Santa Clara County · Zoning setbacks
Sunnyvale setback requirements
This table is transcribed from the adopted code and printed on every export with its citation — but the envelope is drawn only after a table passes independent review, and Sunnyvale’s has not yet. Until it does, the export carries the numbers and says plainly that they are unverified.
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-0 — dashed: cited on the export, not yet drawn.
- Front
- 20′
- Side
- —
- 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.
Sunnyvale 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: 9′ on the secondary street frontage.
Sunnyvale MC §19.34.030 Table 19.34.030, R-0: front 20 ft (the table's 15 ft minimum with a 20 ft average; a single lot must meet the average, note 2); side yards 20% of lot width, not less than 10 ft in total and 4 ft on one side, lot width unknown, so the side ring is not drawn; rear 20 ft; on a corner lot the front yard on the longer street frontage may come down to 9 ft where the streets meet at 60° or more (§19.34.040(b)), drawn as the street side. A second story must stand at least 25 ft from the front (§19.34.045). Each side yard grows 3 ft for every story above the first, measured at the floor of that story for a single-family home or duplex (§19.34.080); the first-story sides are drawn. IN THE S SINGLE-STORY COMBINING DISTRICT (the zoning map writes S after the district, as R-0/S; the regional zoning data leaves it off) these yards still apply, but the house is limited to 17 ft high, one habitable floor (lofts and mezzanines count, basements do not) and a floor area ratio of 45% (§19.26.200(f)), so the second-story rules do not arise. Front yards are measured from the street right-of-way line, or from an official plan line where one is set (§19.12.260). CORNER AND DRIVEWAY VISION TRIANGLES: within the triangle formed 40 ft along each front property line from the point where those lines, extended, meet, and within the triangle 10 ft along a driveway edge and the inside edge of the sidewalk from where they meet, structures and vegetation (fences, hedges, shrubs and trees included) are limited to 3½ ft high; a tree of up to 38 in circumference whose lowest branches stay 10 ft up at maturity, and open fences, are allowed (§19.34.060). Residential districts allow a one-story encroachment into the rear yard (§19.48.050, not captured). Solar energy systems may deviate from these yards (Ch. 19.56). Accessory structures take their own setbacks (Ch. 19.40, not captured). Lots in the Downtown Specific Plan follow Ch. 19.28 instead. Verify with Sunnyvale Planning.
Corner lots: 9′ on the secondary street frontage.
Sunnyvale MC §19.34.030 Table 19.34.030, R-1: front 20 ft (the table's 15 ft minimum with a 20 ft average; a single lot must meet the average, note 2); side yards 20% of lot width, not less than 15 ft in total and 6 ft on one side, lot width unknown, so the side ring is not drawn; rear 20 ft; on a corner lot the front yard on the longer street frontage may come down to 9 ft where the streets meet at 60° or more (§19.34.040(b)), drawn as the street side. A second story must stand at least 25 ft from the front (§19.34.045). Each side yard grows 3 ft for every story above the first, measured at the floor of that story for a single-family home or duplex (§19.34.080); the first-story sides are drawn. IN THE S SINGLE-STORY COMBINING DISTRICT (the zoning map writes S after the district, as R-0/S; the regional zoning data leaves it off) these yards still apply, but the house is limited to 17 ft high, one habitable floor (lofts and mezzanines count, basements do not) and a floor area ratio of 45% (§19.26.200(f)), so the second-story rules do not arise. Front yards are measured from the street right-of-way line, or from an official plan line where one is set (§19.12.260). CORNER AND DRIVEWAY VISION TRIANGLES: within the triangle formed 40 ft along each front property line from the point where those lines, extended, meet, and within the triangle 10 ft along a driveway edge and the inside edge of the sidewalk from where they meet, structures and vegetation (fences, hedges, shrubs and trees included) are limited to 3½ ft high; a tree of up to 38 in circumference whose lowest branches stay 10 ft up at maturity, and open fences, are allowed (§19.34.060). Residential districts allow a one-story encroachment into the rear yard (§19.48.050, not captured). Solar energy systems may deviate from these yards (Ch. 19.56). Accessory structures take their own setbacks (Ch. 19.40, not captured). Lots in the Downtown Specific Plan follow Ch. 19.28 instead. Verify with Sunnyvale Planning.
Corner lots: 9′ on the secondary street frontage.
