Night Sky Friendly Neighborhood Recognition Program

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The Hill Country Alliance created the County Subdivision and Night Sky Friendly Neighborhood policy in 2019 so that HOA’s would have an outdoor lighting policy available to them that is easy to adopt, understand, and implement. County officials can use this policy as a reference when discussing subdivision plans with developers.

Adoption of this policy is the requirement for recognition under the Hill Country Alliance’s Night Sky Friendly Neighborhood program:

Any light fixture used for exterior illumination must be fully shielded, pointed downward, and placed in a manner so that the light source is not directly visible from any other properties or public roadways. In order to reduce glare and light trespass into neighboring lands and to reduce negative impacts to wildlife, exterior illumination shall be restricted to light sources with a Correlated Color Temperature of 3,000K or less. As used herein,“Fully Shielded” means no direct uplight (i.e., no light emitted above the horizontal plane running through the lowest point on the fixture where light is emitted). The use of streetlights should be held to a minimum. The use of reflective surfaces should always be considered as an alternative to streetlights. Properties that have lighting that does not comply with these requirements when this policy is adopted must become compliant within X years after the adoption of this policy.

Night Sky Friendly Neighborhoods currently recognized:

  • Majestic Hills, Blanco
  • TrinityOaksPreserve, Round Mountain

For more information on this policy and recognition program, contact HCA at info@hillcountryalliance.org.