Upper Darby, PA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

Section 550-10's Table 4-1 fixes maximum building coverage as a percentage of lot area for every single-family detached home in the R-C, R-C-1, R-1 and R-2 Districts. R-C lots get a sliding scale: 25% coverage on the smaller 15,000-square-foot lots served by public sewer, dropping to 20% on the larger 20,000-square-foot lots required where there is no sewer service. R-C-1 is fixed at 20% regardless of lot size, while both R-1 and R-2, the Township's denser single-family districts, allow up to 30% coverage. These percentages apply on top of the same table's minimum lot size, frontage, and side, front and rear yard requirements, so a lot that meets the minimum dimensions can still be non-compliant if the footprint of the house, and any attached garage or porch counted as building area, pushes coverage past the district limit.

Multifamily buildings in the R-3 and R-4 Districts are governed by separate coverage figures elsewhere in Article IV (40% in R-4 under Table 4-3B), so the figures here apply only to the single-family detached districts. As with all Article IV bulk standards, a proposal that exceeds the applicable coverage percentage cannot receive a zoning use permit from the Zoning Officer and instead requires a dimensional variance from the Zoning Hearing Board under §§ 550-53A and 550-54.