Riverside | Parking, Setbacks, Height
Riverside Parking, Setbacks and Height: Yards by Zone, Garages, Apartments and Projections
A setback is the required distance between a building and a lot line, and the open area it creates is called a yard. Riverside sets setbacks and heights in Tables 19.100.040 A and B of the Municipal Code, parking in Chapter 19.580, and the exceptions that let parts of a building reach into a yard in Chapter 19.630. This page gathers those rules for houses, apartments, ADUs and SB 9 homes. The Riverside overview sums up the whole guide.
Riverside parking, setbacks and height in six facts
- An R-1-7000 lot has a 20-foot front setback, 7.5-foot interior and 10-foot street side yards, and a 25-foot rear setback. Source: RMC Table 19.100.040 A
- A Riverside house needs 2 parking spaces inside a private garage; on lots of 3,500 to 5,499 sq ft a carport also counts. Source: RMC Table 19.580.060
- Apartments need 1.5 spaces per one-bedroom home and 2 per home with two or more bedrooms, and 75 percent must be covered. Source: RMC Table 19.580.060, 19.580.070
- In R-1 zones, part of the house may extend 10 feet into the rear setback if the part covers 500 sq ft or less. Source: RMC 19.630.040(E)
- Height is measured from the building pad or finished grade to the top of a flat roof or the peak of a pitched roof. Source: RMC 19.560.020
- State law bars minimum parking within half a mile of a major transit stop unless the City makes findings within 30 days. Source: Gov. Code 65863.2
Setbacks in the Single-Family Zones
Where two side yard figures appear, the second applies to a side yard next to a street. Note 5 says "The side setback can be applied to either side except that the larger setback is required when a side yard is adjacent to a street."
| Zone | Front | Side (interior / street) | Rear |
|---|---|---|---|
| RA-5 | 40 ft | 20 ft | 25 ft |
| RC | 30 ft | 25 ft | 25 ft |
| RR | 30 ft | 20 ft | 100 ft |
| RE | 30 ft | 25 ft | 30 ft |
| R-1-1/2 Acre | 30 ft | 20 ft | 35 ft |
| R-1-13000 | 25 ft | 15 ft | 30 ft |
| R-1-10500 | 25 ft | 10 ft / 15 ft | 25 ft |
| R-1-8500 | 25 ft | 7.5 ft / 12.5 ft | 25 ft |
| R-1-7000 | 20 ft | 7.5 ft / 10 ft | 25 ft |
Source: Riverside Municipal Code Table 19.100.040 A, Supplement 33.
The notes to the table carry special cases:
- Old narrow lots. A lot under 65 feet wide recorded before November 23, 1956, or before annexation, has interior side yards of five feet.
- Hawarden Drive. "No lot that fronts onto Hawarden Drive within the Hawarden Drive Special Design Area, generally between Anna Street and the Alessandro Arroyo, shall have a front yard depth of less than 50 feet."
- Large corner lots. A corner lot with more than 130 feet on each street needs a full front yard on both streets.
- Retaining walls. "No dwelling shall be located closer than five feet to any retaining wall exceeding two feet in height," unless the wall is part of the house.
- Block averaging in R-1-7000. Where homes on half or more of a block face sit deeper than the rule, Section 19.630.030 sets the front setback at their average.
The code also lets houses use some setback space. Section 19.100.060 C and Section 19.630.040 E repeat three R-1 rules: on local streets, where the garage sits ten or more feet behind the front setback, the living part of the house "may extend into the front setback up to a maximum of five feet"; portions of the house "may encroach up to ten feet into the required rear yard setback provided that the encroachment does not exceed 500 square feet in total area"; and in R-1-7000 a garage built into the house may sit five feet from an interior side line. Additions to an older house that already sits inside a side yard may follow the existing wall line, but no closer than five feet to an interior side line or ten feet to a street side line.
