Dearborn Heights, MI Accessory Structures: Shed & Carport Rules (2026)

Sec. 36-251 sets the dimensional limits that apply to a shed as an accessory structure in Dearborn Heights. Subsection (b) caps any single shed at 200 square feet of floor area, and folds that into an overall 800-square-foot ceiling on the combined floor area of every accessory building on the lot, so a homeowner who already has a detached garage has less room left for a shed. Subsection (c) requires accessory buildings, including sheds, to sit to the rear of the principal building unless structurally attached to it, and bars them from any required yard except the rear yard; within that rear yard, a shed must stay at least two feet from the side lot line and two feet from the rear lot line, eaves and overhangs can project no more than six inches into that setback, and the shed cannot occupy more than twenty-five percent of the required rear yard.

Subsection (d) limits height to fifteen feet measured from the floor to the ridge or the highest roof point, with a maximum wall height of eight feet. A corner-lot exception in subsection (a)(1) allows a reduced six-foot rear yard for an attached garage on a corner lot, provided the combined lot coverage of all buildings still meets the citywide dimensional standards in Sec. 36-106 and the accessory-building area limits above are respected.