What are the outdoor lighting rules for homes in Palm Desert?

Palm Desert's code: Wall pack lights must be full cut-off. (Wall pack light fixtures.) (§ 24.16.040); No more than 1/10 foot-candle at neighboring property lines. (Measured horizontally at the next-door property lines; fixtures need internal house-side shielding.) (§ 24.16.040).

Outdoor lighting in Palm Desert: the local rules

Palm Desert code What Palm Desert's code adds
When lights must be off	Hillside lights must be off by 10 p.m. and stay off until the next evening. Applies: All hillside lighting. § 24.16.040 · code text All hillside lighting shall be turned off no later than ten p.m. and remain off until the following evening.
Brightness or color limit	Lamps may be 15,000 lumens or less. Applies: Outdoor lighting in residential zones. § 24.16.015 · code text Maximum of eighteen feet height in residential zones. The lamp lumens shall be fifteen thousand lumens or less and provide for full-cutoff features. Light color may be at most 4,000 Kelvin. Applies: All outdoor lighting. § 24.16.015 · code text The maximum Color Correlated Temperature (CCT) for all outdoor lighting shall be limited to four thousand Kelvin. No fixtures above 16,000 total lamp lumens. Applies: Hillside lighting. § 24.16.040 · code text Luminaries with total lamp lumens above sixteen thousand lumens shall not be used.
Fixture height	Light fixtures may be at most 18 feet high. Applies: Residential zones. § 24.16.015 · code text Maximum of eighteen feet height in residential zones. The lamp lumens shall be fifteen thousand lumens or less and provide for full-cutoff features.
Light at the property line	No more than 1/10 foot-candle at neighboring property lines. Applies: Measured horizontally at the next-door property lines; fixtures need internal house-side shielding. § 24.16.040 · code text Provide lighting fixtures with internal house side shielding so that no more than one-tenth foot-candle is measured horizontally at the adjacent property lines. No more than 0.25 foot-candle may reach a neighboring home's property. Applies: Measured 5 feet inside the next-door property when it is residential. § 24.16.040 · code text Where the adjacent property is residential, all lighting shall be arranged so as to direct the light away from the adjacent property by providing materials, methods, and designs so that no more than 0.25 foot-candle is measured at five feet inside the adjacent property.
Shielding	Wall pack lights must be full cut-off. Applies: Wall pack light fixtures. § 24.16.040 · code text Wall pack lighting fixtures shall meet full cut-off requirements and shall be included in all photometric lighting plans. Fixtures must be full-cutoff. Applies: Outdoor lighting in residential zones. § 24.16.015 · code text Maximum of eighteen feet height in residential zones. The lamp lumens shall be fifteen thousand lumens or less and provide for full-cutoff features. Hillside lights must use LED sources with glare shields. Applies: Hillside lighting. § 24.16.040 · code text Hillside lighting shall utilize light emitting diodes (LED) sources and be furnished with glare shields. May be non-cutoff if louvers or an opaque lens, or a reflector with clear lens, hide the lamp. Applies: Residential wall lights with total lamp lumens under 1,800. § 24.16.015 · code text Residential wall-mounted lighting luminaries with total lamp lumens of less than one thousand eight hundred may be non-cutoff if the fixture meets the requirements to prevent direct view of the lamp source by shielding the source with louvers and/or opaque lens.

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