Kent, WA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

KCC 15.04.160 explains how to read the Title 15 development standards tables: standards run along the rows and zoning districts run along the columns of KCC 15.04.170, with the number at the intersection setting the limit for that zone. Row (B), "Maximum site coverage: percent of site," sets the residential coverage ceiling: 30 percent in the A-10 agricultural zone and the NR-L low-density zone, 45 percent in NR-S, 50 percent in NR-2, and 55 percent in NR-3, NR-4A and NR-4B, each of the higher figures carrying footnote (5).

Footnote 5, codified at KCC 15.04.180(5), excludes interior yards from the site coverage calculation, so only the building footprint and other impervious features on the buildable portion of the lot count against the percentage. The MHP Mobile Home Park Combining District column in the same table carries no separate coverage figure because mobile home parks are instead governed by their own chapter: KCC 12.05.190 caps coverage at 40 percent of any mobile home lot, counting the mobile home and enclosed accessory structures but excluding open carports.

A property owner who wants to exceed the numerical zoning standard does not automatically need a full variance: KCC 15.09.042 lets the planning director grant an administrative variance of up to 25 percent of the numerical standard for setbacks, lot coverage, or building height, processed as a Process II application under Chapter 12.01 KCC, and conditioned on the change not detracting from the neighborhood's character or threatening public health and safety. The planning director's decision on an administrative variance may be appealed within 14 calendar days under KCC 15.09.042(D).