Landscape lighting, answered

Park City's Land Management Code, Section 15-5-5(J), lists up-lighting, architectural lighting and landscape lighting as prohibited. Outdoor light is limited to safe entry and egress, and it stays at 3,000K or warmer. A Park City design works with low path lights, covered step lights and shielded entry light. Pool and water-feature light and gas lights are exempt.

No, not as an accent. Summit County Code 10-4-21 prohibits landscape lighting intended to accent or draw attention to landscape elements. Low voltage LED and solar path lights in residential areas are exempt when they sit 18 inches or lower and aim down. Color stays at 3,000K or warmer, with no more than 20,000 lumens per residence.

Summit County Code 11-6-20 prohibits landscape and architectural lighting intended to accent or draw attention, and up-lighting of buildings and structures. Low voltage and solar path lights at 18 inches or lower are exempt. The county applies its 3,000K limit across unincorporated Summit County. Kamas, Francis, Oakley, Coalville and Henefer have their own rules, so we read those separately.

They differ, so the address matters. Heber City requires full cutoff exterior lighting on new buildings, homes included. Midway adopted a stricter ordinance in 2022 and limits soffit lights on new construction to spots directly above porches and decks. KPCW reported in December 2024 that the one rule for homes in unincorporated Wasatch County prohibits light trespass.

Some do. Cottonwood Heights prohibits up-lighting at homes, caps color at 3,000K and limits total lumens by the net acre. Rules change from city to city, and an HOA or design review board can go further. We read the code and the guidelines for your address before we draw.

DarkSky International's five principles say outdoor light should be useful, targeted, low in level, controlled and warm in color. In practice that means shielded fixtures, light aimed where you need it and warm color. A fixture can carry a dark sky label and still break a local code as an accent. We design to the code at your address.

Park City set December 31, 2024 as the date for bulbs at 3,000K or warmer, and it requires damaged nonconforming lights to be replaced with compliant ones. Summit County used the same date for shielded, down-directed lights in unincorporated areas. Officers respond to complaints and say education comes first. We walk the property at dusk and replace what is out of code.

Yes, in season. Park City allows low-lumen seasonal lights of any color from November 1 to March 1, off by 11 p.m. at homes. The Snyderville Basin allows holiday lighting from November 15 to March 1, and Eastern Summit County from November 15 to February 1.

Four steps. We walk the property with you at dusk. We draw a scaled plan and fixture schedule with every location, beam, wire run and transformer. We bring fixtures to your home after dark so you can see the effect. At the end of the install we aim every fixture at night, and we come back to re-aim as the plants grow.

Yes. We bring fixtures to your property after dark and show you the effect on your own home. You make the decision standing in your yard at night, which is the only place it counts.

Because you cannot see the result in daylight. A beam that looks right at noon can throw glare into a window or spill onto a neighbor after dark. We aim by eye at the end of the install, then come back as trees grow and beds fill in.

A low path light can disappear under a drift, and that is a design question. We place fixtures away from the plow line and the places snow gets piled, and we use step lights where snow will not sit. On a mountain lot, we walk those lines with you before we draw.

Before the hardscape goes in, if you can. Sleeves under walks, walls and drives are easy then and hard later. In a finished landscape, you can start any time, and the first step is the same walk at dusk.

HK machines its path, accent and flood fixtures from 6061-T6 aluminum, then anodizes and powder coats them to a marine-grade finish. In-grade fixtures are solid brass with 316 stainless hardware. They stay small and quiet by day, and the optics keep the glare down at night. It is the line we lead with.

They are built for hard conditions: anodized and powder coated aluminum or solid brass, sealed to IP67 or IP68, with a marine-grade finish. HK rates them for salt-air exposure and does not state a snow or road-salt test on the pages we read, so we claim none. HK backs the enclosure for life to the original purchaser.

HK's terms give five years on LED products, lifetime on the fixture enclosure to the original purchaser and one year on other products, counted from shipment. The warranty requires HK's supplied connectors, which we use. HK repairs or replaces the affected part at its option.

HK lists three path lights as Dark Sky compliant: Radius, ARTOPLMB and ARTOPLLT. It lists the 1-inch Step and Marker too, with the Top Cover 180, Top Cover 360 or Path/Wall Wash trim. HK also lists the ARTOFL08 flood. Park City and Summit County prohibit accent lighting, so we leave it out of designs there. The local code still sets the height and the output.

Colorscaping is a smart landscape lighting system from WAC Lighting, also sold under AiSPiRE. Each fixture delivers tunable white and full color. You control each one on its own, over two-wire landscape wiring. Scenes and schedules run from the MyWAC app or a wall station, and it connects to Savant and to other systems over DMX.

We do not design it there. Park City and unincorporated Summit County cap color at 3,000K outside the holiday season and prohibit accent light on landscape and architecture. Colorscaping is a strong choice for homes where the code allows it, and we confirm that at your address first.

Yes, when a project calls for them. We lead with HK Luxury and Colorscaping, and we will tell you plainly if a simpler fixture is the right fit for part of a property.

At concept, if you can, and before hardscape at the latest. We walk the site at dusk with you, settle what gets light and mark the sleeves and transformer locations on your plan. In Park City and Summit County, an early call saves a planting plan that assumes lit trees.

Yes. Park City asks for plans showing fixture locations and types, and a table of fixtures with Kelvin, lumens per fixture and lamp type. Summit County asks for a matching plan and table in the Snyderville Basin. Our scaled plan and fixture schedule cover both.

We design the lighting, supply the fixtures, lay out the low-voltage wire and transformers, install them and aim at night. We mark sleeves for your crew to set before the pour, and your electrician brings a circuit to each transformer. We settle the details on each job at the walk.

We quote each property after the walk at dusk. The price follows the design: the number of fixtures, the wire runs, the transformers and the collection you choose. We do not post a number here, because no number would fit your property.

The Wasatch Front and Park City: Salt Lake, Davis, Utah, Summit and Wasatch counties. Our office is at 1587 S Main St in Salt Lake City. Call us at 801-364-9999.