Outdoor Lighting in North Carolina (2026)

New Apex developments must use shielded, full cutoff outdoor fixtures capped at 35 feet and 3,500 Kelvin under the…

Asheville requires every new exterior light fixture to use full cutoff distribution, meaning no light is emitted at or…

Buncombe County requires all permanently installed outdoor lighting fixtures over 1,250 lumens to be full cutoff or…

New commercial development in unincorporated Cabarrus County must use full cut-off light fixtures aimed downward or at…

Cary's Land Development Ordinance limits outdoor light poles to 18 feet for non-cutoff fixtures and 35-37 feet for…

Catawba County requires every outdoor light fixture on new nonresidential and multifamily development to be shielded…

Charlotte caps outdoor light spillover at zero foot-candles at the lot line next to Neighborhood 1 or 2 areas, and one…

Concord's Development Ordinance requires nonresidential and multifamily lighting to be designed so light is directed…

Durham's UDO requires outdoor accent lighting, fixtures that highlight architecture, landscaping or artwork on…

Durham's UDO caps outdoor light-fixture height and spillover. Fixtures near homes are limited to 15 feet above grade…

Commercial, industrial, and institutional lighting next to Fayetteville homes must switch off by 10 p.m. or within an…

Gaston County's UDO requires outdoor light fixtures on covered properties to be full-cutoff or semi-cutoff, with…

Greensboro's Land Development Ordinance requires cut-off fixtures on any outdoor light producing more than 4,050…

Every exterior fixture in unincorporated Guilford County, including security lighting, must be a full cut-off fixture…

Harnett County's § 153.156 bans uplighting in every zoning district unless the fixture is shielded by a roof overhang…

High Point requires any outdoor fixture producing more than 4,050 lumens to be a cut-off type that's located, angled…

Outdoor lighting is optional in unincorporated Onslow County, but once installed for anything other than a…

Chapel Hill's Land Use Management Ordinance Section 5.11 sets real outdoor-lighting standards: fixtures shielded to…

Pitt County's zoning ordinance requires every detached outdoor light fixture on a use subject to development standards…

Raleigh's Unified Development Ordinance requires every outdoor light fixture to be aimed, shielded and located so…

In unincorporated Union County, nonresidential outdoor lighting must be shielded so almost none of the light escapes…

Wilmington doesn't have a single citywide dark-sky ordinance, but its Riverfront Mixed Use District requires every site…

Alamance County's Unified Development Ordinance encourages, but does not require, International Dark Sky…

Johnston County builds a dark-sky requirement directly into its zoning definitions. Section 14-6 defines outdoor…

Alamance County's UDO requires heavy industrial sites to shield access, walkway and parking lot lighting so it does not…

Apex's Unified Development Ordinance requires site and subdivision plans to control glare and light spillover onto…

Asheville caps outdoor light spilling onto neighboring property at 0.5 footcandle measured at the property line. The…

Brunswick County, North Carolina's UDO prohibits site lighting that unnecessarily illuminates and substantially…

Buncombe County caps outdoor light spilling onto neighboring land at 0.75 footcandles measured at the property line, or…

Cabarrus County caps how much outdoor light can cross onto neighboring land: 1.5 foot-candles at the property line for…

On Town of Cary sites subject to development plan review, floodlights and spotlights must be aimed and shielded away…

Catawba County keeps outdoor lighting off neighboring land two ways. Sec. 44-522(a)(3) bars any nonresidential or…

Outdoor recreational field lights in Charlotte, like ballfields and driving ranges, are capped at 65 feet unless a…

Unincorporated Cleveland County bars lighting on one lot that unnecessarily illuminates a neighboring lot and…

Concord's Development Ordinance requires exterior lighting installed for any accessory use or structure, garages…

In unincorporated Davidson County, a truck stop approved as a special use in the Heavy Industrial district must install…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance caps directional and full cut-off security lighting at 30 feet above grade when…

Durham's UDO limits light crossing onto neighbors. Illumination at a property line next to a residential district may…

Fayetteville's UDO limits how much light a property can throw onto its neighbors. Fixtures over 40 watts or 600 lumens…

Forsyth County and Winston-Salem regulate light trespass only from non-residential property, requiring lighting to be…

Gaston County's UDO bars unshielded outdoor illumination of buildings or landscaping, requiring semi-cutoff or…

Greensboro's Land Development Ordinance caps outdoor light spilling onto a neighbor's yard at one footcandle measured…

Guilford County caps outdoor light spilling across a property line at 0.5 footcandles next to residential land, 1.0 for…

Harnett County requires nonresidential and major-subdivision lighting to be positioned so it does not glare onto…

High Point requires cut-off fixtures on any outdoor light producing more than 4,050 lumens, the threshold Development…

Iredell County requires all outdoor lighting to be installed so it does not throw direct glare onto the street or…

In the Town of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, outdoor lighting cannot spill past the property line. Town Code §…

Every use in unincorporated Nash County, not just signs, has to keep its outdoor lighting off neighboring land. The…

Section 10.5(B)(1) of the Onslow County Zoning Ordinance makes shielding mandatory for any nonresidential outdoor light…

Chapel Hill's LUMO holds light spilling onto neighboring property to 0.3 foot-candles at ground level, a tighter cap…

Raleigh caps how much light can spill off a property under UDO Sec. 7.4.4: no outdoor fixture may exceed 0.5 maintained…

Businesses and rural home occupations operating under Rowan County's special-requirement standards must shield outdoor…

Union County caps sign glare at the property line under UDO Section 50.070: light trespass from an illuminated sign…

Wake County's UDO caps exterior lighting spillover at one foot-candle measured at the lot line of any use, preventing…

Wayne County's Zoning Ordinance requires exterior lighting aimed at a sign to be shielded so it lights only the sign…

Concord bans LED and electronic reader boards on standard billboards outright. The only path to an illuminated digital…

Guilford County bans direct illumination on billboards outright: UDO Subsec. 7.11.E allows only indirect lighting or no…

Outdoor advertising signs along U.S. 70 and I-95 can't use flashing, intermittent, or moving lights, and any light…

Asheville shields billboard lighting rather than banning it outright. Off-premises sign illumination must be shielded…

Charlotte caps electronic billboard brightness at 7,500 nits by day and 500 nits from dusk to dawn, and requires an…

Off-premise signs in unincorporated Cleveland County must have lighting effectively shielded so no beam or ray is…

Craven County's off-premises sign standards bar unshielded floodlights, beacons, spotlights, search lights, and…

Fayetteville's sign code exempts billboards from the six-foot internal-illumination-only rule that applies to other…

Digital and electronic billboards in Greensboro cannot shine more than 1 foot-candle above ambient light, measured from…

Harnett County exempts billboard lighting from the general outdoor lighting standards of § 153.156 but regulates it…

In unincorporated Nash County, the Unified Development Ordinance requires every illuminated sign, including billboards…

Outdoor advertising signs illuminated in unincorporated Pitt County must direct and shield their lighting so the light…

Rowan County's zoning code bans lighting on any sign, including off-premises billboards, that throws glare onto…

Wayne County allows outdoor advertising signs to be lit, but Code § 58-23(9)b requires the light to be aimed at the…