San Mateo County · Zoning setbacks
Menlo Park 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-E — the envelope Lekua draws on the plan.
- Front
- 20′
- Side
- 15′
- Rear
- 20′
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.
Menlo Park 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.
Corner lots: 15′ on the secondary street frontage.
Menlo Park MC §16.10.030 (R-E): front 20 ft; rear 20 ft; interior sides 30 ft total with at least 10 ft on any one side — drawn split evenly at 15 ft; one side may be narrowed to 10 ft if the other takes the difference; corner street side 15 ft. Daylight plane (§16.67.010): 45° inward from 19.5 ft above each side setback line. Fences, walls and hedges: 4 ft in the required front yard, 7 ft elsewhere, 3 ft in the 35 ft corner sight triangle (§16.64.020). Verify with Menlo Park Planning.
Corner lots: 15′ on the secondary street frontage.
Menlo Park MC §16.12.030 (R-E-S): front 20 ft; rear 20 ft; interior sides 25 ft total with at least 10 ft on any one side — drawn split evenly at 12.5 ft; one side may be narrowed to 10 ft if the other takes the difference; corner street side 15 ft. Daylight plane (§16.67.010): 45° inward from 19.5 ft above each side setback line. Fences, walls and hedges: 4 ft in the required front yard, 7 ft elsewhere, 3 ft in the 35 ft corner sight triangle (§16.64.020). Verify with Menlo Park Planning.
Corner lots: 12′ on the secondary street frontage.
Menlo Park MC §16.14.030 (R-1-S): front 20 ft, rear 20 ft, interior side 10 ft, corner street side 12 ft. Daylight plane (§16.67.020): 45° inward from 12.5 ft above each side setback line (one story) or 19.5 ft (two or more). Fences, walls and hedges: 4 ft in the required front yard, 7 ft elsewhere, 3 ft in the 35 ft corner sight triangle (§16.64.020). Verify with Menlo Park Planning.
Corner lots: 12′ on the secondary street frontage.
Menlo Park MC §16.15.030 (R-1-S (FG), Felton Gables) adopting §16.14.030: front 20 ft, rear 20 ft, interior side 10 ft, corner street side 12 ft. Felton Gables replaces the R-1-S daylight plane with its own: up from each side property line to 20 ft minus the adjacent required yard, then 34° inward; building coverage 35%; FAL 2,800 sq ft + 20% × (lot area − 7,000 sq ft). Fences, walls and hedges: 4 ft in the required front yard, 7 ft elsewhere, 3 ft in the 35 ft corner sight triangle (§16.64.020). Verify with Menlo Park Planning.
Corner lots: 12′ on the secondary street frontage.
Menlo Park MC §16.16.030 (R-1-U): front 20 ft; rear 20 ft; interior side 10% of minimum lot width, 5–10 ft — width unknown, so the 10 ft cap is drawn — minimum lot width is the narrowest distance between the side lot lines, between the front and rear setback lines (§16.04.430); corner street side 12 ft. Daylight plane (§16.67.020): 45° inward from 12.5 ft above each side setback line (one story) or 19.5 ft (two or more). Lot width estimated from parcel geometry. Fences, walls and hedges: 4 ft in the required front yard, 7 ft elsewhere, 3 ft in the 35 ft corner sight triangle (§16.64.020). Verify with Menlo Park Planning.
Corner lots: 12′ on the secondary street frontage.
Menlo Park MC §16.17.030 (R-1-U (LM), Lorelei Manor): above ground, front 20 ft, rear 20 ft, ground-floor interior side 5 ft (3 ft for up to 20 ft of wall with the abutting owner's written approval or a use permit), second-floor interior side 10 ft, corner street side 12 ft; below ground, front 15 ft, rear 15 ft, sides 5 ft (3 ft with the abutting owner's written approval or a use permit), street side 12 ft. Daylight plane: up 15.5 ft from grade at 5 ft from each side property line (19.5 ft with the abutting owner's written approval or a use permit), then 45° inward; height 20 ft one story, 28 ft two. Fences, walls and hedges: 4 ft in the required front yard, 7 ft elsewhere, 3 ft in the 35 ft corner sight triangle (§16.64.020). Verify with Menlo Park Planning.
Corner lots: 12′ on the secondary street frontage.
