Glen Cove, NY Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

B(10) of the Glen Cove Zoning Chapter limits total building coverage on an R-2 Half-Acre Residence District lot to 15% of the lot area, the strictest coverage cap among the City's standard residential zones (the R-3 Quarter-Acre and R-3A districts allow 20% coverage on their smaller lots). Because R-2 lots run at least 20,000 square feet, the 15% ceiling caps building footprint at roughly 3,000 square feet on a minimum-size lot, scaling up on larger parcels. B(12) ties a single-family dwelling's maximum interior floor area to that coverage number, providing that total interior floor area cannot exceed one and one-half times the maximum lot coverage, expressed in square feet, effectively limiting how much a builder can make up for a small footprint by adding stories.

Coverage is also checked against the sky exposure plane requirement cross-referenced at § 280-45R(1), which independently restricts how a structure's upper stories can be massed relative to the lot lines. The Director of the Building Department verifies proposed coverage figures at the building permit stage using the site plan and surveyed lot area, and any additions, garages or accessory structures count toward the 15% total along with the principal dwelling. A property owner who wants to exceed the cap, for example to add a rear addition that would push coverage past 15%, needs an area variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals rather than a building permit alone.