Pocatello, ID Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

The Original Townsite Overlay (OTO) covers the areas mapped as part of the original Pocatello townsite and, under section 17.04.220(B), its standards apply in conjunction with the underlying zoning district and control whenever the two conflict. Section 17.04.220(D)(1) leaves basic lot requirements, including minimum lot size, density and lot coverage, to the underlying zoning district, except that existing, legally created lots are exempt from that standard. Section 17.04.220(D)(5) then adds its own landscaping and coverage limits on top: subsection (a) requires all residential front yards and street-visible areas to be landscaped and caps nonvegetative ground cover, gravel, mulch, pavers, at 50 percent of the landscaped area; subsection (b) limits driveways and other impervious surfaces to no more than one-third of the front yard; and subsection (c) prohibits gravel or unimproved driveways and parking areas altogether.

Read together, the three subsections push a downtown lot toward a landscaped, paved-driveway front yard rather than a largely paved or gravel one, on top of whatever lot coverage percentage the underlying zoning district already allows for the rest of the parcel.