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

Setbacks in Lower Paxton Township are set by Table 2 in Lower Paxton Township Code § 203-305, and § 203-305(C)(1) makes the table the minimum dimensional requirement for lots in each district. The table has separate columns for front, rear and each side yard. The CO Conservation District prints a 40-foot front yard, a 50-foot rear yard and a 30-foot side yard. The AR Agricultural Residential District prints 40 feet, 50 feet and 20 feet, except 35 feet for a principal nonresidential use.

The residential rows run tighter. In R-2 Medium Density Residential the front and rear yards are 25 feet each, and in R-3 Medium High Density Residential the front yard is 25 feet and the rear yard is 30 feet for the uses lettered (a), (b) and (d). The R-1 row splits by Township-approved water and sewer service and points to reduced yards in § 203-805. Commercial rows start at 30 feet: in the CN, CG and ON districts the front yard is 30 feet, or 50 feet where off-street parking sits between the principal building and an arterial street, with a 30-foot rear yard and a 15-foot side yard under Note A. Note A raises a principal business use to 40 feet on the side and 50 feet at the rear against a directly abutting principal residential lot in a residential district, and it sets 100 feet for a new or expanded industrial building or tractor-trailer truck loading dock from the lot line of a primarily residential use. The TC, NDD and V districts do not use Table 2 for yards. The table sends them to §§ 203-309, 203-308 and 203-311.

Corner lots must provide front yards on each street frontage, and the remaining two yards are side yards. On a lot with three frontages, the primary front yard is the one the front door faces. Under Note D, setbacks are measured from the future or ultimate right-of-way, and an unenclosed front porch or deck can intrude up to 10 feet into the minimum front yard.