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

Table 9.03.040-6, the Residential Site Development Standards table governing the R1, R2, RA2, R3, R5 and RS10 districts, sets item 9, 'Maximum building and structure height, in feet,' at 'Two stories not to exceed 35 feet.' That single standard applies citywide to conventional single-family lots regardless of minimum lot size, which in the same table ranges from 4,500 square feet in RS10 up to 40,000 square feet in R1. Outside those standard districts, Section 9.03.040(A) (Rural Residential) and Section 9.03.040(B) (Hillside Residential) apply a slope-based test: 'Dwellings and other accessory structures shall not exceed 30 feet in overall height, provided that on slopes of less than 10%, the overall height shall not exceed 35 feet.' Height is measured under the same Chapter 9.03 development standards that also fix front, side and rear setbacks for each district, so a height review happens alongside the same building permit plan check that verifies those setbacks.

Community Development Department planning staff verify proposed height against the applicable district table at plan check before a building permit issues; a project that needs to exceed the table must seek a variance or, in the hillside/rural districts, document the qualifying slope analysis required elsewhere in Section 9.03.040. There is no separate accessory-structure height allowance in the standard districts beyond the two-story/35-foot ceiling that applies to the primary dwelling.