Provo, UT Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

Provo City Code 14.10.120 sets the ceiling on how much of an R1 lot can be built on or paved. Under subsection (1), all buildings, including accessory buildings and structures, cannot cover more than forty percent (40%) of the lot or parcel of land upon which they are placed. That is a hard structural cap checked by the Development Services Department at building permit review; a house-plus-garage-plus-shed combination that pencils out above 40% of the parcel gets rejected at plan check.

The section separately regulates hardscape. Front and corner side-yard paving is limited to the amount necessary for direct access to legal parking, and the street curb cut itself cannot exceed thirty-five (35) feet in width (14.10.120(2)). Only one interior side yard may be fully paved up to one hundred percent (100%); the other interior side yard must carry no paving at all, with remaining lot area kept in landscaping under Section 15.20.060, though walkways, patios and swimming pools are still allowed there (14.10.120(3)). Paved parking and access in the front yard cannot exceed fifty percent (50%) of the total front yard, and in the rear yard cannot exceed forty percent (40%) of the total rear yard (14.10.120(4)-(5)). Hardscape built for anything other than parking, such as a patio slab, must be physically designed with permanent, immovable barriers to keep vehicles from parking on it (14.10.120(6)), and any covered or uncovered parking area must also meet the design standards in Section 14.37.100 (14.10.120(7)). A related maximum on impervious yard area is cross-referenced to Section 15.20.060(2)(g) (14.10.120(8)). Every other residential zone in Title 14 (R2, LDR, etc.) carries its own equivalent Permissible Lot Coverage section, so a duplex or townhome lot is not held to the R1 numbers.