Bristol Township, PA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

Yard minimums in Bristol Township sit in Chapter 205, the Zoning chapter of the Township code, one section per district. Section 205-23 governs R-1: front 35 feet, rear 25 feet, and side yards of two with an aggregate width of 30 feet, neither less than 12 feet. A corner lot gets two front yards, one along each street, and so does a double frontage lot, each at least 35 feet deep. The same section sets a 10,000 square foot minimum lot, a 75 foot minimum width, and a maximum building area of 20%.

The R-2 District in § 205-26 drops the front yard to 25 feet and the rear to 20 feet, with side yards totaling 16 feet and neither under seven feet. R-3 (§ 205-29) and R-4 (§ 205-32) print a 25-foot front, a 20-foot rear, and side yards totaling 14 feet with neither under six feet. Multiple-family and townhouse uses in R-3 and R-4 add building-to-building setbacks of 60, 30 and 14 feet depending on orientation.

Several overlay rules change the answer. Section 205-130 sets special setbacks measured from the center line of the road: 120 feet along Routes U.S. 13 and Pennsylvania 413, 100 feet along Edgley Road, Levittown Parkway, Oxford Valley Road and several others, and 80 feet along Haines Road, Radcliffe Street, Emilie Road and Green Lane-Bloomsdale Road. These supersede the district yard rules. A 150-foot setback for industrial uses and 100 feet for other uses applies along the Delaware Canal State Park. Under § 205-129, a front yard in a residence district can shrink to not less than 10 feet back from the main wall of an adjacent main building within 100 feet on the same side of the street. Section 205-131 lets a detached private garage or accessory building sit in a side or rear yard but not less than five feet from any property line. Section 205-132 bars any portion of a building, including porches, decks, patios and terraces, from the required yards except as § 205-133 permits.