Dunwoody, GA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

The 35-foot principal-building height limit and 20-foot accessory-building limit in § 27-58(b) apply identically across all eight single-dwelling districts, R-150 through RA-8, so the cap does not vary with lot size the way setbacks and coverage do. In the city's multi-dwelling districts (RM-150 through RM-HD), the same section allows detached, two-unit and three-unit buildings up to 35 feet, while four-plus-unit buildings can reach 48 feet, or 60 feet in RM-HD, with the approval of fire rescue service. Section 27-577 defines how height is measured: for a detached house, it is the vertical distance from the front door threshold elevation to the highest point of the roof, while for other buildings it runs from finished grade to the top of the highest roof beams or parapet on a flat or shed roof, the deck level on a mansard roof, or the average of the eave and ridge heights on gable, hip and gambrel roofs.

Section 27-577(b) then carves out exceptions to the numeric cap: farm buildings on a bona fide farm are exempt entirely; belfries, clock towers, cupolas, domes, flagpoles and spires may exceed the limit if not intended for human occupancy; and bulkheads, elevator and equipment penthouses, chimneys and water tanks may exceed the height limit as long as they cover no more than 25 percent of the building's total roof area. Telecommunications towers and antennas instead follow the separate height standards of § 27-150, and building-mounted solar arrays may add up to three feet above the district height limit under § 27-173(b).