Lower Merion, PA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

Chapter 155, Article IV of the Lower Merion Township Code assigns each zoning district its own dimensional table, and Table 4.1.1 governs the LDR1 district, the Township's lowest-density single-family zone. LDR1 requires a 200-foot minimum lot width and a 90,000-square-foot minimum lot area, with impervious surface capped at 20% of the lot. Principal-building setbacks are 100 feet from the front right-of-way, 20 feet from each side line and 25 feet from the rear line, per § 155-4.1B(2), which measures the setback from the edge of the public right-of-way rather than the property line.

Building height in LDR1 tops out at two to three stories and 35 feet, rising to 40 feet only if the rear and side setbacks are each increased five feet for every additional foot of height above 35 feet. Garage placement follows the separate parking-location standard at § 155-8.4. Other LDR sub-districts, LDR2 through LDR4, carry their own smaller setback numbers in Tables 4.1.2 through 4.1.4, and LDR4 uses a predominant-setback formula under § 155-3.4I rather than a fixed front number, calculated from the median setback of existing houses within 200 feet.

Corner lots anywhere in the LDR districts get two front setbacks and one side and rear setback under § 155-3.4H(3), and no fence, hedge or structure may obstruct the sight line at a corner under § 155-3.4H(1). A property owner who wants relief from a Table 4.1.1 setback must apply to the Zoning Hearing Board for a variance rather than build first and ask forgiveness.