Menlo Park MC §16.18.030 (R-2 Low Density Apartment): front 20 ft; rear 20 ft; interior side 10% of lot width, 5–10 ft — width unknown, so the 10 ft cap is drawn; corner street side 12 ft. Height 28 ft; coverage 35%; floor area 40% of the lot (second stories 15%); 40% landscaped. Daylight plane (§16.67.010): 45° inward from 19.5 ft above each side setback line. Lot width estimated from parcel geometry. Fences, walls and hedges: 4 ft in the required front yard, 7 ft elsewhere, 3 ft in the 35 ft corner sight triangle (§16.64.020). Verify with Menlo Park Planning.
Corner lots: 15′ on the secondary street frontage.
Menlo Park MC §16.20.030 Table 1 (R-3 Apartment): front 15% of lot width, min 20 ft, and rear 15% of lot width, min 15 ft — except lots in the three areas around the El Camino Real/Downtown Specific Plan (note 1: University/Valparaiso/El Camino Real/Oak Grove; Arbor/Santa Cruz/El Camino Real/Middle; San Antonio and Alma/Encinal/Marcussen/Ravenswood), which take 20 ft and 15 ft flat (lot width unknown, so the minimums are drawn — they hold for lots up to 100 ft wide); interior side 10 ft; corner street side 15 ft. Height 35 ft (40 ft at 20 du/ac or more around the Specific Plan area, with a 45° profile from 28 ft at setbacks facing a street, single-family zone or park); coverage 55%. Fences, walls and hedges: 4 ft in the required front yard, 7 ft elsewhere, 3 ft in the 35 ft corner sight triangle (§16.64.020). Verify with Menlo Park Planning.
Corner lots: 15′ on the secondary street frontage.
Menlo Park MC §16.22.040 (R-4 High Density): front 20 ft, rear 15 ft, interior side 10 ft, corner street side 15 ft; height 40 ft; coverage 55%. Fences, walls and hedges: 4 ft in the required front yard, 7 ft elsewhere, 3 ft in the 35 ft corner sight triangle (§16.64.020). Verify with Menlo Park Planning.
What the export says about this table
Menlo Park reviewed 2026-09-25 against Municipal Code Title 16, checked on R-E, R-1-S, R-1-S (Felton Gables), R-1-U, R-1-U (Lorelei Manor), R-2 and R-3 lots and on a conditional development (X) lot; the R-E-S and R-4 standards are drawn from the same chapters but were not checked on a sample lot. In R-E and R-E-S the side yards are a combined total (30 and 25 ft, at least 10 ft on any one side), drawn as an even split; one side may be narrower if the other is widened. In R-1-U and R-2 each side yard is 10% of the lot's narrowest width, 5 to 10 ft. In Lorelei Manor the 5 ft side yard is the ground floor's; a second floor stands 10 ft from the side lines. In R-3, lots in the three areas around the El Camino Real/Downtown Specific Plan take a 20 ft front and 15 ft rear; elsewhere the front and rear are 15% of lot width where that is more, and the larger figure is drawn on lots over 100 ft wide. Daylight planes, including Felton Gables' 34° plane, limit building height near the side lines and are not drawn. A lot in an X district takes its standards from its conditional development permit, so no yards are drawn there. R-3-A, R-3-C, R-4-S, R-L-U, mixed-use, commercial and specific-plan districts, official plan lines, creek-adjacent lots and fire-hazard areas are not yet reviewed.
Printed verbatim on every Menlo Park export — the same words the reviewer signed off, not a summary of them.
Setbacks are one layer of a Menlo Park 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 →
Menlo Park setback FAQ
What are the residential setbacks in Menlo Park?
In R-E the code sets a 20 ft front yard, 15 ft sides, and a 20 ft rear yard. The full table is below, transcribed from Menlo Park MC §16.10.030 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 Menlo Park parcel.
Does Lekua draw the setback envelope for Menlo Park?
Yes. Menlo Park is one of the jurisdictions whose table has passed review, most recently on 2026-09-25, so the envelope is drawn on the DXF and PDF base plan, with its citation.
Where do these Menlo Park setback numbers come from?
They are transcribed from the adopted code — Menlo Park MC §16.10.030 — 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 Menlo Park parcel?
Yes. Enter any Menlo Park 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 Menlo Park address
Free to search. The zone resolves from the parcel, not from the mailing address.