Blue Earth County, MN Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Blue Earth County Code Sec. 24-163(e) sets the height ceiling for the RR district: no building erected or structurally altered may exceed two and one-half stories or 35 feet in height. The same subsection adds a second, tighter limit for outbuildings, capping the sidewall dimension of accessory buildings, such as detached garages, pole barns, or storage sheds, at 16 feet, measured separately from the overall 35-foot, two-and-one-half-story cap that applies to the primary dwelling. The identical 35-foot, two-and-one-half-story limit repeats for every other zoning district printed in chapter 24, including the Conservation district at Sec.

24-138(e), the Rural Townsite district at Sec. 24-193(e), and the General Business district at Sec. 24-213(e), so the RR height cap is the countywide baseline for buildings outside the Agriculture district, where Sec. 24-113(e)(1) removes height limits for agricultural structures entirely except near airport safety zones. A property owner proposing a two-story home with a walkout basement, or a pole barn with tall sidewalls, needs the zoning administrator to confirm the design against both the 35-foot overall cap and, for accessory structures, the separate 16-foot sidewall limit before a construction permit under Sec. 24-43 can issue.