Building Setbacks & Zoning in Washington (2026)

Auburn's residential setback table, ACC 18.07.030(E), sets a 35-foot front setback in RC and R-1, dropping to 10 feet…

In Bellingham's Residential Single (RS) zone, main buildings need a 5-foot side yard, a 10-foot rear yard, and a front…

In unincorporated Benton County's Community Center Residential (CCR) District, dwellings need a 55-foot setback from a…

In Clark County's rural residential districts (R-20, R-10, R-5), the minimum front setback is 50 feet from a road, side…

In unincorporated Cowlitz County, every zoning district, including the unzoned (U) area, has a front yard setback of at…

Edmonds sets minimum street, side and rear setbacks by low-density residential subdistrict in ECDC 16.20.030(D)…

Everett sets minimum building setbacks by zoning district under Table 6-2: single-family NR-C lots need a 20-foot front…

Federal Way's suburban estate (SE) zone requires a 30-foot front yard, 10-foot side yards and a 10-foot rear yard on…

In the AP-20 agricultural production zone of unincorporated Franklin County, primary buildings must sit at least 25…

Grant County's Unified Development Code layers a special buffer setback on top of the base zone setback whenever a…

Kennewick's residential zoning code sets minimum front, side, rear, and garage setbacks by zone under KMC…

Kent's agricultural and residential zoning districts each carry their own minimum yard setbacks under KCC 15.04.170…

Unincorporated King County sets a 10-foot minimum street setback and 5-foot interior setback in the R-4 through R-48…

Detached single-family homes in Kirkland's Low Density Residential zones (RS, RSX, RSA) must sit back 20 feet from the…

Lakewood's residential dimensional table, LMC 18A.60.030(A), sets front, garage, rear, and interior setbacks by zoning…

Lynnwood's Residential Neighborhood (RN) zone, the base district for single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes…

Marysville's density and dimension table at Marysville Municipal Code § 22C.010.080(2) sets minimum street, side and…

Pasco sets minimum building setbacks by housing type across the R-1, R-2, R-3 and R-4 residential zones under PMC…

Pierce County sets minimum building setbacks by zone classification in Table 18A.15.040-1, from a 25-foot arterial…

Port Townsend's residential zoning table sets minimum front, side, and rear yard setbacks that vary by district, from 5…

Puyallup's Table 20.20.020 sets minimum yard setbacks for every RS single-family zone: front yards range from 15 feet…

Renton sets minimum front, rear and side yard setbacks by residential zone in RMC 4-2-110A, ranging from a 30-foot…

Within Sammamish's shoreline jurisdiction, SMC 25.06.020(9) sets the shoreline setback at 50 feet landward of Lake…

SMC 23.44.090's Table A sets Neighborhood Residential front setbacks at 15 feet for lots with one or two units and 10…

SCC Chapter 14.28 sets minimum building setbacks for every structure and lot in unincorporated Skagit County. Setbacks…

In unincorporated Snohomish County, setbacks are set by zone in the SCC 30.23 bulk matrices. In the common urban…

In Spokane County's urban residential zones, the front/flanking-street and side setback for a residence is 15 feet (20…

Spokane Valley sets minimum yard setbacks by zoning district in Table 19.70-1 under SVMC § 19.70.020. Front and…

Tacoma's Urban Residential zones set minimum yard setbacks in TMC § 13.06.020F.1: a 15-foot front and rear setback in…

Thurston County sets yard setbacks by zoning district under Title 21. In the Low-Density Residential District 0-6…

In unincorporated Whatcom County, Title 20 zoning sets minimum yards from property lines. Rural Residential lots hold…

Setbacks in Yakima County come from two codes: the joint Yakima Urban Area Zoning Ordinance (YMC Title 15) inside the…

Washington adopts the International Building Code statewide through chapter 51-50 WAC, setting maximum heights and…

Auburn's residential zoning table caps a house at 35 feet in the RC and R-1 zones, rising to 45 feet in R-3 and R-F…

Bellingham's Residential Single zone caps buildings at 35 feet measured to the roof peak from grade at the wall, or 20…

In unincorporated Benton County's GMA Agricultural District, no residential building may rise higher than 35 feet. The…

In Clark County's rural residential districts (R-20, R-10, R-5), the maximum building height for residential buildings…

In unincorporated Cowlitz County, buildings over 35 feet tall must not exceed what the local fire district's equipment…

Edmonds caps building height at 25 feet across all three low-density residential subdistricts, LDR-S, LDR-M and LDR-L…

Everett caps building height by zone under Everett Municipal Code Section 19.22.020: Neighborhood Residential (NR) and…

Federal Way caps detached houses in its single-family residential zones at 30 feet above average building elevation…

Franklin County caps primary and accessory structures at 35 feet in the AP-20 agricultural production zone, but exempts…

Grant County caps building height by zoning district in the tables to its Unified Development Code, and Table 1's Note…

Kennewick caps residential building height by zoning district in the Table of Residential Site Development Standards at…

Kent caps residential building height by zoning district under KCC 15.04.170(I): 2.5 stories and 35 feet in the NR-L…

In unincorporated King County's urban single-family zones (R-4 through R-8), homes are capped at a 35-foot base height…

Kirkland limits detached house height to 25 feet above average building elevation (ABE) in RS, PLA 3C and PLA 6E zones…

In unincorporated Kitsap County, building height is measured from a reference datum to the roofline under KCC…

