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

Whatcom County sets structure height limits zone by zone rather than in one countywide table, and the Residential Rural (RR) district's cap, WCC § 20.32.400, tops out at 35 feet, with any additional height near a mapped airport controlled by WCC § 20.80.675. That airport section flatly states: 'No structure shall exceed the height of the imaginary surfaces defined in Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Part 77 around airports that have mapped such imaginary surfaces,' though it exempts 'single-family residences and accessory structures that have a building height of 30 feet or less.' The 35-foot RR cap matches the Urban Residential (WCC § 20.20.400), Rural (WCC § 20.36.400) and General Manufacturing (WCC § 20.62.400) districts, but neighboring zones diverge sharply: the Urban Residential Medium Density district (WCC § 20.22.400) allows 45 feet, the Rural Residential-Island district (WCC § 20.34.400) drops to 25 feet within 100 feet of the marine shoreline's ordinary high water mark and 30 feet beyond that, and the Agriculture district (WCC § 20.42.400) caps residential structures at 35 feet but exempts barns and silos outright.

A property owner who needs more height than the underlying district allows, for example to clear the airport imaginary surface, can only get it through the variance procedure in WCC § 20.80.675(3), which requires letters from both the FAA and the airport operator evaluating the effect on air navigation before the hearing examiner may grant relief, and the standard variance criteria of WCC § 22.05.024 are explicitly replaced by that section's own two-part hardship and public-interest test.