Seattle residential zoning
Seattle Residential Setback Requirements (2026)
Seattle Neighborhood Residential projects with one or two homes generally need 15-foot front and rear setbacks. Three or more homes generally use 10 feet. Side setbacks are generally 5 feet on average and at least 3 feet. Alleys, ADUs and other site conditions can change these rules. Confirm the current zone and development site in Seattle's Permit & Site History tool before using the table.
On this page6 sections
How do I find my Seattle zone and development site?
Search the address in Seattle's Permit & Site History Research Tool using the link below. Confirm the selected development site and download its Site Characteristics Report. The report identifies current zoning, overlays and other site information.
Match the current zone and proposed number of homes to the applicable standards. The table below covers Neighborhood Residential zoning. Use the rules for your actual zone if the report shows a different designation. Check mapped critical areas and shoreline conditions before drawing the building outline.
Official starting point: Seattle zoning map and Site Characteristics Report. Verify the parcel zone, current code, and every applicable footnote before fixing the design.
Seattle residential zoning by zone
| Zone | Minimum lot | Front / street | Rear | Side / interior | Height | Size limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NR / Neighborhood Residential | Project-specific | 15 ft | 15 ft | 5 ft | 32 ft base height | 50% building; 60% FAR; One-home baseline. Three-or-more-home, stacked, incentive, alley, tree-retention, green-factor, shoreline, and critical-area paths can use different standards. |
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 2026 Neighborhood Residential FAR ranges from 0.6 to 1.6 as density increases. Qualifying stacked flats can use 1.8 or 2.0 FAR, and lots under 5,000 sq ft can include at least 2,500 sq ft of chargeable floor area. Use the row for the actual number and arrangement of homes. | SMC 23.44 ↗ |
| Setbacks | One- or two-home projects generally use a 15-ft front and rear setback. Three-or-more-home projects generally use 10 ft front and rear. The side setback is generally 5 ft average and 3 ft minimum; an alley, an ADU, a small lot in a frequent-transit area, or Queen Anne Boulevard can change the result. | SMC 23.44 ↗ |
| Lot coverage | Base lot coverage is 50%. Qualifying stacked housing can use 60%, while mapped environmentally critical areas reduce the lot area used in the calculation. | SMC 23.44 ↗ |
| Impervious / hard surface | Drainage, amenity-area, green-factor, tree, shoreline, and environmentally critical-area rules require separate site calculations; lot coverage is not an all-surface allowance. | SMC 23.44 ↗ |
| Height | Base height is 32 ft plus applicable roof allowances. Qualifying tree, three-or-more-home, or stacked/green-factor paths can reach 42 ft plus applicable roof allowances. | SMC 23.44 ↗ |
| Trees | Tree retention, protection, replacement, or payment depends on the tree and proposal; public imagery does not replace an arborist inventory. | Seattle tree regulations ↗ |
| Existing private views | No general private-view development right is assumed. Recorded easements or covenants require title review. | SMC 23.44 ↗ |
| Wetlands, slopes, and critical areas | Seattle's current Neighborhood Residential lot-coverage calculation excludes riparian corridors, wetlands and their buffers, submerged land and shoreline setbacks, and designated steep-slope nondisturbance areas from the lot area. The code preserves a minimum 625 square feet of coverage or a larger amount approved through ECA relief. Seattle environmentally critical areas can change unit density, lot coverage, setbacks, grading, and where construction is allowed. A mapped wetland or steep slope means the engine needs a confirmed ECA boundary and nondisturbance area before it can turn the 50 percent ratio into a reliable square-foot ceiling. | Seattle Neighborhood Residential and ECA rules ↗ |
Practical worksheet
Put this guide to work
Worksheet updated . This is a planning example. Regulatory sources and data have their own dates.
Use three separate drawings and calculations
Illustration only: a 10,000-square-foot qualifying lot with a 0.50 FAR would permit 5,000 square feet of counted floor area. A hypothetical 35% building-coverage cap would allow a 3,500-square-foot footprint. Those are different ceilings, not two allowances to add together. This example does not assign either ratio to your city or parcel.
- Floor-area schedule
- List each level, garage, ADU, basement and other space. Cite the local inclusion or exclusion rule beside any area you do not count.
- Coverage and surface schedule
- Calculate the footprint separately from all regulated hard or impervious surfaces. Include existing retained improvements and use the correct eligible lot area for each ratio.
- Usable site plan
- Place the building inside the actual yards, easements, critical areas, tree protections and access requirements. Show room for construction as well as the finished building.
A house can pass FAR and fail coverage. It can pass both and still have no workable driveway or excavation area. Review the three documents together. Pervious paving, basements and garages do not receive the same treatment in every jurisdiction.
Property-specific checks
What can change the table
- The table shows the conservative one-home starting row: 0.6 FAR, a 15-ft front and rear setback, and a 5-ft side screen. Current side setbacks are generally 5 ft average and 3 ft minimum; use the full code calculation rather than treating the table as a surveyed envelope.
- Seattle's 2026 FAR increases by density: 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, or 1.6 under the standard bands. Qualifying stacked-flat, school-proximity, tree-retention, and green-factor paths can differ, so select the actual project configuration before calculating floor area.
- Three-or-more-home projects generally use 10-ft front and rear setbacks. Rear setbacks can be 0 ft at an alley, and ADUs, frequent-transit areas, Queen Anne Boulevard, amenity area, parking, building separation, trees, shoreline, and environmental areas add separate checks.
- Confirm the live development site, current zoning, overlays, environmental mapping, trees, and current SMC 23.44 before fixing a concept.
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