Green Bay, WI Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

Section 44-554 hands the numbers to Table 44-2, Lot Dimension and Setback Requirements, Residential Districts, which covers the RR, R-1, R-2 and R-3 districts. The building setback block of that table, in feet, reads: front yard 10 in RR, R-1 and R-2 and 20 in R-3; side yard 5 each in RR, R-1 and R-2 and 6/8 each in R-3; rear yard 5 in RR, R-1 and R-2 and 25 in R-3; attached garages 18 in RR, R-1 and R-2 and 25 in R-3. Note h warns that the screening and buffer yard setbacks in Article XIX, Division 5 of the code can supersede these figures.

Three footnotes reshape the front and side numbers. Note b covers built-up blocks: where at least 50 percent of the front footage of a block is built up with principal structures, a new structure's front setback equals the average of the existing structures, and a structure set back 20 percent more or less than the average can be discounted from the formula. Note e covers corner properties: the side facade of a corner building facing a public street keeps the front setback of the adjacent property fronting that street, and where no structure stands next door the setback is at least one-half the front yard setback of the subject property's district. Note d applies side yard setbacks to the ends of attached or semi-detached dwellings.

Note g lets covered porches sit in the front setback under the conditional use permit requirements of Section 44-83. A porch on a designated historic property or a contributing building in a historic district can be built within a front or side yard setback if it is historically appropriate or restores a significant architectural feature of the original structure. Note f allows building heights above the table limits through a conditional use permit under the same Section 44-83. Lots in the RR district without City sewer and public water carry a ten-acre minimum lot area under note a and Section 44-555. Table 44-2 was last amended by Ord. No. 29-25, adopted December 2, 2025.