Kent, WA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

KCC 15.03.040(B) states the baseline rule: "No building or part thereof or structure shall be erected, reconstructed, or structurally altered to exceed in height the limit designated in this title for the district in which such building is located." The actual numeric caps sit in the development standards table at KCC 15.04.170(I), "Height limitation: in stories/not to exceed in feet," which sets a different maximum for each residential zoning district.

The A-10 agricultural zone and the NR-L and NR-S single-family zones (Kent's former SR-1 and SR-3 districts) are capped at 2.5 stories and 35 feet. In A-10, footnote 16 to the table exempts barns and silos from the height limitation, provided they are not located within 50 feet of any lot line. NR-2 (the former SR-4.5, SR-6, SR-8, and MR-D districts) carries the tightest base limit of the group, 2.5 stories and 28 feet, but footnote 43 raises that to 3 stories and 35 feet if either an existing dwelling unit on the property is retained or a tree measuring 18 inches in diameter at breast height is retained on the lot. The higher-density NR-3, NR-4A, and NR-4B districts step up to 3 stories/35 feet, 3 stories/40 feet, and 4 stories/50 feet, respectively.

A property owner who wants to exceed the district's height limit outright, rather than qualify for a footnote exception, must seek a variance. KCC 15.02.536 defines a variance as "a modification of regulations of this title when authorized by the hearing examiner after finding that the literal application of the provisions of this title would cause undue and unnecessary hardship in view of certain facts and conditions applying to a specific parcel of property."