Lower Paxton, PA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

Two separate limits apply to a lot in Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin County. Chapter 203 defines building coverage as the percentage obtained by dividing the total horizontal area covered by all buildings on a lot by the total area of the lot, and it counts all buildings that are under a roof. Lot coverage is defined as the percentage of the area of a lot covered by all principal and accessory structures. Table 2 in § 203-305 prints a Maximum Percent Building Coverage column and a Maximum Percent Impervious Coverage column beside the lot area, lot width, setback and height columns.

The CO Conservation District row prints a minimum lot area of 87,120 square feet (2 acres), unless a larger lot area is required by § 203-310, a minimum lot width of 250 feet, a 40-foot front yard, a 50-foot rear yard, a 30-foot side yard, 10% maximum building coverage, 15% maximum impervious coverage, and a height of 3 stories or 40 feet, whichever is more restrictive. The AR Agricultural Residential District row prints 65,340 square feet (1.5 acres), 140 feet of width, a 40-foot front yard, a 50-foot rear yard, a 20-foot side yard (35 feet for a principal nonresidential use), 15% maximum building coverage, 30% maximum impervious coverage, and the same 3 stories or 40 feet. The AR row also carries a printed notice that persons moving into the district should expect odors, dust, late-night operations, pesticide use and other impacts from agricultural activities, and that such impacts from normal farming operations are allowed under the State Right to Farm Act.

The residential, commercial and industrial rows of Table 2 split each district into lettered use types, and their coverage cells are read against those sub-rows rather than as one figure per district. Those rows are not reproduced here; the zoning officer applies the cell that matches the use and the water and sewer service on the lot.

Two districts use their own sections. In the Towne Centre District, § 203-309(D)(9) sets maximum impervious coverage at 85%, unless the TC development is a redevelopment of an existing tract, in which case the impervious coverage maximum shall be no greater than exists pre-development. In the Neighborhood Design Overlay District, the lot table in § 203-308 prints a Maximum Lot Coverage column of 65% for a single-family detached dwelling lot with an attached garage, 70% for a duplex dwelling lot with an attached garage and 75% for a townhouse dwelling with an attached garage.