Springfield, OH Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Table 1109.02.1 sets a 35-foot maximum building height for a one-unit dwelling, a townhome, and a two-unit dwelling in the Low Density Residential (R-LD) district, with no minimum height required. Section 1115.03(d)(1) defines how that 35 feet is measured: from street grade to the top of a flat roof (including a decorative mansard concealing a flat roof), to the deck line of a mansard or gambrel roof, or to the midpoint between the eaves and ridge of a pitched roof, and any dormer that extends past the roofline still cannot exceed the district's maximum as measured from adjacent average grade.

Section 1115.03(d)(3) carves out two categorical exemptions from the maximum height limit: a public, semipublic, or public-service building may rise to 60 feet, and a church, temple, mosque, or similar place of religious assembly may rise to 75 feet, but only if the building is additionally set back from every lot line by one extra foot for each foot of height above the district's normal limit. Section 1115.03(d)(4) also exempts specific rooftop elements from the height cap outright, regardless of setback: penthouses or roof structures housing elevators, stairways, tanks, or ventilating fans; fire or parapet walls; skylights, towers, steeples, and stage or screen lofts; flagpoles, chimneys, and smokestacks; radio and television aerials; and water tanks.

Height limits climb in denser and commercial districts: the Heavy Commercial Corridor (C-HC) district allows 45 feet under Table 1110.03.1, and the Downtown (C-DT) Core sub-district allows 65 feet under Table 1110.04.1, both well above the 35-foot residential ceiling.