Brockton, MA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Table 1 of § 27-9, Standards for Residential Zones, sets the ceiling: R-1A, R-1B and R-1C principal buildings may rise two and a half stories or 35 feet, whichever governs; R-2, R-3 and R-4 principal buildings may rise three stories or 45 feet. Accessory buildings are held to 20 feet in the three R-1 districts and 30 feet in R-2 and R-3. A footnote to the table lets R-2 and R-3 buildings go as high as six stories or 80 feet, but only if the underlying yard requirements are still met and the rear and side yards are widened by one additional foot for every five feet of height above the base 45-foot limit, so a taller building has to buy its extra height with extra setback.

Section 27-8(2)(a) backs this up procedurally: in R-3, R-4, commercial and industrial zones, no building may be erected, reconstructed or structurally altered past its district's height limit except by special permit from the board of appeals; the same special-permit requirement applies to accessory structures in the I-1 district that exceed their limit. Section 27-16 then narrows what actually counts toward the height limit in the first place: church spires, belfries, water towers, chimneys, smokestacks, flagpoles, elevator enclosures, fire towers, penthouses, skylights and similar rooftop features are excluded from the height calculation as long as, together, they cover less than 10 percent of the roof area, and parapet walls may rise no more than 5 feet above the building's limiting height.