San Mateo County · Zoning setbacks
Atherton setback requirements
Lekua resolves a parcel’s jurisdiction and zone, then draws this envelope on the base plan, offset from the county’s parcel line, with its citation. Yards are measured from the surveyed line, so confirm against a survey before siting anything near them.
The envelope
What the numbers below make on the ground. Shown for the first district in the table; the rest follow the same geometry at their own dimensions.
Zone R-1A — the envelope Lekua draws on the plan.
- Front
- 60′
- Side
- —
- Rear
- 60′
The hatched band is the yard — ground the code gives up. Drawn not to scale: the yards are proportional to each other, so the deepest one fills the band and the rest follow. The dimensions carry the real numbers, and the export draws them on the actual parcel outline.
Atherton setbacks by district
Every row is produced by the same function the exporter calls, so this page cannot drift from what the drawing gets. The citation under each row is what prints on the sheet.
Atherton MC §17.32.040(D) (R-1A): front & rear 60 ft min (interior/corner lots); side per §17.38 Table 17.38.010-1 — 10–50 ft by lot width (not drawn). Pre-1946 lots of record <200 ft deep use 30% of depth (min 30 ft); front, rear and side yards each grow 5 ft per 1 ft of height over 30 ft (to 34 ft, special structure permit). Eaves may project 4 ft into any yard (1 ft on an accessory building). Lot width estimated from parcel geometry. Verify with Atherton Planning.
Atherton MC §17.33.040(D) (R-1B): front & rear 30 ft min (interior/corner lots); side per §17.38 Table 17.38.010-1 — 10–50 ft by lot width (not drawn). Pre-1967 lots of record <160 ft deep use 18% of depth (min 20 ft). Height 28 ft, sidewalls 18 ft. Eaves may project 4 ft into any yard (1 ft on an accessory building). Lot width estimated from parcel geometry. Verify with Atherton Planning.
— means the code sets no fixed minimum for that yard. It never means “build to the line”: the citation on that row says what governs instead — a block-contextual front, a formula on lot width, or a standard measured somewhere other than the property line.
What the export says about this table
Atherton reviewed 2026-10-18 against Municipal Code Title 17 (Chapters 17.32 and 17.33 and the Table 17.38.010-1 side-yard table), checked on R-1-A lots (interior, corner and irregular) and an R-1-B lot. Side yards follow the lot's width in Table 17.38.010-1, using a width measured from the parcel outline; confirm the width with the Town. Front, rear and side yards each grow 5 ft for every foot of height over 30 ft. On a corner lot the street side is drawn at the front setback depth. Lots of record from before 1946 (R-1-A) or 1967 (R-1-B) that are shallower than the code's thresholds may take a smaller front and rear; the standard yards are drawn. The Parker Avenue overlay front, the RM, POS and PFS districts, flag lots, creek-adjacent lots and fire-hazard areas are not yet reviewed.
Printed verbatim on every Atherton export — the same words the reviewer signed off, not a summary of them.
Setbacks are one layer of a Atherton base plan
The same address search returns the parcel boundary, 1–2 ft contours, building footprints, CAL FIRE defensible-space zones, the soil profile, four-season sun, and a native plant palette matched to the site. See everything Lekua resolves in San Mateo County →
Atherton setback FAQ
What are the residential setbacks in Atherton?
In R-1A the code sets a 60 ft front yard, no fixed side yard, and a 60 ft rear yard. The full table is below, transcribed from Atherton MC §17.32.040 with the citation attached to every row. This table has passed independent review, so Lekua draws the setback envelope on the base plan for a Atherton parcel.
Does Lekua draw the setback envelope for Atherton?
Yes. Atherton is one of the jurisdictions whose table has passed review, most recently on 2026-10-18, so the envelope is drawn on the DXF and PDF base plan, with its citation.
Where do these Atherton setback numbers come from?
They are transcribed from the adopted code — Atherton MC §17.32.040 — and this page renders them by calling the same function the exporter calls, so what you see here is what the drawing gets. Zoning changes; verify against the current code and with the planning department before submittal.
Can I get a CAD base map for a Atherton parcel?
Yes. Enter any Atherton address and Lekua returns a layered DXF base plan and a PDF site report — county parcel lines, fine contours (1–2 ft on demand, or the county’s own where it publishes them), building footprints, CAL FIRE defensible-space zones, soil, seasonal sun, and a native plant palette matched to the parcel, alongside zoning. See what else resolves in San Mateo County.
Start with a Atherton address
Free to search. The zone resolves from the parcel, not from the mailing address.