Glen Cove, NY Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

B of the Zoning Chapter. The front yard must be at least 30 feet deep, or the prevailing front yard setback on the block if that figure is greater, so a house cannot simply match its shallowest neighbor if the block's established setback line sits farther back. The minimum rear yard is 25 feet, and each side yard must be at least 20 feet, meaning a minimum combined side clearance of 40 feet on a standard R-2 lot. R-2 lots themselves must run at least 20,000 square feet with a minimum lot width of 100 feet (or the prevailing width, whichever is greater) and 35 feet of frontage, so the setbacks apply against a half-acre-plus building envelope.

A former subsection covering the minimum aggregate width of both side yards was repealed on August 24, 2010, leaving the per-side 20-foot figure as the controlling standard. The Director of the Building Department reviews building permit applications against these figures, and any structure built short of them is subject to the Zoning Chapter's general enforcement provisions at § 280-74. Property owners seeking relief from these numbers, for example to build closer to a lot line than § 280-56 allows, must apply to the Zoning Board of Appeals for an area variance rather than proceed under the as-of-right numbers.

New construction or additions that trigger discretionary site plan or subdivision approval are also subject to environmental review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, separate from the dimensional standards themselves.