There are setbacks and setbacks. This guy is apparently talking about setbacks from the ground up but in my town they don't speak that lingo. "Setbacks" generally refer to upper stories and are put in the planning code to maintain existing streetwalls made up of smaller, older buildings while permitting newer, taller ones:
Example from San Francisco's Van Ness Plan
Quote:
Setbacks
POLICY 5.3
Continue the street wall heights as defined by existing significant buildings and promote an adequate enclosure of the Avenue.
New construction on Van Ness Avenue can occur in two basic situations. In some cases, the development will take place between or adjacent to architecturally significant buildings. In this instance, continuity of design and scale between the old and the new is of major importance. In other cases, new development will take place in a more isolated design context; for example, between two existing two-story, non-descript commercial structures. In this instance, the overall continuity of scale along the Avenue is of greater importance than the design character of adjacent buildings. Setbacks of up to 20 feet in depth should be considered for all new development above 40 feet in height and should be required whenever necessary to continue existing significant street wall heights and to define an adequate enclosure of the Avenue. Setbacks can also serve to buffer the upper-level residential units from street-level noise.
POLICY 5.4
Preserve existing view corridors.
In addition to the setback along the Van Ness Avenue frontage, a setback approximately fifteen feet deep should be provided at an appropriate height along California, Pine, Sacramento, Clay and Washington Streets when necessary to preserve view corridors. The recommended setbacks on the east-west streets could be varied on a case-by-case basis, through the Conditional Use review process, as individual buildings undertake massing studies to determine an appropriate building form and setback which would preserve these significant view corridors.
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http://www.sf-planning.org/ftp/Gener...n_Ness_Ave.htm