Outdoor Site and Building Lighting

Outdoor lighting must meet the requirements of Madison General Ordinance 29.36.

Starting July 1st, 2025, you must include the new outdoor lighting review application with all outdoor lighting plan submittals.

Photometric Plans

A photometric plan is a plan of the site, in plan view (looking down from above). The photometric plan must show:

• light distribution in a grid and measured in footcandles
• the entire site
• the property line (clearly labeled)
• light trespass levels at ten feet beyond the property line (or wall of adjacent building, whichever comes first). Light trespass cannot exceed 0.5 footcandles at 10’ past the property line.
• all buildings, pavement and landscaping on the site
• parking lots and pedestrian paths or sidewalks that connect parking to building entrance
• driveways, fire lanes, loading docks
• all outdoor lighting fixtures on the site (new and existing), including building façade fixtures
• areas covered by canopies labeled, include exterior fixtures that will be under a canopy
• calculation table listing
  • minimum, maximum, average, and uniformity in footcandles for parking/pedestrian areas and vehicle use areas
  • light trespass at 10’ past the property line

Note: your photometric plan should not include any light from fixtures on other properties or public street lights.

Existing Features

Where a site has existing light fixtures that will remain, show the location of all existing fixtures and label as existing.

• If more than 50% of the total fixtures (new plus existing) are added or changed, the entire site (including existing fixtures) must meet all requirements of MGO 29.36.
• Where less than 50% of the total fixtures (new plus existing) are added or changed, only new fixtures must meet requirements of MGO 29.36. 

COMMERCIAL (AND MIXED USE RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERICAL) SITES

Some areas of outdoor lighting are subject to minimum and maximum light levels, and uniformity ratios (average : minimum). Areas subject to these requirements need separate categories in the calculation tables to show they meet the requirements of MGO 29.36.

Types of areas with light level requirements:

VEHICLE USE: driveways, drive through ATMs, drive through food and drink pick up windows, loading docks, fire lanes, driveways to access underground parking.

PARKING/PEDESTRIAN: parking areas for customers or employees and the sidewalks or pedestrian paths that connect parking to the main building entrance (in other words, the path that people exiting their cars will follow to get to the building)

Depending on the characteristics of the site, areas can be combined or separated in the calculation table. When a site has multiple separate parking areas, or multiple separate vehicle use areas, the calculation table should provide a separate category row for each separate area. For example, north parking lot, south parking lot, east driveway, south loading dock, etc.

Areas that are not subject to the above requirements include outdoor patios, walking paths not connecting parking to the building entrance, grass or landscaped areas, sports fields, dog runs, roof top amenity areas, roof top pools, bike parking, etc.

Note that fixtures in all areas still need to meet cutoff/shielding requirements, and all areas of the site are subject to the maximum light trespass at 10’ beyond the property line.

Site Activity Levels

Visit our Outdoor Lighting MGO for the full table listing minimum, max average, and max uniformity of footcandles for activity sites. MGO 29.36(4)(a) defines activity levels. We have more examples below.

High Activity: Facilities for major or league athletic events or major cultural or civic events. [for example, Camp Randall Stadium]

Medium Activity: Shopping centers, retail parking areas, hospital and clinic parking areas, transportation parking (airports, commuter lots, etc.), cultural, civic or recreational events, and fast food facilities. [for example, malls, grocery stores, urgent care clinics, Park and Ride, Warner Park, Breese Stevens Field, Culver’s, etc]

Low Activity: Employee parking, educational facility parking, office parks and church parking, warehouses. [for example, non-retail business parking, school and college parking, etc]
 

Residential Sites

MGO 29.36 has different requirements for residential-only sites. Residential sites have only residential uses, including apartments with no commercial businesses, hotels with no restaurants/commercial businesses, and residential-only sites with parking for more than three cars. Residential-only sites have the following requirements:

• light trespass cannot exceed 0.5 fc at 10’ past the property line or wall of an adjacent building (whichever comes first)
• all fixtures over 500 lumens must meet full cutoff/shielding requirements
• note there are no requirements for vehicle use areas (driveways) on residential-only sites

Fixtures

Outdoor fixtures with 500 or more initial lumens must be fully cutoff or shielded. The shielding must be opaque material, and prevent light from shining up or out to the side. 

