San Antonio, TX Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

The UDC does not set a single citywide lot coverage percentage for a whole property; instead, Sec. 35-370(b) targets accessory structures specifically, the garages, storage sheds, workshops, carports, greenhouses, gazebos and sport courts that Sec. 35-370(a)(5) treats as typical residential accessories. Combined, all the accessory structures on a lot cannot cover more than 50 percent of the total side- and rear-yard area, and in residential districts their combined floor area is separately capped at 2,500 square feet regardless of how much of the yard that leaves available. In nonresidential districts, accessory structures other than carports are barred from the side and rear setback areas of lots that sit next to a residential district, and their total floor area is likewise capped at 2,500 square feet.

Placement rules apply on top of the coverage cap. Any accessory structure taller than 30 inches must sit at least five feet from a side or rear property line; that distance shrinks to three feet if the structure has no sills, belt courses, cornices, buttresses, eaves or other projecting architectural features that would extend the footprint closer to the line. On reverse corner lots, an accessory structure must keep back from the side street lot line by the same depth as the front setback required on the rear lot. Accessory dwelling units built as accessory structures still have to meet these coverage and placement standards on top of the separate ADU rules in Sec. 35-371. Development Services checks the coverage and setback figures against the site plan at building permit review; the current version of Sec. 35-370(b) was last amended by Ordinance No. 2012-10-18-0829 on October 18, 2012.