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Building on a hillside in Milpitas

Milpitas's own rules on building on a hillside, with the code text for every value.

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Each rule below links to the section of the Milpitas Municipal Code it was read from, with the code text one click away (checked October 2026). General information, not legal advice.

What Milpitas's code says

Milpitas code What Milpitas's code adds
Grading and retaining walls
  • No cut or embankment steeper than 3 horizontal to 1 vertical.
    Applies: Hillside areas, next to a publicly maintained right-of-way.
    § B.22.180 · code text
    No grading cut or embankment with a slope greater than three (3) feet horizontal to one (1) foot vertical shall be located adjacent to a publicly maintained right-of-way.
  • No grading on any part of a site with a natural slope over 40%.
    Applies: Hillside areas.
    § B.22.180 · code text
    Grading of any area of a site with a natural slope greater than forty (40) percent shall be prohibited.
  • No higher than 6 feet.
    Applies: Hillside areas: exposed walls and fences facing roadways, and retaining walls.
    § B.22.180 · code text
    Exposed walls and fences facing roadways and retaining walls shall be no greater than six (6) feet in height.
  • No higher than 15 feet.
    Applies: Hillside areas: crib walls facing roadways.
    § B.22.180 · code text
    Crib walls fencing roadways shall be no greater than fifteen (15) feet in height.
Height on hillside lots
  • At most 17 feet and 1 story, not counting basements.
    Applies: Hillside main buildings west of the crestline, measured from the lowest finished grade to the highest ridgeline.
    § B.22.040 · code text
    Under no circumstances shall any main building on the west side of the crestline exceed a height of seventeen (17) feet and one (1) story (excluding basements) from the lowest finished grade to the highest ridgeline of the building.
  • At most 27 feet and 2 stories.
    Applies: Hillside main buildings east of the crestline, measured from the lowest finished grade to the highest ridgeline.
    § B.22.040 · code text
    Under no circumstances shall any main building on the east side of the crestline exceed a height of twenty-seven (27) feet and two (2) stories from the lowest finished grade to the highest ridgeline of the building.
  • At most 17 feet and 1 story.
    Applies: Accessory structures anywhere in the hillside, measured from the lowest finished grade to the highest ridgeline.
    § B.22.040 · code text
    Accessory structure(s) shall not exceed seventeen (17) feet and one (1) story from the lowest finished grade to the highest ridgeline of the building anywhere in the hillside.

Who this affects

HomeownersContractorsDesigners

Frequently asked questions

What extra rules apply to a hillside lot in Milpitas?

Milpitas's code: No cut or embankment steeper than 3 horizontal to 1 vertical. (Hillside areas, next to a publicly maintained right-of-way.) (§ B.22.180); No grading on any part of a site with a natural slope over 40%. (Hillside areas.) (§ B.22.180).

General information, not legal advice.

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Milpitas Municipal Code — full text