Coeur d'Alene, ID Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

Coeur d'Alene defines lot coverage in § 17.02.080 O as the portion of a lot or building site which is occupied by any building, structure, or facility, excepting paved areas, walks, and swimming pools, regardless of whether the building, structure, or facility is intended for human occupancy. Because paving, walks and pools are excluded, the definition counts roofed and built footprint, not driveways or patios.

The numeric limit appears in § 17.06.660 N, Lot Coverage/Open Spaces And Pervious Surface Requirement, which applies to lots with an accessory dwelling unit. A thirty percent (30%) pervious surface is required for all lots with an ADU. Pervious surfaces include such things as grass, Astro Turf, pavers, grasscrete, gravel, and decking materials, unless there is a concrete or impervious surface below. Decking over concrete therefore does not count.

The subsection also sets what is not required. There is no dimensional requirement or requirement for a certain type or quantity of landscaping or trees, other than the standard street tree requirements. The paperwork is specific: the building permit application must show all pervious areas on the lot and the calculation on a separate plan titled "Lot Coverage/Pervious Surface Plan". A permit set without that plan is incomplete for an ADU.

The Code once carried citywide impervious surface maximums, but Article III of chapter 17.06 now shows sections 17.06.220, 17.06.225 and 17.06.230 as repealed by Ord. 2995 in 2000. Building footprint on ordinary lots is therefore controlled through the yard and height standards rather than a lot coverage percentage. Yard depths are set in chapter 17.05 by district, for example twenty feet front and twenty five feet rear for residential use in R-1 under § 17.05.008. Section 17.06.660 B sets the ADU yards, and § 17.06.660 G caps ADU size at eight hundred (800) square feet.