Sussex County, DE Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Sussex County Code § 115-25(D), part of Article IV governing the AR-1 and AR-2 Agricultural Residential Districts, the county's default residential zone outside incorporated towns like Georgetown, Lewes and Rehoboth Beach, sets a flat 42-foot maximum height for buildings in those districts. Other residential and commercial districts carry their own height tables elsewhere in Chapter 115, so a lot's actual limit depends on its zoning classification shown on the Official Zoning Map.

Section 115-179 lists structures the county's height limits do not apply to at all: chimneys, church belfries and spires, elevator and fire towers, flagpoles, silos and corn driers, smokestacks, water towers and standpipes, and windmills 100 feet and less, plus radio and television towers of 150 feet or less, none of which count against the 42-foot cap. Under § 115-179(B), buildings owned by the state, federal government, hospitals, institutions or schools may rise to 60 feet, and churches and temples to 75 feet, but only if the required side and rear yards are each increased by at least one foot for every foot of extra height above the district limit. Section 115-179(C) additionally bars any structure taller than one story, plus any subdivision, manufactured home park or place of public assembly, within an area shown on the Official Zoning Map as an FAA airport approach zone, regardless of the underlying district's height allowance.

A property owner who wants to exceed these limits must apply to the Board of Adjustment for a variance rather than build first and appeal later; the Director of Planning and Zoning has no discretion to waive the height table administratively.