Walworth County, WI Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Sec. 74-54 sets out the area, height and yard requirements for each residential district in one long section. For the R-1 single-family district, unsewered, used for low-density single-family development on lots without public sewer, the conventional-design table caps Building Height at Maximum 45 feet. The same 45-foot cap carries through the R-1 conservation-development option for developments of five or more units. Sec. 74-102 then supplies the county's general height modification rules that apply on top of whatever number a district table sets: special structures such as elevator penthouses, grain elevators, cooling towers and smoke stacks may rise as high as their distance from the nearest lot line; essential utilities, water towers and transmission lines are exempt from height limits entirely; communication towers may reach three times their distance from the lot line, with utility cabinets set back twice their own height; agricultural structures like barns and silos may reach twice their distance from the lot line; and public, semi-public, multiple-family, commercial and industrial structures can be built to 60 feet if every required yard is increased at least one foot for each foot the building exceeds the district's normal height cap.

High-bay warehouses using oxygen-reduction fire prevention get their own exception if set back at least one and a half times their height from the lot line or street. None of these exceptions apply automatically; a builder proposing to exceed the base district height still has to show the specific yard increase or setback the modification requires.