Apple Valley, MN Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Height in Apple Valley is set district by district in the appendices to Chapter 155, and § 155.334 supplies the exceptions. For residential lots, Appendix A covers the agricultural and one- and two-family districts and prints a maximum height column in feet. The R-1 one-family row (40,000 square foot lot) and the R-2 one-family row (18,000 square foot lot) each print 35 in that column. Two-family R-5 and one-family R-3 lots are held to the same 35 in their rows.

The height of a building is defined in the code as the vertical distance above grade to the highest point of a flat or mansard roof, or to the highest gable of a pitched or hipped roof, measured from the first above-grade, habitable floor. A walk-out basement and underground parking garages do not count toward it. For multiple residential buildings, height is measured to the eave line when the code computes spacing between adjacent building faces.

Section 155.334(A) increases the height limitation by 50% for five listed features: radio or TV antennas, belfries, church spires and steeples, cooling towers, and elevator penthouses. Section 155.334(B) sets the height limitation for flagpoles in any district at 100 feet. Any height beyond these allowances needs a variance granted by resolution of the City Council, which must determine that the structure would not be dangerous and would not adversely affect adjoining or adjacent property (§ 155.334(C)).

Accessory buildings have a lower ceiling. Section 155.332(G) caps an accessory building or structure at 16 feet in height, and § 155.053(A) holds a detached garage in R-1, R-2 and R-3 districts to the same 16 feet.

The general variance path in § 155.397(B) runs through the Board of Appeals and Adjustments, which has 30 days after referral to make its recommendation, and the Council can act without it after that. Practical difficulties means a reasonable use not permitted by the zoning provisions, circumstances unique to the property not created by the applicant, and no change to the essential character of the locality.