Davis County, UT Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Every R-1 lot in unincorporated Davis County must meet the full package of standards in Sec. 1540, not height alone: a 9,000-square-foot minimum lot area, 75-foot lot width, 25-foot front yard, 25-foot rear yard, and 8 feet on each side yard, on top of the 'two stories not to exceed thirty (30) feet' building height cap. 'Building height' itself is a defined term under Sec. 210: the vertical distance from the average finished grade at the building's foundation to the highest point of the roof, not the tallest architectural feature.

R-1 is not the only height number in the county's code: the separate Natural Resource zone, reserved for sand, gravel, and mineral extraction land, caps structures at two and one-half stories or thirty-five feet, and sets a 15-foot, one-story floor for any dwelling built there, under Sec. 1480, with the Planning Commission empowered to grant exceptions. A property owner who cannot meet the R-1 cap can seek a variance rather than build over it. Under Secs. 130, a variance is granted only at the Planning Commission's discretion, after the owner consults Planning Department staff, files a written request with supporting maps and a legal description, and proves the height limit creates an unreasonable hardship tied to something unique about that specific lot, not a hardship shared by the whole neighborhood; the burden of proving every criterion sits with the owner, and the resulting order must be recorded with the Davis County Recorder.