bulk requirements mandate that outdoor light…

Exterior lighting in unincorporated Adams County must be arranged and positioned so no direct light or reflection…

Arapahoe County limits how much light can spill onto a neighboring lot: measured at the property line, 5.5 feet above…

Arvada caps how much light can spill onto a neighbor's property, limiting illumination at the lot line to 0.3 foot…

Aurora's Unified Development Ordinance requires building-mounted lights to point downward, bars wall-pack fixtures…

Boulder caps how much light can spill onto a neighbor's property: Section 9-9-16(d)(1) sets a ceiling of 0.1…

Boulder County's Land Use Code (Article 7-1600) requires all outdoor light fixtures to be located, aimed, or shielded…

Centennial limits how much light can spill from one property onto its neighbor, capping illuminance at the shared…

Colorado Springs requires floodlights, spotlights and other exterior fixtures on covered development to be fully…

Denver's zoning code requires outdoor lighting fixtures to be mounted so the cone of light stays on-site and oriented…

Douglas County's lighting standards limit light spilling onto neighbors. Fixtures within 15 feet of a residential…

El Paso County caps site lighting at 0.1 foot candles at the property line next to residential land or a right-of-way…

Fort Collins capped how much light a development could throw across its own lot line, from zero footcandles into…

Fountain caps spillover light from multifamily and nonresidential parking lots at one-tenth of a foot-candle measured…

Greeley caps glare and light spillage at the property line for commercial, mixed-use and industrial sites, and bars any…

Jeffco Section 12 requires that luminaires and their supporting structure be wholly confined to the property, and it…

Lakewood's Zoning Ordinance bars any light source from casting direct rays past the property line and requires fixtures…

Littleton caps how much light can spill onto a neighbor's land: 0.2 foot-candle at the lot line between single-family…

Longmont caps how much light can spill onto a neighboring residential lot, greenway or natural area at 0.1 footcandles…

Loveland's Unified Development Code caps how far light can spill onto neighboring land: illumination up to 20 feet…

Manitou Springs limits how much light a property can cast onto its neighbors: on-site illumination cannot exceed 10…

Pueblo caps spillover light at 0.1 foot-candle measured 20 feet past the property line, defining light trespass as…

Thornton requires exterior and interior lighting in every zoning district to be designed and installed so direct rays…

Weld County addresses light trespass through its zoning code: outdoor light sources must be shielded so beams do not…

Westminster requires off-street parking areas to carry security lighting that is designed so as not to unreasonably…

Aurora's Unified Development Ordinance requires all sign illumination, including off-premises billboards, to be…

Electronic message billboards in unincorporated El Paso County must auto-dim to no more than 500 NIT at night, cutting…

Mesa County requires outdoor advertising signs lit by indirect or external illumination to use only downward-facing…