Monterey, CA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Monterey City Code § 38-23(D)(4) limits buildings in the R-1 Residential Single-Family District to two stories and 25 feet for a dwelling, and one story and 12 feet for a detached accessory structure such as a garage or garden shed. A substandard residential lot, one under 5,000 square feet, faces the same 25-foot ceiling under § 38-23(E)(2), regardless of the number of stories. Article 17's general exceptions at § 38-106 carve out specific features from every district's height limit: church spires, belfries, cupolas, domes, monuments, water towers, chimneys, smokestacks, flagpoles, radio and PWS towers, and solar collection, water catchment, and green-roof retrofits on existing buildings are not counted against the limit at all.

A second category, including elevator and stair penthouses and water tanks, may extend up to 20 feet above the district height limit, and even further with a use permit, so long as no such structure covers more than 25 percent of the lot area and sits at least 25 feet from every non-street lot line. Height is measured story by story under the Zoning Ordinance's definitions in § 38-11, where a below-grade room or basement counts as the first story once more than 40 percent of its perimeter rises over four feet above grade, or any point rises more than 12 feet above grade, so a daylight basement can push a project into the two-story count even though most of it sits underground.