Santa Clara Zoning Code § 13.4 Specific to Lighting

A. General to All Lighting

1. Site lighting shall be shielded by permanent attachments to the light fixture or frosted so that light sources are not visible from a public way and to prevent off-site glare and upward light pollution

2. Wall-pack types of lighting are not recommended; where used, they shall be provided with full cutoff shields and shall contribute to the architecture of the building

3. Specific to residential ground floors: site and building-mounted luminaires should produce initial illuminance value no greater than 0 04 horizontal and vertical footcandles, and shall be shielded downward

4. Specific to nonresidential ground floors: site and building-mounted luminaires should produce a maximum initial illuminance value no greater than 0 1 horizontal and vertical footcandles at the boundary with adjoining residential lots, and no greater than 0 01 horizontal footcandles 10 feet beyond that boundary

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Shielded and/or frosted lighting avoids off-site glare and light pollution.

5. Specific to alleys, paseos, and other connections into or through the block: the illuminance measured at the ground surface shall have an average between 2 and 6 footcandles and shall not exceed 1 footcandle at any point

6. Street lights should replicate the historic lampposts from the 1920s–1940s

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On-site light sources should be shielded from the public ROW.

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Historic lamppost design at the corner of Franklin St and The Alameda.

18 Attachment 1:171

Publication, Apr 2026

SANTA CLARA CODE

81 | Chapter 13: Site Standards & Guidelines