Woodinville residential zoning
Woodinville residential zoning and setbacks
Woodinville uses fixed zone setbacks but a lot-area-based building-coverage ladder in R-1. It pairs building coverage with minimum landscaping and separate tree, grading, drainage, shoreline, and critical-area requirements.
On this page4 sections
Official starting point: Woodinville residential lot standards. Verify the parcel zone, current code, and every applicable footnote before fixing the design.
Woodinville residential zoning by zone
| Zone | Minimum lot | Front / street | Rear | Side / interior | Height | Size limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 / R-1 | 35,000 sq ft | 10 ft | 10 ft | 10 ft | 35 ft | See code notes |
| R4 / R-4 | 9,000 sq ft | 10 ft | 5 ft | 5 ft | 35 ft | 35% building; Coverage is 40% below 5,000 sq ft, 35% from 5,000 through 43,559 sq ft, and 28% at one acre or more. |
| R6 / R-6 | 6,000 sq ft | 10 ft | 5 ft | 5 ft | 35 ft | 50% building; Coverage is 50% below one acre and 40% at one acre or more. |
| R8 / R-8 | 5,000 sq ft | 10 ft | 5 ft | 5 ft | 35 ft | 55% building; Coverage is 55% below one acre and 45% at one acre or more. |
| R12 / R-12 | 3,600 sq ft | 10 ft | 5 ft | 5 ft | 35 ft | 65% building; Coverage is 65% below 5,000 sq ft, 60% from 5,000 through 43,559 sq ft, and 50% at one acre or more. |
| R18 / R-18 | 2,400 sq ft | 10 ft | 5 ft | 5 ft | 45 ft | 65% building; Coverage is 65% below 5,000 sq ft, 60% from 5,000 through 43,559 sq ft, and 50% at one acre or more. |
| R24 / R-24 | 1,700 sq ft | 10 ft | 5 ft | 5 ft | 45 ft | 70% building; Coverage is 70% below one acre and 65% at one acre or more. |
| R48 / R-48 | 900 sq ft | 10 ft | 5 ft | 5 ft | 45 ft | 70% building; Coverage is 70% at every lot-area tier in the current table. |
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 | Residential base zones do not use a general FAR. Garages still consume building coverage. | WMC 21.32 ↗ |
| Setbacks | Street setback is 10 ft and interior setback is 10 ft in R-1 / 5 ft in other residential zones. A street-facing garage generally needs 20 ft of driveway. | WMC 21.32 ↗ |
| Lot coverage | R-1 coverage steps down by actual lot area to 15% at one acre or more; R-4 through R-48 use zone-specific percentages. | WMC 21.32 ↗ |
| Impervious / hard surface | The code uses minimum landscaping coverage alongside building coverage; shoreline, drainage, and critical areas can impose additional surface limits. | WMC 21.32 ↗ |
| Height | R-1 through R-12 are 35 ft; R-18 through R-48 are 45 ft, measured under the average designated-grade and roof rules. | WMC 21.32 ↗ |
| Trees | Qualifying proposals require 70 tree credits/acre in R-1 and 50 credits/acre in R-4 through R-8, with replacement or approved alternatives where allowed. | WMC 21.50 ↗ |
| Existing private views | No general residential private-view right was identified. Viewshed review in this chapter concerns certain nonresidential height bonuses. | WMC 21.32 ↗ |
| Wetlands, slopes, and critical areas | Woodinville's zone- and lot-size-based building coverage is a base zoning maximum. Critical-area rules separately protect wetlands and geologic hazards and can require buffers plus an additional building setback, so the percentage is not a usable-envelope calculation. Woodinville wetland buffers generally range from 40 to 225 feet when minimization measures apply and increase when they do not; buildings generally need another 10-foot setback outside the buffer. Geologic hazards require site-specific analysis and safe siting. | Woodinville WMC 21.51 critical areas ↗ |
Property-specific checks
What can change the table
- The current coverage table uses lot-area tiers in several zones. R-1 steps from 40% on legacy lots under 5,000 sq ft to 15% at one acre; R-4, R-6, R-8, R-12, R-18, and R-24 also step down at one or more lot-area thresholds. The feasibility report calculates the parcel's exact row.
- Street setback is 10 ft; interior setback is 10 ft in R-1 and 5 ft in other residential zones. Street-facing garages generally need 20 ft of driveway.
- Qualifying R-1 proposals require 70 tree credits per acre; R-4 through R-8 require 50 credits per acre.
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