Outdoor Lighting in Illinois (2026)

Off-street parking lot lighting in Arlington Heights, Illinois must be shielded and optically controlled so it cannot…

Bolingbrook's subdivision and development design standards require every outdoor luminaire installed with new…

Within the Curtis Road Interchange Area Overlay District, the city's primary entryway from Interstate 57, Champaign…

Champaign County requires full-cutoff, shielded fixtures on every special use permit that adds exterior lighting…

Unincorporated DuPage County caps exposed light sources at one-half foot-candle at residential lot lines and three…

Elgin's outdoor lighting chapter caps brightness by zoning district and forces full-cutoff shielding on brighter…

Evanston caps outdoor lighting at half a foot-candle measured at the property line. Section 402.4 of the 2021…

Kane County requires outdoor lighting for parking and site facilities to be designed so it does not produce direct…

Unincorporated Lake County caps outdoor light spillover at 0.5 footcandle on residential-abutting property lines and…

Battery energy storage system sites in unincorporated Macon County must light themselves according to International…

Unincorporated McHenry County requires every new permanent commercial or industrial light fixture to be fully shielded…

McLean County's zoning code shields neighbors from data center glare. Section 350-43FFF(2) allows facility lighting…

Naperville requires every commercial, parking-lot and building security fixture to carry glare controls and full…

Peoria requires every outdoor light fixture on a development site to point straight down and sit mounted horizontal to…

Rock Island County caps luminaire height and mandates cutoff angles and shielding hardware on exterior fixtures across…

Schaumburg requires full cutoff luminaires for all site and parking lot lighting on developments with more than four…

Skokie requires full cutoff light fixtures on every new commercial, industrial, and larger residential parking lot, the…

Parking lots and site lighting in Springfield have to use shielded, full cut-off fixtures, the kind that keep light…

Every outdoor light fixture on non-residential and multi-family property inside the Airport Overlay AO-1 District, the…

Tazewell County caps outdoor light fixtures at 40 feet countywide, requires non-residential lighting to be shielded so…

Every new or replacement outdoor light fixture in Waukegan must be full cut-off or fully shielded. Fixtures within 20…

Unincorporated Will County caps outdoor light spillover at 0.5 to 1.0 footcandles at the property line and requires all…

Outdoor lighting on private property in unincorporated Winnebago County must use fully shielded, downward-directed…

Cook County's Lighting Ordinance directs County Departments to shield outdoor fixtures on County-owned roads, buildings…

Arlington Heights, Illinois zoning code puts a hard number on how much light an off-street parking lot can throw onto a…

Aurora's zoning code requires every outdoor light fixture to be shielded and aimed so it doesn't glare onto neighboring…

Bolingbrook caps how much light a nonresidential property can throw onto an adjacent residential lot: no more than 0.10…

In the Curtis Road Interchange Area Overlay District, Champaign caps under-canopy lighting, gas station and…

Champaign County's Public Nuisance Ordinance makes excess glare onto a neighbor's property a public nuisance. Section…

Chicago's zoning code requires outdoor lighting at gas stations, industrial and waste-related sites, and multi-level…

DuPage County's zoning ordinance makes every exposed light source in unincorporated areas, including yard and security…

Elgin's outdoor lighting code puts a hard number on spillover: light escaping from any community facility, business, or…

Evanston caps exterior lighting at one-half foot-candle measured at the property line, barring glare and light trespass…

Kane County's Light Industry (LI) zoning district bars intense glare, heat or flash from crossing onto neighboring…

Kendall County caps how much light a nonresidential parking lot can throw onto a neighbor's property: 0.2 footcandles…

In unincorporated Lake County, outdoor lighting can't exceed one-half footcandle at the property line abutting…

Macon County Code § 156.05(D)(2) requires that any lighting installed at a commercial solar energy facility be shielded…

Any light fixture on a property in unincorporated Madison County, whether it lights a sign, a parking area or a…

In unincorporated McHenry County, new permanent residential lighting must be positioned so the bulb or its reflective…

Naperville caps outdoor lighting spillover with hard foot-candle ceilings measured at the property line under Municipal…

Oak Lawn's zoning code requires off-street parking lot lighting to be directed away from residential properties so it…

Licensed parking lots and garages in Oak Park that stay open for night parking must be lit from sunset to sunrise, but…

Peoria's Unified Development Code requires house-side shields on any outdoor light fixture next to residential-zoned…

Rock Island County's zoning code caps how much exterior light can spill onto a neighbor's land in the unincorporated…

County Code Section 17.62.070 bars illuminated signs in Sangamon County's business and industrial districts from…

Schaumburg caps how much site lighting can spill across a property line: 0.25 footcandles at a residential or…

In Skokie's M1, M2, M3 and OR industrial districts, any operation that produces intense glare or heat has to run inside…

Springfield's zoning code names the problem directly: light trespass is light from an artificial source that intrudes…

Outdoor lighting on non-residential and multi-family property inside the Airport Overlay AO-1 District, around Scott…

Non-residential outdoor lighting in unincorporated Tazewell County cannot illuminate a neighboring residential…

Tinley Park's Village Code requires every auto court and motel to keep public areas lit at night, but the fixtures must…

Waukegan's Unified Development Ordinance requires every new or replacement outdoor light fixture to be full cut-off or…

Unincorporated Will County caps outdoor light spillover at 0.5 to 1.0 footcandles at the property line and bans search…

Winnebago County's zoning code bans unshielded outdoor light fixtures countywide and requires non-residential light…

Cook County's Lighting Ordinance targets motion-activated security fixtures directly: sensor-activated lights on County…

In unincorporated Kankakee County, off-street parking lot lighting must be directed away from residential properties…

Commercial properties in McLean County's C Commercial District must shade exterior lighting fixtures so no direct light…

Elgin doesn't regulate billboard lighting because it prohibits billboards outright: § 19.50.110(G) bans "off-premises…

Aurora requires digital billboards and message boards to auto-dim, capping brightness at 0.3 foot-candles over ambient…

Chicago caps digital billboard and dynamic sign brightness at 7,000 nits by day, dropping to 250-300 nits after sunset…

In unincorporated Cook County's industrial-zoned areas, billboard and off-premises advertising signs cannot use strobe…

Every illuminated sign in unincorporated DuPage County, billboards included, has to use diffused or indirect light that…

Illuminated signs in Evanston, including any billboard-type structure, cannot exceed 75 foot-candles of brightness…

Kankakee County bars illuminated signs, including advertising billboards in commercial districts, from beaming light…

In unincorporated Kendall County, every illuminated sign, including any billboard or outdoor advertising structure…

Near the county's freeway interchange overlay districts in unincorporated Macon County, Macon County Code §…

County Code § 93.116(B) caps exposed sign lamps and bulbs at 15 watts and bars blinking, flashing or changing-color…

McLean County's zoning code lets an advertising sign (billboard) in the Commercial District be illuminated only if the…

Electronic billboards and message signs in Peoria must dim automatically after dark: light sensors or a timer are…

Springfield hasn't allowed a new off-premises billboard permit since its sign-permit cap took effect: the total number…

In unincorporated St. Clair County, a sign within 75 feet of a residential zoning district cannot be illuminated at…

Illuminated signs, including off-premises billboards permitted as special uses in Tazewell County's commercial and…

Waukegan requires illuminated billboards to be shielded whenever necessary so they don't cast bright light onto…

Illuminated billboards in unincorporated Will County must use shielded, downward-cast fixtures and can't spill more…