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

The site requirements table in RMC § 23.18.040 sets Maximum Building Height - Main Building at 30 feet across the R-1-12 single-family, R-1-10 single-family, R-2 medium-density and R-2S medium-density small lot districts, rising to 40 feet in the R-3 multiple-family district under table note 10. That note ties the R-3 increase to a matching setback and lot-coverage standard: one-family attached, one-family detached and two-family detached development in R-3 must instead follow the lower R-2S figures for setbacks, height and coverage, so the 40-foot ceiling reaches only true multifamily buildings.

Detached accessory buildings are held to 16 feet in all five districts regardless of the main building's height, per the same table's accessory-height row, and per table note 11 an accessory structure built to the § 23.38.020 setback provisions is further limited to one story. A separate rule in RMC § 23.18.020(B) tightens height near single-family neighbors: where an R-3 multifamily district directly abuts a single-family zone, any building within 50 feet of that boundary is held to 30 feet, though height may then climb one foot for every additional foot of setback beyond the 50-foot line, up to the district's normal 40-foot cap. Height for every district is separately backstopped by RMC § 23.08.080, which bars any building from exceeding the limit set for its use district.