San Clemente, CA Accessory Structures: Shed & Carport Rules (2026)

Municipal Code § 17.24.040 sets the rules for accessory buildings and structures in every zone. Subsection C covers detached accessory buildings in residential zones and on residential lots in mixed-use zones, which is where a backyard shed falls. Fences, walls, hedges, retaining walls and skirt walls are excluded and handled under §§ 17.24.090, 17.24.180 and 17.24.190. The individual zone chapters add their own standards. An accessory building can go up with, or after, the primary building, and the City Planner or designee can grant exceptions.

Every detached accessory building or structure must sit at least five feet from the primary building, measured at the closest distance between the wall or post of the structures, and not within five feet of any alley. In the front half of the lot, the primary building setbacks of the zone apply. In the rear half, a building of 450 square feet or less can encroach into the interior-side and rear yard setback up to a property line. One such building can encroach on a lot of 6,000 square feet or smaller; two can on a lot over 6,000 square feet, if they are separated by at least 10 feet. A building over 450 square feet conforms to the underlying zone's setbacks. A building straddling both halves is judged portion by portion. Through lots are handled under § 17.24.210.

On a corner or reverse corner lot, the exterior side setback equals the required or existing front yard setback on the adjacent key lot, whichever is less restrictive, and the rear setback is five feet when the building sits next to the front two-thirds of that key lot.

Height is 15 feet in the front half of the lot. In the rear half, a building that encroaches into a setback can exceed 15 feet, up to the zone's limit, only with a Development Permit (§ 17.16.100) or Cultural Heritage Permit (§ 17.16.110). A rear-half building that meets all setbacks can rise to the zone's height limit without one.