Bellevue residential zoning
Bellevue Residential Setbacks by Zone
Bellevue's zone establishes the first setback and site-capacity screen, but it does not prove that a house, addition, or ADU will fit. Corner yards, access routes, easements, critical areas, shoreline rules, overlays, utilities, and retained trees can shrink the usable area after the base zone is applied.
On this page4 sections
Official starting point: Bellevue residential dimensional standards. Verify the parcel zone, current code, and every applicable footnote before fixing the design.
Bellevue residential base-zone table
The city renamed many residential zones in 2025. Current and former names are shown together.
| Zone | Lot or density | Front | Rear | Side yards | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LL1 / LL-1 (formerly R-1) | 35,000 sq ft | 35 ft | 25 ft | 5 ft minimum each, 20 ft combined | 35% building; 45% impervious |
| LL2 / LL-2 (formerly R-1.8) | 20,000 sq ft | 30 ft | 25 ft | 5 ft minimum each, 15 ft combined | 35% building; 45% impervious |
| SR1 / SR-1 (formerly R-2.5) | 13,500 sq ft | 20 ft | 25 ft | 5 ft minimum each, 15 ft combined | 35% building; 45% impervious |
| SR2 / SR-2 (formerly R-3.5) | 10,000 sq ft | 20 ft | 25 ft | 5 ft minimum each, 15 ft combined | 35% building; 45% impervious |
| SR3 / SR-3 (formerly R-4) | 8,500 sq ft | 20 ft | 20 ft | 5 ft minimum each, 15 ft combined | 35% building; 45% impervious |
| SR4 / SR-4 (formerly R-5) | 7,200 sq ft | 20 ft | 20 ft | 5 ft minimum each, 15 ft combined | 40% building; 55% impervious |
| LDR1 / LDR-1 (formerly R-7.5) | 4,700 sq ft | 20 ft | 20 ft | 5 ft minimum each, 10 ft combined | 40% building; 55% impervious |
| LDR2 / LDR-2 (formerly R-10) | 10 homes per acre | 20 ft | 20 ft | 5 ft minimum each, 10 ft combined | 40% building; 65% impervious |
| LDR3 / LDR-3 (formerly R-15) | 15 homes per acre | 20 ft | 20 ft | 5 ft minimum each, 10 ft combined | 40% building; 65% impervious |
| MDR1 / MDR-1 (formerly R-20) | 20 homes per acre | 20 ft | 20 ft | 5 ft minimum each, 10 ft combined | 40% building; 65% impervious |
| MDR2 / MDR-2 (formerly R-30) | 30 homes per acre | 20 ft | 20 ft | 5 ft minimum each, 10 ft combined | 40% building; 65% impervious |
Other rules to check
Other rules that can change the answer
These items link to the city rules behind the guide. They are useful starting points, but they do not replace a property-specific review or a search for private covenants and easements.
| Topic | What it means | Official source |
|---|---|---|
| FAR | The feasibility test defaults to one FAR-counted dwelling: 0.50 through 10,000 sq ft, then 0.30 on the lot area above 10,000 sq ft. It counts the enclosed garage. An attached ADU is FAR-exempt without increasing the dwelling count; a DADU counts toward FAR and dwelling count. The 300 sq ft parking or storage exemption is limited to qualifying middle housing. | Bellevue LUC 20.20.390 ↗ |
| Setbacks | The district table controls front, rear, and combined side yards. A required yard adjoining an access route is at least 10 ft, and corner lots or special uses can add another street-facing yard. | Bellevue LUC 20.20.010 ↗ |
| Lot coverage | 35% or 40% by district. It is a building/structure footprint limit and is independent of hard- and impervious-surface limits. | Bellevue LUC 20.20.010 ↗ |
| Impervious / hard surface | Impervious limits are 45%, 55%, or 65%; hard-surface limits are 75%, 80%, or 90% by district. The feasibility report keeps the two calculations separate. | Bellevue LUC 20.20.010 ↗ |
| Height | A typical house is limited to 30 ft with a flat roof or 35 ft to a pitched-roof ridge, measured from average existing grade, plus a 40-ft individual-façade cap. | Bellevue height guidance ↗ |
| Trees | Qualifying development requires a tree inventory and current tree-credit/retention calculation. Critical-area, shoreline, and right-of-way trees follow separate provisions. | Bellevue LUC 20.20.900 ↗ |
| Existing private views | Bellevue does not protect a particular private sightline through ordinary land-use review. Public shoreline view corridors and recorded private restrictions are separate. | Bellevue official land-use staff report ↗ |
| Wetlands, slopes, and critical areas | For an ordinary detached-home screen, Bellevue's current FAR and structure-coverage calculations do not automatically subtract wetlands, steep slopes, or their buffers from the lot-area denominator. Those protected areas, buffers, and structure setbacks still shrink or reshape the area where a house can actually be placed. Bellevue wetlands can require category- and habitat-based buffers, and steep-slope or landslide hazards commonly start with a 50-foot buffer subject to site-specific review. Treat the zoning percentage as a theoretical size limit, not a buildable envelope; a wetland professional, surveyor, or geotechnical engineer may be needed to establish the usable area. | Bellevue LUC 20.25H critical areas ↗ |
Property-specific checks
What can change the table
- The common base height screen for a house is 30 feet for a flat roof or 35 feet to a pitched-roof ridge, plus a 40-foot individual-facade cap. Confirm the measurement method and exceptions.
- A required yard adjoining an access route is generally at least 10 feet. A corner lot can have more than one street-facing yard.
- Building coverage, impervious surface, and hard surface are different calculations. Do not treat the largest percentage as the buildable footprint.
- The feasibility study defaults to the one-dwelling FAR tier and counts an enclosed garage. Bellevue treats an attached ADU, a DADU, and qualifying middle housing differently, so the final unit count and code-area schedule must match the actual design.
- Middle-housing, multifamily, shoreline, critical-area, and overlay provisions may add standards not captured here.
How to use this guide
How to use the zoning table for a real property
- 1
Find the parcel on the city's current zoning map and copy the complete zone name.
- 2
Read the full row, table footnotes, and definitions. Do not use only the front setback.
- 3
Check corner-lot yards, access easements, critical areas, shorelines, trees, overlays, and recorded restrictions.
- 4
Use a boundary and topographic survey to place the setbacks against the actual lot.
- 5
Have the city or project team confirm any uncertainty before the design is fixed.
Official resources