Orange County, FL Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

Section 38-1501's basic site table fixes the minimum lot area, living area, lot width, and four yard setbacks (front, rear, side, side street) for every agricultural, residential, professional office, commercial and industrial zoning district in unincorporated Orange County; accessory structures and ADUs instead follow Sec. 38-1426. Agricultural A-1 and A-2 lots need a half-acre minimum, a 35-foot front yard, 50-foot rear yard and 10-foot side yards. The standard single-family R-1 district needs a 5,000-square-foot lot, 50-foot width, and 1,000-square-foot living area, with front and rear yards set at 20 feet for lots platted before March 3, 1997 and 25 feet for lots platted on or after that date under footnote H; side yards run 5 feet pre-1997 and 6 feet after.

R-1AA and R-1A carry the same platting-date split at higher numbers, up to 30-foot fronts and 35-foot rears for R-1AA. Multifamily zones such as R-2 and R-3 add tiered lot-size and setback requirements by dwelling-unit count, and footnote B pushes the side setback to 30 feet whenever the lot sits next to a single-family district. Footnote E requires a special exception for any multifamily building over one story within 100 feet of a single-family district or use. Every district also carries a 50-foot setback measured from the Normal High Water Elevation (NHWE) contour on adjacent lakes and wetlands under footnote A, though a lot or parcel recorded before August 31, 1982 with less than 150 feet of depth above the NHWE is exempted from that 50-foot figure and instead follows its district's ordinary yard setback measured from the water line.

Footnote K caps impervious surface at 70 percent of the lot for most districts, rising to 80 percent for townhouses, nonresidential and mixed-use development. Setback figures for accessory structures and ADUs sit in Sec. 38-1426, not this table.