Some fixtures have a housing that is integral to the fixture. Some would require a separate housing or architectural mounting detail that permanently prevents light from shining up or out (such as under a permanent overhang, or under a bench). 

If a fixture can be installed in a way that would allow light to shine up or out (fixtures that are up/down lights, or can be mounted in multiple orientations, LED tape lights, etc), you must provide additional details to clearly show how the fixture will meet cutoff/shielding requirements. Details may include cross sections, elevation views, fixture housing material details, fixture schematics, exploded view, etc.

On each fixture cut sheet:

• Include a fixture label on the cut sheet that corresponds to the label on the photometric plan
• Where a cut sheet has multiple options, clearly select which option you are choosing
• Ensure lumens are labeled on cut sheet
• Where a fixture that is more than 500 lumens can be mounted so that light shines up or out, add notes to your cut sheet clarifying the mounting. Mounting to meet cutoff/shielding requirements must be permanent. Fixtures that can be adjusted to shine up or out will not meet the requirements unless they are permanently fixed to shine down only, or back toward a solid wall.
• Where a fixture will be shielded by some other method than the fixture itself, include additional information to confirm fixture meets shielding requirements, which can include:
  • separate housing intended to shield light- note materials and opacity
  • details of how the fixture will be mounted such that other features of the site or architecture block up and side light – for example, mounted under the edge of a stair or bench, under a canopy, roof overhang, etc.
  • elevations can be included. Label fixture locations on elevations for clarity.
  • Cross sections that show shielding from different directions

LED Light Strips

LED strip lights (also known as tape lights, stick lights, ribbon lights, linear lights, etc) are fixtures that must meet shielding requirements when they produce more than 500 lumens. Lumens per fixture are calculated using the lumens per foot multiplied by the total length of each illuminated run. For example, if you are using an LED strip light that produces 300 lumens per foot, and each installed run is 3 feet in length, your total initial lumens are 300 x 3 = 900 lumens. When the total initial lumens per run are more than 500, fixture shielding is required, so that the fixture shines only down, not up or out.

Some LED strips have integral opaque housing that meets the shielding requirements. Some LED strips will be installed in such a way that the building architecture provides shielding. When you propose an LED strip light, provide details in the submittal to clearly demonstrate how the shielding requirements will be met. Details may include:

• Fixture schematic or exploded view to show where the light emitting element is located in the fixture
• Fixture material details about the type and opacity of the housing materials (for example, product specifications that label fully opaque aluminum sides)
• Mounting and installation details (for example, label on cut sheet and photometric plan that fixture will be installed facing down)
• Details and section views of separate fixture housing designed as shielding (such as flashing details built into the architecture)
• Elevations showing fixture locations and lengths of each run
• Lengths of each fixture run labeled on photometric plan

How to Submit Lighting Plans for Review

If your project requires a site plan review (LNDUSE, LNDSPR, LNDMAC, etc), Lighting will be one of the agencies to review your plans for compliance with MGO 29.36 Outdoor Lighting.

If your site plan review requires Urban Design Commission approval, your photometric plans must meet requirements of both UDC and MGO 29.36 Outdoor Lighting. UDC will review your plan first, and Lighting review for MGO 29.36 will begin after UDC approval. The UDC Secretary will alert Lighting reviewers when your site lighting plan is ready for Lighting review. You can find more information about Urban Design Commission on their site.

If your project does not require UDC approval:

• Fill out the site lighting review application linked below and use it to ensure your proposal includes all materials required for review
• Email the application, photometric plan, and cut sheets as PDFs to lighting@cityofmadison.com
• Include the address and LND record in the subject line of your email

If your project does require UDC approval:

• Fill out the site lighting review application linked below and use it to ensure your proposal includes all materials required for review
• Email the application only to lighting@cityofmadison.com
• Include the address and LND record in the subject line of your email
• The UDC Secretary will provide the photometric plan, cut sheets, and details that were approved for UDC review to Lighting reviewers. If additional details are required, Lighting reviewers will contact the applicant directly.

If your project does not require site plan review:

• Fill out the site lighting review application linked below and use it to ensure your proposal includes all materials required for review
• Email the application, photometric plan, and cut sheets as PDFs to lighting@cityofmadison.com
• Include the address in the subject line of your email
• Note any City of Madison orders regarding site lighting in the body of your email