Brookhaven, GA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

Detached houses are allowed in every RS district in the City of Brookhaven, Georgia, subject to the lot and building regulations of Table 2-3. The Minimum Principal Building Setbacks rows print these figures for RS-100, RS-85, RS-75, RS-60 and RS-50 in that order. Front Street: 35, 35, 30, 30 and 5 feet. Side Street: 25, 25, 20, 7.5 and 5 feet. Interior Side: 10, 8.5, 7.5, 6 and 5 feet. Rear: 40, 40, 40, 40 and 30 feet.

Footnotes qualify those rows. Footnote 2 says average front yard setbacks are used for residential infill development and points to section 27-1336. Footnote 3 adds 15 feet where the lot abuts an arterial street. Footnote 4 requires street-facing garage entries to be set back at least 20 feet from the back of the sidewalk or back of curb, whichever results in a greater setback. Section 27-157 repeats the 20-foot rule for side-loaded and front-loaded garages.

Section 27-68 and Table 2-4 cover detached houses in the other residential districts. In the R3 and RSA column the Front Street setback is 5 feet, Side Street 15, Interior Side 5 and Rear 30. In the RM column Front Street is 30 feet, Side Street 15, Interior Side 7.5 and Rear 30.

Detached accessory dwelling units carry their own setbacks in Table 2-9 of section 27-135: 20 feet from a side street in RS districts and 15 feet in R3, RSA and RM, 10 feet interior side, 10 feet rear, and 10 feet of separation from principal buildings. A nonconforming lot can still take an ADU only if it complies with all applicable setback and building regulations (27-133(j)(1)). The community development director interprets and enforces these rows under section 27-1220.