Outdoor Lighting in Maryland (2026)

The 2022 Zoning Ordinance requires all exterior luminaires, including security lighting, to be full cut-off fixtures…

New development in Annapolis must aim parking lot lighting away from homes and public streets and keep it under three…

Anne Arundel County requires nonresidential outdoor lights to sit at least 25 feet from residential district…

Baltimore County has no single countywide dark-sky ordinance. Its closest general standard, BCZR § 409.8.A.3, requires…

Carroll County requires that lighting installed for off street parking facilities and access ways be shaded or shielded…

Charles County's § 297-306 lighting standards require site lighting to stay low-intensity, shielded, and non-glaring…

Gaithersburg requires new and replacement outdoor light fixtures to be full cut-off or directionally shielded so light…

Maryland has no statewide dark-sky law, but Harford County's zoning code does regulate lighting. Section 267-79…

Howard County's Zoning Regulations Section 134.0 requires most outdoor light fixtures to be fully or partially shielded…

Montgomery County's zoning ordinance requires every new or replaced outdoor lighting fixture to be a full or partial…

Rockville requires every outdoor light fixture citywide to be shielded so it points down toward the ground rather than…

Washington County requires every new outdoor light fixture to be fully shielded and directed downward with a full…

Wicomico County's lighting standards in § 225-73 cap freestanding fixture height by commercial district and require…

The 2022 Zoning Ordinance limits light spillover across property lines. Illumination measured at a lot line abutting…

Annapolis caps site-plan parking lot lighting at three foot-candles at the lot line and requires fixtures to point away…

Anne Arundel County requires outdoor lights near residential districts to be set back or shielded, with a 25-foot…

The only Baltimore County zoning provision that uses the phrase 'light trespass' verbatim is BCZR § 411.4.B.7, a narrow…

Carroll County does not run a single county-wide light trespass ordinance; instead it mandates shielded, downcast…

Charles County bans lighting that unnecessarily illuminates a neighbor's property. Site lighting must come from a…

Gaithersburg caps outdoor light spilling onto neighboring land at 0.5 foot-candles measured at the property boundary…

Maryland has no statute on residential light trespass, but Harford County's zoning code does. Section 267-79 requires…

Howard County limits light trespass onto neighboring residential property. Measured three feet above ground at the…

Montgomery County caps on-site outdoor lighting at 0.5 footcandles measured at the property line under the Zoning…

Motion-activated security lights in Rockville are exempt from full-cutoff lighting rules only if aimed so the bulb…

Washington County caps light spilling onto a neighboring residential lot at 0.5 footcandles measured at the boundary…

Wicomico County's zoning code bars lighting on one lot from unnecessarily illuminating a neighboring lot in a way that…

Charles County's sign ordinance flatly prohibits building any new billboard, of any size, and separately bars…

Illuminated signs and billboards in Howard County must be shaded or shielded so the light does not shine into…

A digital billboard in Prince George's County cannot shine more than 0.3 foot candle above ambient light and must carry…

Washington County requires illuminated outdoor advertising signs to sit at least 1,000 feet from any dwelling…

Any lit outdoor advertising structure in unincorporated Wicomico County must be indirectly illuminated under §…