Dothan, AL Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Section 114-180 is the enabling rule that ties every building's maximum height back to the numeric limit set for its specific zoning district in article VIII's dimensional standards tables, covering the R-1 through R-4 residential districts, the B-1 through B-4 business districts, the M-1 and M-2 manufacturing districts, and planned unit developments. Rather than stating a single citywide number, § 114-180(a) requires compliance with whichever district table applies to the lot, and channels any request to exceed that number through the board of zoning adjustment, the same body that hears variances under article VI.

Subsection (b) carves out a defined list of structures exempt from the district height cap outright: church steeples, hospitals, sanitariums, barns, silos, farm structures, chimneys, flagpoles, public utility poles, radio and television towers and aerials, cooling towers, and water tanks. Industrial structures required by the manufacturing process get the same exemption, but only for up to 25 percent of the lot area; beyond that footprint, the structure is back under the district's height table. A property owner who wants to exceed the district height limit for a use not on the exempt list must apply for a variance heard by the board of zoning adjustment, which weighs the request against the hardship and neighborhood-compatibility standards in article VI.

Because the operative number lives in the article VIII tables rather than in § 114-180 itself, an owner or builder has to check the specific district's dimensional standards, for example the R-1 or B-2 table, to know the actual foot limit that applies to a given lot.