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

Height in Olympia's residential districts is governed by OMC 18.04.080, which says Table 4.04 identifies the basic standards for each district and that the lettered subsections below it carry the additional regulations. Subsection (I), titled Height, is where the City Council wrote the exceptions that decide how tall a building in Thurston County's capital city can actually be.

Roof projections come first. Elevator and stairway housings, tanks, ventilating fans, fire or parapet walls, skylights, towers, flagpoles, chimneys, smoke stacks, wireless masts, television antennas, steeples and similar structures can rise 18 feet above the district limit, but only if they contain no floor space. The code adds that use of the allowance must be kept to the minimum amount of space needed for the equipment. In the UR district the allowance is further limited by view protection: when the City decides a roof projection could affect a protected landmark view listed in Appendix B of the Land Use and Urban Design chapter of the Comprehensive Plan, the applicant must submit a view analysis showing the protected view from its designated observation point is not blocked or substantially affected.

The MR 7-13 and MR 10-18 districts allow buildings between 35 and 45 feet tall, provided the building stays at least 100 feet from the boundary of the property under development, unless topography, stands of trees or other site features block the view of the upper floors from adjoining residential land, and existing evergreen trees the City deems appropriate are kept to screen neighbors.

In the RMU district, base heights come from Figure 4-5, and where the permitted height is 60 feet a sculptured building top can add two stories if the sculptured floors have at least one-third less gross floor area than the first floor, the roof form is sculptured, the added stories are set back at least eight feet from the street wall, and the roof hides mechanical equipment. Existing State Community College education facilities in the R 4-8 district can reach 60 feet with a 100 foot setback from adjacent residentially zoned property. Places of worship can exceed Table 4.04, except in the State Capitol Group Height District, if the side yard is at least fifty percent of the building's height including spires and towers. Article III height overlay districts, including the Capitol Height District in OMC 18.10.060, add further limits.