Lee County, NC Accessory Structures: Shed & Carport Rules (2026)

Table 5-1 of the Lee County Unified Development Ordinance sets separate accessory-structure setbacks for each zoning district. RA and RR, the county's own residential-agricultural and restricted-residential districts, require a 30-foot front setback (measured from any yard abutting a public street right-of-way per Note 1) and a 5-foot side and rear setback. R-20 through MF-12 carry the same front setbacks shown in the table but are governed instead by Note 2 for side and rear lines: a detached accessory building of 800 square feet or less may sit as close as 5 feet to a side or rear lot line.

Once an accessory structure exceeds 800 square feet, it loses that exception and must instead meet the same dimensional standards as a principal structure under Table 4.7-1, meaning the same setbacks, height and lot-coverage rules that apply to the house itself. Section 5.1.4.1 adds a separate height limit: an accessory building normally follows the height cap for its zoning district in Table 4.7-1, but any accessory structure sitting inside a required setback yard is capped at 15 feet regardless of what the district otherwise allows.

Placement is also conditioned on section 5.1.2: an accessory building generally cannot be built until the principal structure has been started or the primary use established, except where the Board of Adjustment grants a special use permit for an accessory building on a separate parcel adjoining the main use, and only within Lee County's own RA or RR zoning jurisdiction, not inside Sanford or Broadway. The county's Community Development department administers these standards through the zoning clearance and building permit process.