Modesto | Parking, Setbacks and Height

Modesto Parking, Setbacks, Height and Lot Coverage for Houses, Duplexes and Apartments

A setback is the open space a building must keep from a lot line. Section 10-2.183 calls it "the minimum required distance that buildings, structures, and parking areas must be separated from any lot line." Setbacks, height, lot coverage and parking decide how many homes fit on a Modesto lot, often more than the zone's density does. This page gives every number for R-1, R-2 and R-3 from Table 4.1-1 and Table 5.1-1 of the Municipal Code, read in Supplement 72, and the reviews that come with a second story. The Modesto overview sums up the whole guide.

Setbacks, Height and Coverage by Zone

Source: Modesto Municipal Code Table 4.1-1, Section 10-4.102, Supplement 72. "Next to R-1" includes City P-D zones at R-1 density and County A-2, R-A and R-1 land. R-1 and R-2 permit no third story under their height limits.

Height is "The vertical distance above grade to the highest point of a building or structure" (Section 10-2.132). Each limit in the table applies as stories or feet, "whichever is less," so a two-story R-1 home may not exceed 30 feet. Section 10-4.401 lets chimneys, stairways and mechanical equipment exceed the limit by up to 10 feet, and towers or spires by 25 percent or 10 feet, whichever is less. A conditional use permit from the Board of Zoning Adjustment is needed for anything taller.

Lot coverage counts "structures including patios, porches, garages, and covered parking spaces," and leaves out "driveways, uncovered parking spaces, swimming pools, retaining walls" and decks (Section 10-2.141). Section 10-4.503(k) adds that for an ADU of 800 square feet or less, the coverage limit "shall not apply." On a 5,000 square foot interior R-1 lot, 50 percent coverage allows 2,500 square feet of roofed area, by VanPlex arithmetic, before any small ADU.

Front, Side and Rear Setback Rules

Section 10-4.106 adds four front yard rules. A through lot, with streets on both ends, keeps the front setback on both. Front yards stay open except for landscaping. A trash enclosure up to 52 inches tall may sit in the front setback where there is no other place, with the Director's approval. And on a corner lot created before July 7, 1955, the street side setback for a home, accessory building or fence is 7.5 feet.

Section 10-4.107(a) asks more of a second story in R-1. The two-story part of a new home, or a second-story addition, needs a 10 foot side setback "where located adjacent to an existing single-story dwelling." The rule does not apply where both lots were created by a final map in the past 10 years, and the Director may cut it to 5 feet where the extra space is "infeasible due to physical constraints."

Section 10-4.108 sets three rear setback rules. Any building that backs onto a major collector, arterial street or expressway needs 15 feet. A garage or carport reached from an alley needs 5 feet. A patio cover open on three sides needs 5 feet, or 10 feet when the lot backs onto one of those larger streets.

Section 10-4.403 lets eaves and awnings reach into a setback as the California Building Code allows, and chimneys up to 2 feet. A ground-mounted air conditioner may sit in a 5 foot side setback if a 2 foot path stays clear and the other side yard keeps a gated path at least 32 inches wide.

Second-Story Review

Section 10-4.110 applies to lots in R-1, and to R-2 and R-3 lots next to R-1. Every new two-story home or accessory building, every second-story addition, and even "a new window" in an existing second story goes through development plan review "for compliance with the Neighborhood Compatibility Guidelines." A project counts as two-story if its height to the top plate line is "two-stories or sixteen (16) feet or more," or if its windows or balconies look into a neighbor's rear yard.

Three cases are exempt, under Section 10-4.110(b):

• The lot and every adjacent residential lot were created by final subdivision maps recorded in the past 10 years.
• The project has "minimal impact on the privacy and use of neighboring rear yard areas," as the Director decides.
• "At least 50 percent of the adjacent lots" already have two-story houses.

The City's Second Story Review brochure says the review looks at views into "private rear yard areas," the "Massing of the proposed second story," and "Potential for blocking solar access or shading of rear-yard pools." Under Section 10-9.1005(f), the City mails notice to every owner within 150 feet within 15 days of the application, and again when the Director decides, which starts a 15 day appeal period. In R-2 and R-3, Section 10-4.110(c) applies the same review to any apartment building over one story next to R-1.

