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

PMC § 20.20.020's Table 20.20.020 sets a maximum lot coverage percentage, the share of a lot's area that buildings may occupy, for four of the city's five RS single-family zones. RS-10 lots may be covered up to 40%, RS-08 and RS-06 up to 45%, and RS-04, the smallest-lot zone, up to 50%. RS-35, the large-lot agricultural-residential zone, carries no maximum lot coverage percentage in the table, shown as a dash rather than a number.

Lot coverage works alongside, but separately from, the table's maximum floor area ratio in row (13), which caps total building square footage relative to lot size and is detailed further in PMC § 20.20.028. A principal home, any attached garage, and any detached accessory building over 200 square feet all count toward the lot coverage percentage; PMC § 20.20.010(2) already limits most lots to one such detached accessory building unless the lot exceeds four acres.

A structure that is nonconforming as to lot coverage, one that already exceeds its zone's percentage, is not automatically illegal: PMC § 20.65.030(1)-(2) allows minor repairs and limited enlargement of a lot-coverage-nonconforming structure without triggering full compliance, and a nonconforming accessory structure can even be converted into an accessory dwelling unit under PMC § 20.65.030(3) while remaining over the coverage limit. Exceeding the maximum for new construction, however, is a Title 20 zoning violation enforced under PMC § 20.95.020.