Erie, PA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Section 205 of the City of Erie Zoning Ordinance sets a maximum structure height for each district. Both the R-1 Low Density Residential and R-1A Traditional Single Family Districts cap buildings at 35 feet. 22 requires a hospital built in an RLB District to instead follow the R-3 height standard. In the commercial and manufacturing tables, C-1 and C-3 allow 45 feet, C-4 allows 60 feet, and both M-1 and M-2 allow 100 feet. 6 carves out an exception for building appurtenances, including chimneys, stacks, elevator bulkheads, penthouses, water towers, cooling towers, and ornamental spires or domes: these may rise above the district's height limit, but only if the structure sets back from the vertical plane of the building line by one horizontal foot for every two feet of extra height, so a taller rooftop feature has to taper away from the property's edges rather than simply rising straight up.

That step-back formula applies City-wide regardless of which base height limit governs the lot. A property owner planning to exceed the district's base height for anything other than an exempt appurtenance needs a zoning certificate from the Zoning Officer under Section 402, and the Zoning Hearing Board handles any request for relief from the height table through a variance.