Lakewood caps residential building height at 35 feet in its four single-family districts, R1 through R4, and its first…

Lynnwood's Residential Neighborhood (RN) zone caps building height at 35 feet for detached, attached and stacked…

Marysville sets base residential height limits of 30 feet in the NR-4.5 and NR-6.5 zones and up to 45 feet in R-18 and…

Pasco limits single-family homes to 35 feet in the R-1 and R-2 zones and 40 feet in R-3 and R-4 under Table…

Maximum building height in unincorporated Pierce County is set by zone. Residential zones such as Suburban Residential…

Port Townsend caps residential building height by zoning district: 30 feet in R-I, up to 35 feet for single-family…

Table 20.20.020 caps outright-permitted residential structures at 36 feet in Puyallup's RS-35 through RS-06 zones and…

Renton limits residential structures to a maximum wall plate height of 24 feet and two stories in the RC through R-8…

Inside Sammamish's shoreline jurisdiction, the Shoreline Master Program caps single-family residences at 35 feet and…

SMC 23.44.070 caps most structures in Seattle's Neighborhood Residential zones at 32 feet, rising to 42 feet for…

In the Rural Mixed-Use zones of unincorporated Skagit County, including Rural Village Residential (RVR), Table…

Snohomish County sets maximum building heights zone-by-zone in the bulk matrices referenced by SCC 30.23.050, ranging…

Maximum building height in Spokane County's Low Density and Low Density Plus Residential zones is 35 feet; Medium…

Spokane Valley limits residential building height to 35 feet in the R-1 through R-4 single-family zones and 50 feet in…

In Tacoma's R-4 and R-5 Multiple-Unit Dwelling Districts, main buildings are capped at 60 and 150 feet respectively…

In Thurston County's Low Density Residential District 0-6, the maximum building height is 25 feet, set by the…

Whatcom County caps building height by zoning district instead of countywide: WCC § 20.32.400 sets 35 feet in the…

Unincorporated Yakima County caps most single-family homes at 35 feet in the SR, R-1 and R-2 districts, while…

Auburn caps how much of a residential lot can be covered by buildings, driveways and other hard surfaces through a…

Bellingham caps standard multifamily lot coverage at 35% of the site under BMC 20.32.040(D), but BMC 20.32.050(C) lets…

Parcels in unincorporated Benton County's Community Center Residential (CCR) District are capped at 40 percent lot…

Clark County's rural residential districts (R-20, R-10, R-5) set no numeric maximum lot coverage in Table 40.210.020-3…

Cowlitz County's Table 18.10.501 caps maximum lot coverage by zoning district for unincorporated land: 50% in the RR-1…

Edmonds caps lot coverage at 35 percent of total lot area across all three low-density residential subdistricts under…

Everett caps how much of a residential lot a building can cover: 35 percent in the NR-C zone and 50 percent in the NR…

Federal Way caps impervious lot coverage, meaning every structure, driveway and other surface that blocks water…

In the RR-1 rural residential zone of unincorporated Franklin County, buildings and structures may cover no more than…

Kennewick's Table of Non-Residential Site Development Standards sets no blanket lot coverage cap for most commercial…

Kent caps building and site coverage by zoning district under KCC 15.04.170(B): 30% in the A-10 agricultural and NR-L…

Unincorporated King County caps impervious surface, pavement, roofs, decks, by zone under Code § 21A.09H.030: 55% in…

Kirkland caps a single-family lot at 50 percent impervious lot coverage under KZC 15.30.060, the Density/Dimensions…

Lakewood caps building coverage at 45 percent of the lot in the R1 through R3 single-family zones, 50 percent in R4…

In Lynnwood's Alderwood-city center transition area (ACC) zone, LMC 8.30.0440(B)(1) caps building coverage at 70…

Marysville Municipal Code § 22C.010.080(2) caps building coverage and total impervious surface for every residential…

Pasco caps residential lot coverage at 60 percent for detached single-family and multifamily buildings across the R-1…

In unincorporated Pierce County, detached accessory structures on residential lots under 1 acre cap out at 2,000 total…

Port Townsend limits building lot coverage to 25-75% of a parcel depending on the residential zoning district, with…

Table 20.20.020 caps how much of an RS-zoned lot a structure may cover: there is no fixed percentage in RS-35, but…

Renton caps building lot coverage between 10% in the Resource Conservation zone and 50% in R-8, with impervious surface…

SMC 23.44.080 caps structure coverage at 50 percent of the lot in Seattle's Neighborhood Residential zones, rising to…

Table 14.11.030-1 caps impervious lot coverage in unincorporated Skagit County's Rural Mixed-Use zones: 35 percent in…

Snohomish County caps how much of a lot a building can cover through the bulk matrices in SCC 30.23.010, with most…

In Spokane County, maximum building coverage is 55% of lot area in the Low Density and Low Density Plus Residential…

Spokane Valley caps how much of a residential lot a building can cover under Table 19.70-1 of the zoning code: 30…

Tacoma caps total building coverage at 65% of lot area in its R-4 and R-5 multi-unit districts; single-family UR-zoned…

In Thurston County's unincorporated Low-Density Residential District 0-6, Code Section 21.12.050 caps building…

In Whatcom County's Residential Rural (RR) zone, the base rural zoning covering most of the unincorporated county…

Unincorporated Yakima County caps building and impervious lot coverage by residential zone: 60% in the SR, R-1 and R-2…