Southfield, MI Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

Article 22's schedule of regulations, Sec. 5.193, ties two figures together for every single-family residence district: a minimum floor area per dwelling and a maximum percentage of the lot that buildings may occupy. Every district from R A through R E carries the same 30 percent maximum lot coverage figure, meaning no more than three-tenths of the lot area may be covered by the principal dwelling together with its accessory buildings. The minimum floor area requirement varies by district even though coverage does not: R 1 and R 2 require at least 1,000 square feet of dwelling floor area, R 3 requires 1,200 square feet, and R 4 and R E require 1,400 square feet.

Sec. 5.66 restates the coverage rule in plain language, directing that the minimum usable floor area and the maximum percent of the area of a lot that one-family dwellings, together with accessory buildings, may occupy shall be as set forth in the schedule of regulations in Article 22. Sec. 5.68 layers on a separate landscaping requirement tied to the same lot: at least 65 percent of all front and side yards on a single-family lot must be landscaped, and no area within that landscaped front or side yard may be used for vehicle parking.

Together the coverage cap, floor-area floor and landscaping minimum control how much of a Southfield residential lot can be built on, paved or parked on.