Santa Clara County · Zoning setbacks
Palo Alto 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 Palo Alto 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 R-1 — the envelope Lekua draws on the plan.
- Front
- 20′
- Side
- 6′
- 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.
Palo Alto 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: 16′ on the secondary street frontage.
Palo Alto MC §18.12.040 Table 2 (R-1): front at least 20 ft — where the average front setback on the same side of the block is 30 ft or more, that average is the front (contextual, §18.12.040(e); not drawn: it needs the neighbouring houses measured); rear 20 ft; interior side 6 ft (the base R-1 district; 8 ft in the subdistricts); street side 16 ft (10 ft on a substandard lot under 50 ft wide, §18.12.040(c)). Daylight planes: 10 ft at the interior side lines, rising at 45°; 16 ft at the rear setback line, at 60°. Height 30 ft (33 ft with a 12:12 roof). At least 60% of the required front yard must be permeable, beyond a 16 x 20 ft driveway and a 4 x 20 ft walk (§18.12.040(h)). An accessory building may stand in an interior side or rear yard only 75 ft or more from the front line and 20 ft from a street side, under a plane from 8 ft at the line (§18.12.080). A flag lot's front is 10 ft. Special setback lines on the Chapter 20.08 map may apply. Heat pumps and other electrification equipment need 3 ft from interior side and rear lines and 10 ft from a street side, and stay out of the front yard (§§18.10.040(h), 18.12.040(l)). Verify with Palo Alto Planning.
Corner lots: 16′ on the secondary street frontage.
Palo Alto MC §18.12.040 Table 2 (R-1(10,000)): front at least 20 ft — where the average front setback on the same side of the block is 30 ft or more, that average is the front (contextual, §18.12.040(e); not drawn: it needs the neighbouring houses measured); rear 20 ft; interior side 8 ft (every R-1 subdistrict); street side 16 ft (10 ft on a substandard lot under 50 ft wide, §18.12.040(c)). Daylight planes: 10 ft at the interior side lines, rising at 45°; 16 ft at the rear setback line, at 60°. Height 30 ft (33 ft with a 12:12 roof). At least 60% of the required front yard must be permeable, beyond a 16 x 20 ft driveway and a 4 x 20 ft walk (§18.12.040(h)). An accessory building may stand in an interior side or rear yard only 75 ft or more from the front line and 20 ft from a street side, under a plane from 8 ft at the line (§18.12.080). A flag lot's front is 10 ft. Special setback lines on the Chapter 20.08 map may apply. Heat pumps and other electrification equipment need 3 ft from interior side and rear lines and 10 ft from a street side, and stay out of the front yard (§§18.10.040(h), 18.12.040(l)). Verify with Palo Alto Planning.
Corner lots: 24′ on the secondary street frontage.
Palo Alto MC §18.10.040 Table 2 (R-E, residential estate): front 30 ft; rear 30 ft; interior side 15 ft; street side 24 ft. Daylight planes: 10 ft at the side lines, rising at 45°; 16 ft at the front and rear setback lines, at 60°. Height 30 ft; coverage 25%. Special setback lines on the Chapter 20.08 map may apply. Heat pumps and other electrification equipment need 3 ft from interior side and rear lines and 10 ft from a street side, and stay out of the front yard (§§18.10.040(h), 18.12.040(l)). Verify with Palo Alto Planning.
Corner lots: 16′ on the secondary street frontage.
Palo Alto MC §18.10.040 Table 2 (R-2): front 20 ft; rear 20 ft; interior side 6 ft; street side 16 ft (10 ft on a substandard lot under 50 ft wide, §18.10.040(b)). Daylight planes: 10 ft at the side lines, rising at 45°; 16 ft at the front and rear setback lines, at 60°. Height 30 ft. A flag lot's front is 10 ft. Special setback lines on the Chapter 20.08 map may apply. Heat pumps and other electrification equipment need 3 ft from interior side and rear lines and 10 ft from a street side, and stay out of the front yard (§§18.10.040(h), 18.12.040(l)). Verify with Palo Alto Planning.
Corner lots: 16′ on the secondary street frontage.
Palo Alto MC §18.10.040 Table 2 (RMD, two-unit multiple-family): front 20 ft; rear 20 ft; interior side 6 ft; street side 16 ft. Daylight planes: 15 ft at the side lines and at the rear setback line, rising at 45°. Height 35 ft. Special setback lines on the Chapter 20.08 map may apply. Heat pumps and other electrification equipment need 3 ft from interior side and rear lines and 10 ft from a street side, and stay out of the front yard (§§18.10.040(h), 18.12.040(l)). Verify with Palo Alto Planning.
What the export says about this table
Palo Alto reviewed 2026-09-26 against Municipal Code Chapters 18.10 and 18.12, checked on R-1 lots (interior, corner, irregular and a 25 ft substandard lot), an R-1 (10000) lot, an R-1 (S) lot, RE, R-2 and RMD (NP) lots, and a Planned Community (PC) lot. The R-1 front is 20 ft; where the average front setback on the same side of the block is 30 ft or more, that average governs and is not computed here. Interior side yards are 6 ft in R-1 and 8 ft in the R-1 lot-size subdistricts; a street side is 16 ft, or 10 ft on a substandard lot under 50 ft wide. A flag lot's front is 10 ft, less than drawn. Daylight planes limit height near the side and rear lines and are not drawn, nor are special setback lines on the Chapter 20.08 map. A lot in a PC district takes its standards from its ordinance, so no yards are drawn there. RM, commercial, research and other combining districts, creek-adjacent lots and fire-hazard areas are not yet reviewed.
Printed verbatim on every Palo Alto export — the same words the reviewer signed off, not a summary of them.
Setbacks are one layer of a Palo Alto 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 Santa Clara County →
Palo Alto setback FAQ
What are the residential setbacks in Palo Alto?
In R-1 the code sets a 20 ft front yard, 6 ft sides, and a 20 ft rear yard. The full table is below, transcribed from Palo Alto MC §18.12.040 Table 2 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 Palo Alto parcel.
Does Lekua draw the setback envelope for Palo Alto?
Yes. Palo Alto is one of the jurisdictions whose table has passed review, most recently on 2026-09-26, so the envelope is drawn on the DXF and the PDF site plan with its citation in the title block.
Where do these Palo Alto setback numbers come from?
They are transcribed from the adopted code — Palo Alto MC §18.12.040 Table 2 — 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 Palo Alto parcel?
Yes. Enter any Palo Alto address and Lekua returns a layered DXF base plan and a PDF site report — property 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 the zoning determination. See what else resolves in Santa Clara County.
Start with a Palo Alto address
Free to search. The zone resolves from the parcel, not from the mailing address.