Lake County, CA Accessory Structures: Shed & Carport Rules (2026)

1, exempts a one-story detached accessory structure of 120 square feet or less, with a height above grade not exceeding 12 feet, from the county's building permit requirement when it is used as a playhouse, garden-tool storage building, or similar use and is not occupied by people. The exemption does not extend to any plumbing or electrical work inside the structure, and it does not apply at all inside a Mobile-Home Park; zoning clearance is still required in every case. Once a shed exceeds that 120-square-foot/12-foot threshold, or sits in a Mobile-Home Park, it falls under the Zoning Ordinance's Article 42 development standards.

9(a) and (b), an accessory building in a residential district must sit on the rear half of the lot, at least three feet from any dwelling on the same or an adjacent lot, and at least three feet from the side lot line; on a corner lot it cannot project beyond the required front yard. 9(e) lets an accessory structure sit in the required rear yard as close as three feet to the rear lot line, but it cannot occupy more than 35 percent of the width of that rear yard.

10(a) caps accessory buildings at 20 feet countywide unless the property owner first secures a minor use permit from the Community Development Department to build taller. 9(g) and may sit within three feet of a property line.