Alameda, CA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

1(d)(6) sets the Maximum Building Height Limit in the R-1 Residential District at not to exceed thirty feet, one of the numbered bulk and space requirements that apply to every lot in the district alongside the 48 percent coverage limit and the yard setbacks. The code's Section 30-2 definition of building height measures the limit as the vertical distance measured perpendicularly from the grade adjoining the building to the highest point of the roof ridge or parapet wall, and grade is separately defined as the average level of the highest and lowest portion of the lot covered by the building or structure.

2, which layers additional height restriction onto specific mapped areas beyond the base 30-foot R-1 standard; where an H district applies, the more restrictive of the two controls. Because Alameda is built almost entirely at or near sea level on fill and natural island grade, the 30-foot base height limit, plus any State Density Bonus Law height increase a qualifying affordable project can claim on top of it, defines the practical ceiling for new single-family and duplex construction citywide outside of a mapped H overlay or an approved variance.