As of January 7th of this year, all exterior light fixtures in unincorporated areas of San Bernardino County must comply with the Light Trespass Ordinance, or LTO. The supersedes a previous deadline in 2023 that gave leniency to businesses and all existing lights.
According to a reminder sent out in the Morongo Basin Conservation Association’s latest newsletter – if you have an unshielded exterior light that casts light onto a neighbors home or property, or is part of the colder blue light spectrum – there are a few simple changes you can do to keep your lights helpful to you, but not harmful to your neighbors or the desert’s dark skies.
Shielding exterior lights so they point downwards and don’t shine on any property that isn’t yours is a good start – but some LED lights and bulbs are overly blue in color and are not allowed in any exterior fixtures. Other solutions for lights can be adding a motion detector or redirecting it toward the ground.
String lights – which are popular with short term vacation rentals – now have limits for the total light output they can put out as well.
You can read more about Dark Night Skies and the Light Trespass Ordinance at the Morongo Basin Conservation Association, including links to the official ordinance.