Setbacks in the Multiple-Family Zones
| Zone | Front | Interior side | Street side | Rear |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R-3-4000 | 25 ft | 10 ft | 10 ft | 20 ft |
| R-3-3000 | 25 ft | 10 ft | 10 ft | 20 ft |
| R-3-2500 | 20 ft | 10 ft | 10 ft | 20 ft |
| R-3-2000 | 15 ft | 7.5 ft | 10 ft | 15 ft |
| R-3-1500 | 15 ft | 7.5 ft | 10 ft | 15 ft |
| R-4 | 15 ft | 7.5 ft | 10 ft | 10 ft |
Source: Riverside Municipal Code Table 19.100.040 B. On arterial streets over 110 feet wide, the R-3 front setback is 25 ft in every R-3 zone.
Next to single-family land, buildings over two stories need more room: "the required side and rear yards shall be increased by two and one-half feet for each story in excess of two stories." Lots under 21,780 square feet follow the smaller setbacks of Section 19.100.075, with five-foot interior side yards, explained on the three or more homes page. A Small Lot PRD sets setbacks by lot size, as little as ten feet in front and zero on one interior side for lots of 1,500 to 2,999 square feet.
Height, Stories and How Height Is Measured
The base heights are 35 feet and two stories in RA-5, RR, RE and every R-1 zone; 20 feet and one story in RC; 30 feet and two stories in R-3, with 40 feet and three stories for up to 60 percent of the homes; and 50 feet and four stories in R-4. Small R-1 lots under 5,500 square feet may have three stories within 35 feet, and small R-3 and R-4 lots under 21,780 square feet three stories within 40 feet.
Section 19.560.020 sets the method. Height is "the vertical distance between the building pad elevation or finished grade and the highest point of the subject building or structure," and the highest point is "the coping of a flat roof, deck line of a mansard roof, or peak of the highest gable of a pitch or hip roof, exclusive of vents, air conditioners, chimneys, and similar objects." On a sloped lot with a stepped foundation, height is measured from "the mid point of a line between the highest and lowest points of the building pads."
Section 19.560.030 allows towers, spires and cupolas to "exceed the specified height limit by a maximum of ten feet," with approval, and lets stair and elevator housings rise above the limit, but never "for the purpose of providing additional floor space." Where the zoning map shows a Building Stories overlay, the number after the S sets the stories, and the height cap is 20 feet for the first story plus ten feet for each more story.
What May Project Into a Yard
- Eaves and bay windows. "Cornices, eaves, belt courses, sills bay windows, buttresses, or other similar architectural features may project up to four feet into a required front yard area and may project into a required side or rear yard area up to four inches per one foot of width of such yard."
- Fire escapes up to four feet into any yard, and open stairs and balconies up to two and one-half feet.
- Porches. "Single-story porches may encroach into the required front yard up to 20 percent of the yard length or six feet, whichever is less."
- The three-foot rule. "A minimum distance of three feet shall be maintained between all projections and any property line."
The porch rule appears twice with different limits. Section 19.100.060 C lets R-1 front porches "encroach into the front setback up to a maximum of six feet," while Section 19.630.040 D caps a one-story porch at 20 percent of the yard or six feet, whichever is less. In R-1-7000, with a 20-foot front yard, the second rule allows four feet. The code does not say which controls; plan on the four feet or get a written answer from the Planning Division.
Required Parking
| Use | Required spaces |
|---|---|
| Single-family home | 2 spaces in a private garage |
| Single-family home, lot of 3,500 to 5,499 sq ft | 2 covered spaces in a garage or carport |
| Single-family home, lot under 3,500 sq ft | 1 covered and 1 uncovered space; tandem allowed |
| Apartment, one bedroom | 1.5 spaces |
| Apartment, two or more bedrooms | 2 spaces |
| Live/work unit, studio unit, tiny home on a foundation | 1 space |
| Senior housing | 1 space per unit, half covered |
| ADU and junior ADU | None, and no replacement for a converted garage |
| SB 9 home (Chapter 19.443) | 1 covered space per home; none near qualifying transit |
| PRD home | 2 garage spaces plus 1 guest space per 3 homes |
Sources: Riverside Municipal Code Table 19.580.060; Sections 19.442.030(H), 19.443.050(B) and 19.780.060(B)(5).
