Springfield, OR Accessory Structures: Shed & Carport Rules (2026)

Springfield Development Code section 4.7.360 governs accessory uses and structures, defined as those customarily incidental and subordinate to the primary use or structure on the same lot, with detached garages, sheds, workshops and greenhouses named as typical examples; the section carves out accessory dwelling units, which are instead governed by SDC 3.2.275. Subsection (A) requires the primary use to already be established on the lot before an accessory structure or use is allowed, and the accessory use itself must be permitted in the applicable land use district.

Subsection (B) bars a kitchen inside an accessory structure outright and bars a wet bar unless the property owner signs a City of Springfield compliance form stating the structure will not be used as a dwelling unit, closing off the workaround of building an unpermitted second residence. Subsection (C) caps the maximum floor area of an accessory structure in a residential land use district at 1,500 square feet. Subsection (D) caps the building height of a detached accessory structure at 25 feet, and sets out how a structure can instead be treated as attached to the primary dwelling, either by sharing a common wall for at least 25 percent of that wall's length or by having an entire elevation attached to the primary unit, with the shared wall required to enclose interior living space rather than a porch, patio, deck or stoop.

Where these accessory-structure standards conflict with a more permissive rule elsewhere in the code, the introductory text to section 4.7.360 states the accessory-structure standards prevail.