San Mateo County · Zoning setbacks
Unincorporated San Mateo County setback requirements
Lekua resolves a parcel’s jurisdiction and zone, then draws this envelope on the site plan with its citation in the title block. Enter a Unincorporated San Mateo County address and the setbacks arrive already drawn.
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 S-1 — the envelope Lekua draws on the plan.
- Front
- 20′
- Side
- 5′
- 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.
Unincorporated San Mateo County 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: 20′ on the secondary street frontage.
Title 8 §8.150.010 Table 1 (S-1 to S-8): front 20, side 5, rear 20. The most limiting provision controls where standards conflict. Coastal Zone (LCP), Design Review and resource overlays may modify. San Mateo County Zoning Regulations, Title 8 Development Code (adopted Ord. 10/08/2024), captured from the adopted text 2026-08-17. Verify with San Mateo County Planning & Building.
Corner lots: 20′ on the secondary street frontage.
Title 8 §8.150.010 Table 1 (S-9 / S-10): front 20, side 10, rear 20. The most limiting provision controls where standards conflict. Coastal Zone (LCP), Design Review and resource overlays may modify. San Mateo County Zoning Regulations, Title 8 Development Code (adopted Ord. 10/08/2024), captured from the adopted text 2026-08-17. Verify with San Mateo County Planning & Building.
Corner lots: 50′ on the secondary street frontage.
Title 8 §8.150.010 Table 1 (S-11 to S-13): front 50, side 20, rear 20. The most limiting provision controls where standards conflict. Coastal Zone (LCP), Design Review and resource overlays may modify. San Mateo County Zoning Regulations, Title 8 Development Code (adopted Ord. 10/08/2024), captured from the adopted text 2026-08-17. Verify with San Mateo County Planning & Building.
Corner lots: 5′ on the secondary street frontage.
Title 8 §8.154.010(3) (S-17 Midcoast): front 20, side 5, rear 20. Structures over 16 ft tall need a combined side total of 15 ft (min 5 ft each side). The most limiting provision controls where standards conflict. Coastal Zone (LCP), Design Review and resource overlays may modify. San Mateo County Zoning Regulations, Title 8 Development Code (adopted Ord. 10/08/2024), captured from the adopted text 2026-08-17. Verify with San Mateo County Planning & Building.
Corner lots: 10′ on the secondary street frontage.
Title 8 §8.158.050 (S-50 North Fair Oaks): front 20, side 5 (10 where the side fronts a street), rear 20. The most limiting provision controls where standards conflict. Coastal Zone (LCP), Design Review and resource overlays may modify. San Mateo County Zoning Regulations, Title 8 Development Code (adopted Ord. 10/08/2024), captured from the adopted text 2026-08-17. Verify with San Mateo County Planning & Building.
Corner lots: 5′ on the secondary street frontage.
Title 8 §8.162.050 (S-71 Devonshire): front 20, side 5, rear 20. The most limiting provision controls where standards conflict. Coastal Zone (LCP), Design Review and resource overlays may modify. San Mateo County Zoning Regulations, Title 8 Development Code (adopted Ord. 10/08/2024), captured from the adopted text 2026-08-17. Verify with San Mateo County Planning & Building.
Corner lots: 5′ on the secondary street frontage.
Title 8 §8.182.040 (S-81 San Mateo Highlands): front 20, side 5, rear 20. The most limiting provision controls where standards conflict. Coastal Zone (LCP), Design Review and resource overlays may modify. San Mateo County Zoning Regulations, Title 8 Development Code (adopted Ord. 10/08/2024), captured from the adopted text 2026-08-17. Verify with San Mateo County Planning & Building.
Corner lots: 10′ on the secondary street frontage.
Title 8 §8.194.050 (S-90 Menlo Oaks): front 40, side 10, rear 20. Front is 20 ft on Bay Road/Ringwood Avenue frontages — the 40 ft general standard draws; verify which applies. Side may be 40 ft on corner lots per the zoning maps. The most limiting provision controls where standards conflict. Coastal Zone (LCP), Design Review and resource overlays may modify. San Mateo County Zoning Regulations, Title 8 Development Code (adopted Ord. 10/08/2024), captured from the adopted text 2026-08-17. Verify with San Mateo County Planning & Building.
What the export says about this table
Unincorporated San Mateo County setbacks are captured from the adopted Title 8 Development Code (10/08/2024): the S-1..S-13 table and all named neighborhood S-district chapters. Live-verified on one Highlands parcel 2026-08-17. The zone code comes from the regional BASIS dataset (vintage 2022), which can lag rezonings and may normalize named districts to their density-district numbers; second-story rear formulas and overlay districts (Coastal LCP, Design Review) are disclosed, not computed. Verify with San Mateo County Planning & Building.
Printed verbatim on every Unincorporated San Mateo County export — the same words the reviewer signed off, not a summary of them.
Setbacks are one layer of a Unincorporated San Mateo County site 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→
Unincorporated San Mateo County setback FAQ
What are the residential setbacks in Unincorporated San Mateo County?
In S-1 the code sets a 20 ft front yard, 5 ft sides, and a 20 ft rear yard. The full table is below, transcribed from Title 8 §8.150.010 Table 1 with the citation attached to every row. This table has passed independent review, so Lekua draws the setback envelope on the site plan for a Unincorporated San Mateo County parcel.
Does Lekua draw the setback envelope for Unincorporated San Mateo County?
Yes. Unincorporated San Mateo County is one of the jurisdictions whose table has passed review, most recently on 2026-08-17, so the envelope is drawn on the DXF and the PDF site plan with its citation in the title block.
Where do these Unincorporated San Mateo County setback numbers come from?
They are transcribed from the adopted code — Title 8 §8.150.010 Table 1 — 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 Unincorporated San Mateo County parcel?
Yes. Enter any Unincorporated San Mateo County address and Lekua returns a layered DXF base plan and a PDF site report — property lines, 1–2 ft contours, building footprints, CAL FIRE defensible-space zones, soil, seasonal sun, and a native plant palette matched to the parcel, alongside the zoning determination. See what else resolves in San Mateo County.
Start with a Unincorporated San Mateo County address
Free to search. The zone resolves from the parcel, not from the mailing address.