Sunnyvale MC §19.34.030 Table 19.34.030, R-1.5: front 20 ft (minimum and average); side yards 12 ft total with at least 4 ft on one side, drawn 6 ft each side (the symmetric split); rear 20 ft; on a corner lot the front yard on the longer street frontage may come down to 9 ft where the streets meet at 60° or more (§19.34.040(b)), drawn as the street side. Each side yard grows 3 ft for every story above the first, measured at the floor of that story for a single-family home or duplex (§19.34.080); the first-story sides are drawn. Where a zero side yard is permitted, the wall beside the 12 ft side yard may rise to 21 ft without the story increase, and no dwelling may stand within 12 ft of another (§19.34.090). Front yards are measured from the street right-of-way line, or from an official plan line where one is set (§19.12.260). CORNER AND DRIVEWAY VISION TRIANGLES: within the triangle formed 40 ft along each front property line from the point where those lines, extended, meet, and within the triangle 10 ft along a driveway edge and the inside edge of the sidewalk from where they meet, structures and vegetation (fences, hedges, shrubs and trees included) are limited to 3½ ft high; a tree of up to 38 in circumference whose lowest branches stay 10 ft up at maturity, and open fences, are allowed (§19.34.060). Residential districts allow a one-story encroachment into the rear yard (§19.48.050, not captured). Solar energy systems may deviate from these yards (Ch. 19.56). Accessory structures take their own setbacks (Ch. 19.40, not captured). Lots in the Downtown Specific Plan follow Ch. 19.28 instead. Verify with Sunnyvale Planning.
Corner lots: 20′ on the secondary street frontage.
Sunnyvale MC §19.34.030 Table 19.34.030, R-1.7: front 20 ft (the table's 15 ft minimum with a 20 ft average; a single lot must meet the average, note 2); side yards 12 ft total with at least 4 ft on one side, drawn 6 ft each side (the symmetric split); rear 20 ft; on a corner lot every street frontage is a front yard (§19.12.260), so the street side is drawn at 20 ft. Each side yard grows 3 ft for every story above the first, measured at the floor of that story for a single-family home or duplex (§19.34.080); the first-story sides are drawn. Front yards are measured from the street right-of-way line, or from an official plan line where one is set (§19.12.260). CORNER AND DRIVEWAY VISION TRIANGLES: within the triangle formed 40 ft along each front property line from the point where those lines, extended, meet, and within the triangle 10 ft along a driveway edge and the inside edge of the sidewalk from where they meet, structures and vegetation (fences, hedges, shrubs and trees included) are limited to 3½ ft high; a tree of up to 38 in circumference whose lowest branches stay 10 ft up at maturity, and open fences, are allowed (§19.34.060). Residential districts allow a one-story encroachment into the rear yard (§19.48.050, not captured). Solar energy systems may deviate from these yards (Ch. 19.56). Accessory structures take their own setbacks (Ch. 19.40, not captured). Lots in the Downtown Specific Plan follow Ch. 19.28 instead. Verify with Sunnyvale Planning.
Corner lots: 20′ on the secondary street frontage.
Sunnyvale MC §19.34.030 Table 19.34.030, R-2: front 20 ft (the table's 15 ft minimum with a 20 ft average; a single lot must meet the average, note 2); side yards 20% of lot width, not less than 10 ft in total and 4 ft on one side, lot width unknown, so the side ring is not drawn; rear 20 ft; on a corner lot every street frontage is a front yard (§19.12.260), so the street side is drawn at 20 ft (a single-family home or duplex may bring the longer frontage to 9 ft, §19.34.040(b), not drawn because the use is not known). A second story must stand at least 25 ft from the front (§19.34.045). Each side yard grows 3 ft for every story above the first, measured at the floor of that story for a single-family home or duplex (§19.34.080); the first-story sides are drawn. IN THE S SINGLE-STORY COMBINING DISTRICT (the zoning map writes S after the district, as R-0/S; the regional zoning data leaves it off) these yards still apply, but the house is limited to 17 ft high, one habitable floor (lofts and mezzanines count, basements do not) and a floor area ratio of 45% (§19.26.200(f)), so the second-story rules do not arise. Front yards are measured from the street right-of-way line, or from an official plan line where one is set (§19.12.260). CORNER AND DRIVEWAY VISION TRIANGLES: within the triangle formed 40 ft along each front property line from the point where those lines, extended, meet, and within the triangle 10 ft along a driveway edge and the inside edge of the sidewalk from where they meet, structures and vegetation (fences, hedges, shrubs and trees included) are limited to 3½ ft high; a tree of up to 38 in circumference whose lowest branches stay 10 ft up at maturity, and open fences, are allowed (§19.34.060). Residential districts allow a one-story encroachment into the rear yard (§19.48.050, not captured). Solar energy systems may deviate from these yards (Ch. 19.56). Accessory structures take their own setbacks (Ch. 19.40, not captured). Lots in the Downtown Specific Plan follow Ch. 19.28 instead. Verify with Sunnyvale Planning.
Corner lots: 20′ on the secondary street frontage.
