3 rules for unincorporated Pierce County, Washington.
Verified from official government sources
Building setbacks in unincorporated Pierce County depend on the zone. In the Suburban Residential (SR) zone, the minimums are 25 feet front on an arterial, 15 feet front on a non-arterial, 5 feet interior/side, and 10 feet rear. Detached accessory structures keep a 3-foot minimum setback.
PCC 18A.15.040.B.4.a
Detached, single-story accessory structures, except for accessory dwelling units, may occupy 25 percent of the total area of an interior yard and shall maintain a minimum 3-foot setback.
Maximum building height in unincorporated Pierce County is set by zone. Residential zones such as Suburban Residential (SR), Residential Resource (RR), and ROC are capped at 35 feet, while rural zones like R5 through R40 allow 40 feet. Denser and commercial zones permit more.
PCC 18A.15.040.A.3
The height of a building is the vertical distance from the average elevation of the finished grade on each wall of a building to the top of a flat, shed, or mansard roof, and the average distance between the bottom of the eaves to the highest point of a pitched, hipped, gambrel, or gable roof.
Pierce County zoning controls building bulk mainly through yard-area limits rather than a single lot-coverage percentage. Detached single-story accessory structures may cover up to 25 percent of an interior yard and 50 percent of a rear yard, and on lots under 1 acre they cannot exceed 2,000 total square feet.
PCC 18A.37.020.C
In residential zones, on lots of less than 1 acre in size, detached unoccupied accessory structures shall not exceed 2,000 total square feet.
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