Dallas, TX Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

Sec. 401(a)(2) measures the front yard setback from the front lot line or, on a thoroughfare, from the required right-of-way established by the thoroughfare plan, whichever produces the greater setback; on minor streets the setback runs from the existing right-of-way instead. Front yards must stay open and unobstructed except for fences and light poles of 20 feet or less, and architectural projections such as window sills, belt courses, and cornices may not extend more than 12 inches into the yard; a chimney may project up to two feet if its footprint does not exceed 12 square feet, and cantilevered eaves and balconies may project up to five feet.

Sec. 402 applies the same open-and-unobstructed rule to side yards, measured from the side lot line, and lets a single family lot reduce one side yard below the district minimum if the other side is doubled and the reduction is recorded on a commission-approved subdivision plat. Sec. 403 governs rear yards, measured from the rear lot line, and allows an accessory structure up to 15 feet tall to skip the full rear setback, needing only a three-foot setback where the yard adjoins an alley and none where it does not.

Each section closes with the same enforcement clause: a person may not erect, alter, convert, or maintain a structure in violation of the minimum yard requirements in the district regulations, with the specific footage for every zoning district charted in Sec. 410. Because that schedule sets the actual number of feet, anyone platting a house or addition has to pull the chart for their own zoning classification; Secs. 403 supply the measurement rules, permitted projections, and the legal floor beneath whatever number the district chart specifies.