Taunton, MA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

Section 440-1705 of the Zoning Ordinance lays out the full dimensional package for the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) District, the zone the City created for pedestrian-, transit- and bike-oriented mixed-use development under Article XVII. Every project inside the TOD boundary, once mapped by the Municipal Council, must meet a minimum lot area of 15,000 square feet and 100 feet of frontage, minimum front, side and rear setbacks of 10 feet each, a maximum height of 65 feet and five stories, and, at the end of the same numbered list, a maximum lot coverage of 85%.

That coverage figure sits alongside the definitions the Zoning Ordinance uses citywide: 'lot coverage, maximum' is defined as the maximum allowable percentage of the total lot area that the footprint of all structures and impermeable surfaces occupies, while 'lot coverage, total' measures the actual footprint against that same total lot area. Outside the TOD District, coverage limits for each base residential, business and industrial district are set by the Intensity of Use Table referenced at § 440-603, published as a separate attachment to the Zoning Ordinance rather than printed as running text in the main chapters. The TOD District's 85% figure is unusually permissive by comparison, reflecting the compact, multi-building development the ordinance allows there: § 440-1705.B specifically permits more than one principal building on a TOD lot, and § 440-1705.C allows a base density of up to 20 residential units per acre within the district.