Weld County, CO Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Table 23.2 in Sec. 23-3-160 sets the Row F maximum building height for the five residential zone districts: 30 feet in R-1 (Low-Density), R-2 (Duplex), R-3 (Medium-Density) and R-5 (Manufactured Home), and 45 feet in R-4 (High-Density Residential). The E (Estate) district has its own bulk section, Sec. 23-3-440(F), which caps height at 40 feet. Both sections apply to all buildings, structures, uses and land in their districts. R-4 gets the tallest ceiling alongside the densest numbers in the table: 70 percent maximum lot coverage and 1,500 square feet of lot area per dwelling unit, against 50 percent coverage in R-1 and R-2.

The measuring rule sits in the definitions, Sec. 23-1-90. BUILDING HEIGHT is the vertical distance from mean natural grade at the foundation to the highest point of the roof or appurtenances, and the only carve-outs are church spires and residential chimneys. Any other roof appurtenance counts toward the limit.

Height also drives the offset, the distance from the lot line. In the residential districts, Row E of Table 23.2 requires five feet or one foot for each three feet of building height, whichever is greater, so a 30-foot building needs a 10-foot offset and a 45-foot R-4 building needs 15 feet. Attached dwelling units on a party wall that meets Chapter 29 take zero. The residential setback from the street right-of-way is 20 feet in all five districts. The E district uses a flat 20-foot offset and a 20-foot setback, with a 40-foot offset for dwelling units adjacent to the A (Agricultural) district. The A district list in Sec. 23-3-70 prints no maximum building height figure; its offset is three feet or one foot per three feet of height, whichever is greater. In the Industrial districts, Sec. 23-3-340(B) requires ten feet or one foot for every two feet of building height, so a 40-foot industrial building sits at least 20 feet from the lot line.

Near the Greeley-Weld County Airport, Sec. 23-5-30 adds a separate ceiling that applies to structures and trees alike. The Horizontal Zone is set at 150 feet above the airport elevation of 4,690 feet, or 4,847 feet above mean sea level, and the Conical Zone slopes 20 feet outward for each foot upward to 350 feet above airport elevation.