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

BMC section 23.304.050 governs how height is measured and what may project above the limit; the numeric ceiling itself sits in each district's development-standards table. Table 23.202-2 fixes the R-1 district's main building height at 35 feet and three stories for new construction and additions, but cuts that to 22 feet for any portion within 15 feet of the rear property line. A pitched-roof project gets a 35-foot eave with a 38-foot ridge allowance, and a flat-roofed 35-foot building may add 5 feet for a stair, elevator or other rooftop access feature capped at 15 percent of the average floor area of the building's stories.

The R-1H hillside variant, Table 23.202-3, is stricter and more granular: new buildings and non-residential additions average 28 feet with a 35-foot maximum (the 35-foot figure needs an Administrative Use Permit); residential additions average 14 feet or the height of the highest existing roof portion, whichever is lower, with a 20-foot maximum, and anything above 20 feet needs an AUP under BMC section 23.210.020(C)(2). Certain features may rise above any district's height limit outright with no permit, including flagpoles, skylights, solar equipment, and antennas or utility poles; chimneys and mechanical equipment may exceed the limit by 4 feet, capped at 3 feet in width. Other rooftop features such as penthouses, elevator rooms, cupolas and domes may exceed the height limit with an AUP if they stay under 15 percent of average floor area and are never used as habitable or commercial space.