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

Title 17 prints two zoning codes and both regulate height, so read the code that matches the parcel's zoning.

1983 Zoning Ordinance, § 17.102.010(A): no structure in the A-E, R-1, R-2 or M-H zones exceeds twenty-five feet in height as measured above the center of the building footprint at site grade, and no portion exceeds thirty-five feet above site grade. Chapter 17.081 and a variance under Chapter 17.121 are the named exceptions. In the R-3, R-4 and R-R zones no building or structure exceeds thirty-five feet, and single-family dwellings there keep the R-1 limit. Ocean fronting parcels in the North Spyglass, Motel District and Commercial Core planning areas are limited to twenty-five feet above site grade, and § 17.102.010(H) caps every zone at the height for firefighting and rescue equipment identified by the fire chief. In R-1, R-2, R-3, P-R and M-H, television antennas, fireplace chimneys and roof mounted solar collectors not exceeding an aggregate of six feet by six feet can exceed the limit by a maximum of five feet.

1998 Zoning Code: § 17.20.020 says the height of structures shall not exceed the standard for the applicable zoning district, and § 17.20.030 measures the maximum as the vertical distance from site grade to an imaginary plane the allowed number of feet above and parallel to the grade. Section 17.20.040(B) lets chimneys, television antennas, cupolas, towers, solar collectors and similar structures not exceeding six feet at their base exceed the district limit by a maximum of five feet in residential districts other than RR. The district figures sit in Table 2-3 of § 17.08.040, which merges cells for paired districts, so this page does not quote them.

Pismo Beach uses two adopted zoning codes. The city's Zoning and Land Use page states that properties inside the Coastal Zone are regulated by the 1983 Zoning Code, and properties outside the Coastal Zone are regulated by the 1998 Zoning Code.