Lancaster County, NE Accessory Structures: Shed & Carport Rules (2026)

Article 17 of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Zoning Resolution sets the countywide rules for sheds, detached garages and other accessory buildings. 005 lets an accessory building sit in a required rear yard, but caps it at thirty percent of a required rear yard and keeps it no nearer than two feet to any side or rear lot line, with a ten-foot setback from the alley line for a garage entered off an alley. Table 1 in the same section fixes a cumulative cap on total accessory-building square footage by lot size and district: on a single-family or two-family lot in the "R" Residential District under 7,500 square feet, the base maximum is 1,000 square feet, rising to 1,500 square feet on lots from 7,500 up to 20,000 square feet, and to 2,000 square feet on lots of 20,000 square feet or more.

Those caps can grow to an "expanded maximum" of up to 5,000 square feet on a full acre if the owner meets the notes attached to the table, chiefly that total accessory floor area not exceed the house's own square footage and that no more than 250 to 400 square feet, depending on lot size, sit inside the required yard setbacks. Lots zoned "AGR" Agricultural Residential or "AG" Agricultural carry a higher 2,000-square-foot base cap that can expand to 20,000 square feet or more on larger acreage.

007 adds a sequencing rule: no accessory building may be constructed on a lot until construction of the main building has actually commenced, and no accessory building may ever be used as a dwelling.