Johnson County, IA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

5-story cap used in the county's other residential district tables. 25(A) then layers exceptions onto that base district limit. A church, mosque, temple, other place of worship, hospital, institution, or school that meets its district's minimum setbacks may exceed the district's height cap, but not by more than a hard ceiling of 70 feet. A separate list of features is exempt from height regulations entirely, regardless of district: chimneys, church steeples, cooling towers, elevator bulkheads, fire towers, monuments, stacks, stage towers or scenery lofts, tanks, and solar energy systems, provided those features rise no more than 8 feet above the otherwise-applicable maximum, plus water towers, ornamental towers, spires, communication towers, grain elevators and bins, private and distributed wind generators, and commercial wind energy facilities, which are exempt without that 8-foot cap.

Storage buildings may exceed the maximum number of stories allowed but still cannot exceed the maximum height in feet. Any structure within the approach zone of an FAA-approved runway or landing strip must instead follow current FAA height regulations and any applicable airport overlay district standards, regardless of the base district limit or these exemptions. Existing buildings that already violate the height limit may be repaired and remodeled, but cannot be reconstructed, enlarged, or structurally altered while exceeding the limit.