Sunnyvale MC §19.34.030 Table 19.34.030, R-3: front 20 ft (the table's 15 ft minimum with a 20 ft average; a single lot must meet the average, note 2); side yards 15 ft total with at least 6 ft on one side, drawn 7.5 ft each side (the symmetric split); rear 20 ft; on a corner lot every street frontage is a front yard (§19.12.260), so the street side is drawn at 20 ft. Each side yard grows 3 ft for every story above the first, measured at the floor of that story for a single-family home or duplex (§19.34.080); the first-story sides are drawn. Front yards are measured from the street right-of-way line, or from an official plan line where one is set (§19.12.260). CORNER AND DRIVEWAY VISION TRIANGLES: within the triangle formed 40 ft along each front property line from the point where those lines, extended, meet, and within the triangle 10 ft along a driveway edge and the inside edge of the sidewalk from where they meet, structures and vegetation (fences, hedges, shrubs and trees included) are limited to 3½ ft high; a tree of up to 38 in circumference whose lowest branches stay 10 ft up at maturity, and open fences, are allowed (§19.34.060). Residential districts allow a one-story encroachment into the rear yard (§19.48.050, not captured). Solar energy systems may deviate from these yards (Ch. 19.56). Accessory structures take their own setbacks (Ch. 19.40, not captured). Lots in the Downtown Specific Plan follow Ch. 19.28 instead. Verify with Sunnyvale Planning.
Corner lots: 20′ on the secondary street frontage.
Sunnyvale MC §19.34.030 Table 19.34.030, R-4: front 20 ft (no average applies); side yards 20 ft total with at least 9 ft on one side, drawn 10 ft each side (the symmetric split); rear 20 ft; on a corner lot every street frontage is a front yard (§19.12.260), so the street side is drawn at 20 ft. Above two stories or 30 ft, each story's front setback adds at least half the height of its front wall (§19.34.050). Each side yard grows 3 ft for every story above the first, measured at the floor of that story for a single-family home or duplex (§19.34.080); the first-story sides are drawn. A single-family dwelling on a legally created lot takes the R-0 side yards and a two-family dwelling the R-2 side yards (20% of lot width, not less than 10 ft total and 4 ft on one side, §19.34.100(a)), not drawn because the use is not known, which is narrower than the R-4 sides on a lot under 100 ft wide. Front yards are measured from the street right-of-way line, or from an official plan line where one is set (§19.12.260). CORNER AND DRIVEWAY VISION TRIANGLES: within the triangle formed 40 ft along each front property line from the point where those lines, extended, meet, and within the triangle 10 ft along a driveway edge and the inside edge of the sidewalk from where they meet, structures and vegetation (fences, hedges, shrubs and trees included) are limited to 3½ ft high; a tree of up to 38 in circumference whose lowest branches stay 10 ft up at maturity, and open fences, are allowed (§19.34.060). Residential districts allow a one-story encroachment into the rear yard (§19.48.050, not captured). Solar energy systems may deviate from these yards (Ch. 19.56). Accessory structures take their own setbacks (Ch. 19.40, not captured). Lots in the Downtown Specific Plan follow Ch. 19.28 instead. Verify with Sunnyvale Planning.
Corner lots: 20′ on the secondary street frontage.
Sunnyvale MC §19.34.030 Table 19.34.030, R-5: front 20 ft (no average applies); side yards 20 ft total with at least 9 ft on one side, drawn 10 ft each side (the symmetric split); rear 20 ft; on a corner lot every street frontage is a front yard (§19.12.260), so the street side is drawn at 20 ft. Above two stories or 30 ft, each story's front setback adds at least half the height of its front wall (§19.34.050). Each side yard grows 3 ft for every story above the first, measured at the floor of that story for a single-family home or duplex (§19.34.080); the first-story sides are drawn. Front yards are measured from the street right-of-way line, or from an official plan line where one is set (§19.12.260). CORNER AND DRIVEWAY VISION TRIANGLES: within the triangle formed 40 ft along each front property line from the point where those lines, extended, meet, and within the triangle 10 ft along a driveway edge and the inside edge of the sidewalk from where they meet, structures and vegetation (fences, hedges, shrubs and trees included) are limited to 3½ ft high; a tree of up to 38 in circumference whose lowest branches stay 10 ft up at maturity, and open fences, are allowed (§19.34.060). Residential districts allow a one-story encroachment into the rear yard (§19.48.050, not captured). Solar energy systems may deviate from these yards (Ch. 19.56). Accessory structures take their own setbacks (Ch. 19.40, not captured). Lots in the Downtown Specific Plan follow Ch. 19.28 instead. Verify with Sunnyvale 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.
Setbacks are one layer of a Sunnyvale base plan
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Sunnyvale setback FAQ
What are the residential setbacks in Sunnyvale?
In R-0 the code sets a 20 ft front yard, no fixed side yard, and a 20 ft rear yard. The full table is below, transcribed from Sunnyvale MC §19.34.030 Table 19.34.030, R-0 with the citation attached to every row. This table is captured and cited on the export, but it has not yet passed independent review — so Lekua prints the code-cited values with an explicit “unverified” advisory rather than drawing lines it can’t stand behind.
Does Lekua draw the setback envelope for Sunnyvale?
Not yet. The table is encoded and every export carries the code-cited numbers and the citation, but the envelope is only drawn once a table passes independent review. Until then the export says so in plain words instead of drawing a line that might be wrong.
Where do these Sunnyvale setback numbers come from?
They are transcribed from the adopted code — Sunnyvale MC §19.34.030 Table 19.34.030, R-0 — 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 Sunnyvale parcel?
Yes. Enter any Sunnyvale 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 Santa Clara County.
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