Prince George's County, MD Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Section 27-4202(e)'s Intensity and Dimensional Standards table caps the principal structure height in the RSF-65 (Residential, Single-Family-65) zone at 40 feet, applying equally to a single-family detached dwelling and to any other principal use permitted on the lot. A footnote to the same table separately limits detached accessory structures, such as a garage, shed, or workshop, to 15 feet. Section 27-2201 defines exactly how that height is measured: the vertical distance between an approved street grade at a point at the middle of the front of the building and either the highest point of a flat roof, the deck line of a mansard roof, or the average height between the eaves and ridge of a gable, hip, or gambrel roof.

If a building sits on a terrace, the terrace can add up to 5 feet before it counts against the cap, and if the building is set back 35 feet or more from the street line, height is instead measured from the average finished ground elevation along the front-facing side. Section 27-2202 then exempts a defined list of features from the 40-foot cap entirely: monuments, water towers, silos, barns, and utility towers not intended for human occupancy, plus rooftop elements like spires, chimneys, elevator shaft enclosures, and mechanical equipment, so long as they cover no more than 25 percent of the roof and extend no more than 25 percent above the height limit.

Roof-mounted antennas, satellite dishes, and small-scale solar or wind systems are likewise exempt if they meet the use-specific standards in Sections 27-5203(b)(13) and (16). A homeowner who wants to exceed 40 feet for a habitable structure, rather than an exempt feature, must obtain a dimensional variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals under Section 27-3613 by demonstrating unnecessary hardship.