Buena Park, CA Accessory Structures: Carport Rules (2026)

Buena Park's single-family development standards (Title 19, Zoning) classify carports among non-habitable accessory structures along with garages, sheds, and workshops. The governing rule is that carports may be permitted only in addition to the required garage and shall not be used in place of the required garage - so a carport cannot satisfy a home's mandatory covered-parking requirement. Single-family homes in the RS-6 and RS-8 zones must provide two enclosed garage spaces (minimum 400-square-foot garage), and RS-10/RS-16 homes must provide three garage spaces (minimum 600 square feet); a carport can only supplement that, not replace it. All vehicle-movement and parking surfaces, including the floors of carports and garages, must be concrete or decorative cement pavers - asphalt, decomposed granite, gravel, and similar materials are prohibited. As an accessory structure, a carport is also subject to the same setback and lot-coverage limits as other accessory structures (for example, the 5-foot side/rear setback in RS-6/RS-8 and the combined 600-square-foot / 50% accessory-area cap). A building permit from the city's Building Division is required to construct a carport. These are the incorporated city's standards, not Orange County's.