For apartments, "dens, studies, or other similar rooms that may be used as bedrooms shall be considered bedrooms." Section 19.580.070 B adds: "At least 75 percent of the total required spaces shall be in a carport or fully enclosed," with garages and carports "distributed evenly throughout the project." Tandem parking may count for homes with two or more bedrooms. Covered spaces "shall not be used for household storage."
Two code rules reduce parking. Under Section 19.580.060 C, the Director "may grant a mixed-use parking credit to reduce the total number of required spaces by up to 15 percent" for a mixed-use project in a Transit Priority Area (an area the state names in Senate Bill 743, Public Resources Code 21099) or with a shared parking study. Under Section 19.580.060 D, projects that add measures to cut driving, such as "Unbundled residential parking" (spaces leased or sold apart from the homes), may cut spaces by up to ten percent. Together the two may not exceed 20 percent. Section 19.580.060 A.2 adds that under Government Code 65863.2 "qualifying projects may be exempt from minimum parking requirements." That statute bars minimum parking within half a mile of a major transit stop, unless the City makes written findings within 30 days; projects under 20 homes or with 20 percent affordable homes are exempt from those findings.
Driveways and Where Cars May Park
Section 19.580.070 A sets where cars may park on a house lot. In the front yard, parking is limited "to the space within a carport or garage plus a paved driveway between such garage or carport and the street from which it is served, not exceeding the width of the garage." Owners may pave a strip next to the driveway, "not to exceed 20 feet in width beyond the driveway," back as far as the rear of the house. In a street side yard, the extra paving behind the front setback needs a six-foot solid fence or wall.
A second driveway is allowed in RA-5 and RC, and elsewhere where the lot "has 80 feet or more of street frontage or has frontage on two streets." New driveways onto arterial streets are not allowed "except where no other access to the property exists." In the rear yard, parking paving is limited to 1,000 square feet or 25 percent of the rear yard, whichever is less, under Section 19.630.050. In R-3 and R-4, "No parking shall be permitted between the primary building or buildings and the public right-of-way."
Historic properties get some room. Note 13 to Table 19.580.060 lets the Director consider variances "including consideration of tandem parking, allowances for on-street parking" where strict parking rules "would significantly compromise the historic integrity of a property." A variance is a permission to depart from a code standard.
Best For
- ✓ R-1 houses that can use the 10-foot rear yard extension for up to 500 sq ft.
- ✓ Small lots under 3,500 sq ft, where one covered and one tandem space are enough.
- ✓ Projects within half a mile of a major transit stop, where state law bars minimum parking.
Usually Fails When
- ✕ An SB 9 second home has no room for a covered space and the lot is far from transit.
- ✕ A porch design relies on six feet in a 20-foot front yard.
- ✕ An apartment plan puts parking between the building and the street.
What To Verify Before Spending Money
- → Which porch rule the City applies to your R-1 front yard.
- → Whether a Building Stories overlay on the zoning map lowers the height.
- → Distance to a major transit stop for parking relief under Gov. Code 65863.2.
Where to Go Next
Related on VanPlex: the Riverside overview, duplex to fourplex and is your lot eligible.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the setbacks for a house in Riverside R-1-7000?
How tall can a house be in Riverside?
How many parking spaces does a new house need in Riverside?
Can I park in my front yard in Riverside?
How far can eaves and porches go into a Riverside setback?
Can I extend my house into the rear yard in Riverside?
Do apartments in Riverside need covered parking?
Can Riverside reduce required parking for a project?
What are the setbacks for apartments in Riverside R-3?
How is building height measured in Riverside?
Official sources (checked October 2026)
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