Parking

Sources: Modesto Municipal Code Table 5.1-1, Section 10-5.102 and Section 10-4.508, Supplement 72. Table 5.1-1 gives the same residential counts in the Downtown Area as elsewhere, but its first note sends new development in the Downtown Zones to Article 5 of Chapter 7.

Section 10-5.103 counts a fraction of one-half or more as a full space, caps compact spaces at 30 percent of a lot, and requires parking on the site it serves. Under Section 10-5.105, a standard space is 9 by 18 feet, but for "Residential Development, four (4) or fewer units," each space not in a garage or carport must be 10 feet wide and 19 feet long. The aisle for 90 degree parking is 24 feet wide. No parking layout may make a car back onto a street, "except for parking serving single-family houses, duplexes or triplexes."

Section 10-5.101(a) exempts any building that existed on July 7, 1955, "except as additional parking demand is created by expansion, reconstruction or change in use." Section 10-5.104 lets the Board, Commission or Council reduce or share parking, but only "for nonresidential buildings or uses." For homes, the state rule in Government Code 65863.2 does the most: no minimum parking "if the project is located within one-half mile of public transit," unless the City makes findings, which it may not do for a housing project of fewer than 20 homes.

A Worked Example: a Duplex on a 50 by 100 Foot R-1 Lot

Take an interior R-1 lot 50 feet wide and 100 feet deep, 5,000 square feet, with one-story homes on both sides. The numbers below are VanPlex arithmetic on Table 4.1-1, Table 5.1-1 and Section 10-4.107.

• Ground floor. 50 feet less two 5 foot side setbacks leaves 40 feet of width. 100 feet less the 15 foot front and 10 foot rear setbacks leaves 75 feet of depth.
• Second floor. Next to one-story homes, each side setback grows to 10 feet, leaving 30 feet of width, and the rear setback grows to 15 feet.
• Coverage. 50 percent of 5,000 square feet is 2,500 square feet of roofed area, garages and porches included.
• Parking. Two homes at 2 spaces each is 4 spaces. A garage facing the street sits 20 feet back; open spaces are 10 by 19 feet.

A two-story duplex on this lot also goes through second-story review, unless one of the three exemptions applies. A one-story duplex of two homes of 1,000 square feet each, plus a 400 square foot carport, would use 2,400 of the 2,500 square feet of coverage.

Accessory Buildings, Fences and Corner Lots

Table 4.1-2 limits garages, sheds and other accessory buildings on an R-1 lot, or any residential lot with only a house: 400 square feet on a lot under 5,000 square feet, 600 on a lot of 5,000 to under 10,000, 800 on a lot of 10,000 to under 20,000, and 1,000 on larger lots. The table prints "or 50% of main building, whichever is less" beside the first row. They need a 25 foot front setback, a 15 foot street side setback, and 4 foot side and rear setbacks if over 120 square feet, with a height of 1 story or 16 feet. These limits "do not apply to ADUs."

Section 10-4.406 caps walls and fences at 8 feet, and at 42 inches in the front and street side yards. In R-1, a fence taller than 42 inches must be set back 10 feet from the street side. A house lot that backs onto an arterial street or expressway with no access needs a 7 foot masonry wall at the rear. Section 10-4.404 keeps a clear vision triangle on corner lots: the 25 feet from the corner along each street, where nothing may block the view between 3 and 8 feet above the curb.

Exceptions, Variances and a Stale Reference

Section 10-9.502 lets the Director grant "an administrative exception for a deviation of less than ten (10) percent from the required development standard" when no practical alternative exists and no harm results. A 5 foot side setback could drop to 4 feet 7 inches this way, by VanPlex arithmetic. A larger change needs a variance from the Board of Zoning Adjustment, which must find "special circumstances or conditions applicable to the property" that other lots in the zone do not share (Section 10-9.602). The Planning Division lists an exception and a variance at $2,877 each for FY 2026-2027, and a variance for a single-family home at $1,584.

One parking row is out of date. Table 5.1-1 lists "Second Unit (Granny Flat)" at "1 additional space" and points to "Section 10-3.217 (b)." That section now covers duplexes in R-1, and the ADU parking rule in force is Section 10-4.508, which allows "No more than one (1)" space and none near transit. Section 10-4.508 and state law control for ADUs.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Modesto overview, the duplex to fourplex guide and the California ADU law page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)