Outdoor Lighting in Wisconsin (2026)

Appleton requires all exterior lighting to use full cutoff fixtures directed downward and away from neighboring…

Ashwaubenon's outdoor lighting ordinance requires fixtures on commercial, industrial and multi-car residential sites to…

Beloit's Architectural Review chapter requires full cut-off outdoor light fixtures on off-street parking and site…

De Pere requires dark sky-compliant fixtures and installation practices for lighting in mixed-use, commercial and…

Fitchburg's Dark Sky Ordinance requires new outdoor light fixtures to be full cutoff: no glow escapes above the…

Green Bay requires every cutoff light fixture to carry a hood that shields the bulb and points it downward, and…

In Kenosha County's unincorporated towns, zoning code Section 12.15.010(a) requires every exterior light fixture in…

Madison caps how much light a building-illuminating fixture can throw and specifically bars aiming it at the sky. Sec…

In towns under county zoning, exterior lighting must be fully shielded and aimed straight down: oblique wall-pack…

Middleton's Outdoor Lighting Code, effective March 3, 2026, requires any luminaire over 1,000 lumens to be fully…

Milton, Wisconsin's zoning code caps outdoor illumination at 1.0 foot-candle at the property line above ambient…

Milwaukee zoning code requires cut-off light fixtures on all on-site lighting in every zoning district, capping…

Neenah bars commercial, industrial, and multi-family lighting from spilling above ambient levels onto neighboring homes…

New Berlin bars exterior lighting for parking lots, signage, recreational facilities or security from spilling onto…

New commercial, industrial and multifamily development in Rothschild must use dark-sky-compliant, shielded…

Sun Prairie bans exterior light fixtures from being oriented so their lighting element, or an unshielded transparent…

Waukesha's zoning performance standards cap the glow from parking lots, product displays, and security lighting at 0.5…

Waukesha County's operative outdoor lighting standard requires off-street parking area lights to use cutoff or…

Wausau requires outdoor light fixtures to be full cut-off and downward-facing so no direct light crosses onto…

Kenosha requires all outdoor residential lighting to be aimed and shielded so it does not create glare or a nuisance…

Appleton caps light spilling onto neighboring property at 0.20 foot-candles for residential and most institutional…

Ashwaubenon caps how much light can spill onto a neighbor's land: no more than 0.2 horizontal footcandles at a…

Under the Zoning Code's industrial performance standards, any Manufacturing-district operation producing intense glare…

Burlington's Zoning Code bars any activity from emitting glare or heat that's visible or measurable beyond its own…

Dane County's zoning code requires outdoor lighting tied to any permitted or conditional land use to point downward and…

De Pere caps how much light a property can spill onto its neighbors: 0.20 footcandles measured at the property line…

Fitchburg caps how much new outdoor lighting can spill onto a neighbor's land: no more than 0.50 footcandles above…

Green Bay's exterior lighting rules exist specifically to curb glare and light trespass onto neighboring properties…

Kenosha caps how much light can spill across a property line: fixtures over 1,000 initial lumens must be full cutoff or…

Kenosha County's zoning ordinance caps how much light a business, manufacturing, institutional or park-recreational…

Little Chute bars industrial and commercial operations from producing intense glare or lighting whose source is…

Madison regulates outdoor lighting on every residential and commercial site in the city under Sec. 29.36, MGO. The…

Marathon County zoning caps site lighting at 0.5 footcandles at any residential property line, protecting neighboring…

Middleton caps how much artificial light can cross onto a neighbor's land: no more than 1 lux onto residential property…

The City of Milton, Wisconsin bans orienting an exterior fixture so its light source is visible from a neighboring lot…

Artificial light that spills onto a neighboring residential property, or glares or flickers into it, between 6 p.m. and…

Mosinee's only lighting standard sits inside Chapter 42's industrial performance standards. Section 42-739 bars any…

Neenah caps outdoor light spilling onto neighboring property lines, with a zero-tolerance limit next to single-family…

New Berlin's zoning code requires every exterior light fixture on a commercial, multifamily or nonresidential property…

Outagamie County's industrial zoning districts bar any operation from producing glare or lighting visible beyond the…

Racine County zoning bars any exterior lighting on a lot from shining glare across the property line: fixtures…

Rothschild bars glare and light spilling beyond a property line villagewide under Village Code § 590-36, requiring…

Sun Prairie caps light spilling onto neighboring land at 0.50 footcandles measured at the property line, a numeric…

In the towns under Walworth County zoning, Sec. 74-96 bars any activity from emitting glare or heat that can be seen or…

Waukesha caps exterior lighting for parking, recreation, display and security uses at 0.5 footcandles measured at the…

Off-street parking lighting in unincorporated Waukesha County towns cannot exceed 0.2 footcandles measured at a…

Wausau bars outdoor light fixtures from being aimed so the light element is visible from any residential property, and…

West Allis requires all illuminated sign lighting to be installed so it doesn't cast glare or reflection onto a…

Winnebago County requires externally lit signs to be shaded and shielded away from neighboring properties, bans…

Billboards are banned everywhere in Ashwaubenon except a narrow permitted zone along I-41 and Highway 172, and even…

In the towns under Walworth County zoning, Sec. 74-78(d) bars illuminating any sign except where sections 74-82, 74-85…

Wausau bans billboards outright: City of Wausau Municipal Code Section 23.09.30(1)(g) states no billboards or…

Dane County caps how signs, including billboards, may be lit: external fixtures must aim only at the copy from a…

Milwaukee caps illuminated sign and billboard lighting at 1 foot-candle at a residential property line, 5 elsewhere…

Electronic billboard faces in Waukesha are capped at 500 nits at night and 3,000 nits during the day, and can't exceed…

Appleton bans off-premises billboards outright, so its sign-lighting standard governs the largest advertising displays…