Per the City of Hawthorne Residential Development Standards, residential zones R-1, R-2, and R-3 require a 15-foot front setback (18 feet for a front-facing garage), a 5-foot minimum rear setback, an interior side setback of 10% of lot width (3.5-foot minimum), and a street side setback of 20% of lot width.
Hawthorne's residential setbacks are summarized in the City of Hawthorne Residential & Mixed-Use Development Standards Summary Table, which draws from the zoning chapters of the Hawthorne Municipal Code: R-1 (Chapter 17.14), R-2 (Chapter 17.16), R-3 (Chapter 17.18), R-4 (Chapter 17.19), and the Mixed-Use Overlay (Chapter 17.87). For the R-1, R-2, and R-3 zones, the standards are: front yard 15 feet (18 feet for a front-facing garage), rear yard 5 feet minimum, interior side yard equal to 10% of lot width with a 3.5-foot minimum, and street side yard equal to 20% of lot width. The R-4 maximum-density zone uses front 15 feet (18 feet front-facing garage), rear 5 feet minimum, side setbacks of 5 feet for portions below the third floor and 10 feet for portions above the second floor. Mixed-Use Overlay setbacks follow HMC 17.87.060. Because side setbacks are tied to lot width (a percentage formula), exact dimensions vary by parcel; on a standard 50-foot-wide lot, a 10% interior side equals 5 feet. The summary table advises consulting the Hawthorne Municipal Code or the Department of Planning and Community Development before designing any project, since the table is a summary and specific projects may have additional requirements.
Building within required setbacks without a variance can result in plan-check rejection, permit denial, code-enforcement action, and orders to modify or remove the encroaching structure. Setback variances must be approved through the planning process.
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