Side Yard Set-Back Lines

E-3 Lot, and Building Lines

This is about where a house can be built on a lot, and where the rules come from.

The location where a home is allowed to be built on a lot, especially in a neighborhood, is often dictated by a document called PLAT RESTRICTIONS aka Protective Covenants. Within the Plat Restrictions will be two primary sections, often titled MAIN BUILDING, and OTHER BUILDINGS, each having nothing to do with the other; and each with its own set of rules for positioning structures like the main house, as well as any other structures not attached to the main house, like a storage building, pool house, or detached garage.

For one example, the section Main Building may prohibit a front opening garage door, yet the section Other Buildings may have no such exclusion, thus allowing the automobile door of a detached garage to open toward the front of the lot.

For another more pertinent example, the section MAIN BUILDING may dictate a thirty foot (30’) distance from the rear-most part of the house to the rear property line. While, at the same time, the section OTHER BUILDINGS may dictate five feet (5’) for the distance behind a detached garage.

Side Yard Set-Back Building Lines

Within the plat restrictions Main Building section is a paragraph, often named BUILDING LOCATION. That statement will present a list of distances concerning setback lines for the front, rear and sides of the building, which are to be obeyed, as if law, for the positioning of a house on a homesite.

Some examples follow. The place names are imaginary, but the circumstances are real. Their comparisons will show very different approaches to wording, and its effects, which can be surprising, even costly if misunderstood.

Anyland Subdivision represents the majority of covenant-controlled communities around the world. The following paragraph, or one of very similar language, is found in almost every document of Protective Covenants (plat restrictions) in existence. Distances in brackets – [n] – are variables from place to place.

“No building shall be erected on any lot nearer to the front lot line or nearer to the side street line than the minimum building setback lines shown on this recorded plat. No building shall be located nearer than ten [10] feet to side lot lines. For the purposes of this covenant, overhanging eaves, steps, stoops or entrance platforms, and ornamental planting boxes shall be considered as a part of a building, provided, however, that this shall not be construed to permit any portion of a building on any lot to encroach on, under or above any other lot. No building shall be erected nearer than thirty [30] feet to the rear property line.”

So, in Anyland, the Side Yard Set-Back Line is ten feet. It’s also important to know between which two points the measurement must be taken. Surprisingly, there’s no legal standard, but there is a worldwide common practice, and it’s this. The side yard is measured from the property line to the exterior surface of the outermost wall of the house. In the illustration, points C and D show this method for measuring side yards. In addition the measurement begins at a point on the property line then extends perpendicular to that property line, until it reaches whatever point on the house is set at the prescribed distance. This is to account for times when a house is not aligned parallel with a property line.

BROKEN BRIDGE

While the method of measuring may be accepted, virtually worldwide, the two points involved aren’t always the same. For example, the gated community of Broken Bridge has a very different approach.

“No building shall be erected on any lot nearer to the front lot line or nearer to the side street line than the minimum building setback lines shown on this recorded plat. No building shall be located nearer than eight (8) feet to side lot lines. For the purposes of this covenant, overhanging eaves, steps, stoops or entrance platforms, and ornamental planting boxes shall be considered as a part of a building, provided, however, that this shall not be construed to permit any portion of a building on any lot to encroach on, under or above any other lot. No building shall be erected nearer than twenty (25) feet to the rear property line.”

To make sure you see the difference here it is again, highlighted.

“No building shall be erected on any lot nearer to the front lot line or nearer to the side street line than the minimum building setback lines shown on this recorded plat. No building shall be located nearer than eight (8) feet to side lot lines. For the purposes of this covenant, overhanging eaves, steps, stoops or entrance platforms, and ornamental planting boxes SHALL BE considered as a PART of a building, ….”

This is not as common as the Anyland wording, yet it still crops up from time to time. In the illustration, A and B show the measurement to the outside edge of the home’s eave. The result of this method , when comparing two lots of equal width, one in Anyland and one in Broken Bridge, is that the Anyland lot can use more of its available space to build. A home in Broken Bridge must be more narrow because of how the side yard is measured.

An exclusive golf course community, Faux-Down Hills, employs slightly modified wording to increase the lot yield on land where valuable space is dedicated to fairways and putting greens.

“No building shall be erected on any lot nearer to the front lot line or nearer to the side street line than the minimum building setback lines shown on this recorded plat. No building shall be located nearer than three [3] feet on one side; and five [5] feet on the other for the purpose of maintaining a minimum distance of eight [8] feet between buildings…”

The illustration shows line C longer than D. It’s a clever way to increase usable land, by packing housing units more closely together. But, this commonly used language has a huge flaw. No designation is made as to which side is wider. Without such a statement of policy, it’s left to be decided by whoever builds first.

Imagine a line of three lots. On the left lot, the owner builds first, and chooses the right property line for the three foot side yard. The owner on the right builds second and chooses three feet on the left side. When the middle lot’s owner finally builds, there’s no choice left. Both sides must be eight feet, making that owner’s home smaller and more narrow than the others. In a world where the prestige of favorable comparison is so powerful, the looser lives on that middle lot.

Where do these rules come from? The developers of the land make them up as they go. There’s no science to it at all. In fact it’s less about original composition of orderly policies, and more about copy & paste. For example, the developers of Broken Bridge copied another document of covenants without ever even reading them, then submitted them and got approved. It wasn’t until complaints start rolling in from builders hamstrung by the ‘overhanging eave’ thing, that the developers even realized what they had done.

Now that a little knowledge is here for you, maybe odd wording in plat restrictions won’t come as a surprise or cause a costly error.

A helpful diagram about side-yard set-back lines is on the Home Building Timeline, HERE.

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