Arapahoe County, CO Accessory Structures: Shed & Carport Rules (2026)
Shed permit rules in Arapahoe County, CO, also referred to as storage shed, backyard shed, or accessory building regulations, set size limits, setbacks, and when a building permit is required.
Key Facts
- Trigger threshold
- Over 120 sq ft or 10 ft tall = full yard/height rules apply
- Max footprint (non-ag)
- 10% of lot area or 1,000 sq ft, whichever smaller
- Max height (non-ag)
- 15 feet for accessory structures
- Front setback range
- Up to 100 ft (A-E/A-1/RR-A) down to 20 ft (some R-2)
- Governing section
- LDC § 7-2, Accessory Buildings
- Applies to
- Unincorporated Arapahoe County only
Summary
In unincorporated Arapahoe County, any accessory building over 120 square feet or taller than 10 feet must meet the same yard setbacks and height limits as the zone district's principal structure. Outside agricultural use, accessory structures on a lot are capped at 10 percent of lot area or 1,000 square feet, whichever is smaller, with a 15-foot height ceiling, under LDC § 7-2.
Accessory uses and structures are not permitted unless and until the principal permitted use has been established on the property. A. Accessory buildings greater than 120 square feet in size and/or 10 feet in height shall observe all yard and height requirements. B. Except as otherwise allowed in this Code, structures constructed for accessory uses shall not be used for dwelling purposes. C. Except for agricultural usage only and except as allowed in Section 3-3.2.D, Accessory Dwelling Unit, accessory structures shall not exceed 10 percent of the lot area or a maximum of 1,000 square feet, and a maximum building height of 15 feet.
Full Breakdown
Arapahoe County's Land Development Code treats accessory buildings, the sheds, detached garages, barns and workshops that support a house or a farm, as a threshold-based standard defined in LDC § 7-2, rather than as a separate development-standards article. 1 of Chapter 4 apply to it just as they would to the house itself, there is no relaxed setback for a small structure once it crosses that threshold. 1 sets accessory-structure setbacks by district: front setbacks run as high as 100 feet in the Agricultural-Estate (A-E), A-1 and RR-A districts, stepping down through the Rural Residential and R-1 tiers to as little as 20 feet in some R-2 districts, while side and rear accessory setbacks range from 100 feet in A-E down to as little as 5 feet on the tightest R-2 and PUD lots.
Outside agricultural use, § 7-2 also caps the total footprint of accessory structures on a lot at 10 percent of the lot area or 1,000 square feet, whichever is smaller, and limits accessory building height to 15 feet. D, a separate County approval, not a size exemption. S. Title 30, Article 28.
Violations & Fines
Building or expanding an accessory structure past the 120-square-foot/10-foot threshold without meeting the underlying district's yard and height requirements, or past the 10-percent-of-lot/1,000-square-foot/15-foot cap, is a zoning violation the County can enforce under LDC Chapter 6. The Planning Division can require the structure be modified, removed, or brought into compliance, and can withhold further building, grading or subdivision approvals on the parcel until it is.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to build a shed in unincorporated Arapahoe County?
How far must a shed sit from my property line?
Can I live in my shed or convert it into a guest house?
Do these shed rules apply if my mailing address says Aurora or Centennial?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Arapahoe County
How Arapahoe County compares: Shed Permit Requirements by City·Compare Arapahoe County to another location·View the Colorado accessory structures overview
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