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

WWCC Chapter 17.18 sets the county's density and dimensional requirements, and Section 17.18.020's table pairs a maximum height column with the minimum setback and lot coverage standards for every zone in unincorporated Walla Walla County. Most of the county's rural and agricultural zones, Exclusive Agriculture, Primary Agriculture, General Agriculture, Agriculture Residential, Rural Remote, and Rural Agriculture, cap structures at 35 feet, the same limit that applies in the Suburban Residential R-96, Single Family Residential R-72, and Single Family Residential R-60 zones. The Multiple Family Residential zone allows taller buildings, up to 50 feet, reflecting its higher density of three units per acre and reduced 15-foot front and 5-foot side setbacks.

Note 1 to the table exempts barns and other agricultural structures from any height limit at all, a carve-out that matters heavily in a county built around wheat and wine operations. Height itself is measured, per the definition in WWCC 17.08.110, from the average finished grade around the building to the highest point of a flat roof's coping, the deck line of a mansard roof, or the average height of the highest gable on a pitched or hip roof. Community Development checks proposed height against this table during building permit and site development permit review, and the standard applies only in the unincorporated county, since Walla Walla, College Place, Waitsburg, and Prescott each set their own height limits inside city limits.