Hialeah, FL Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Front yard
- 20 feet minimum, R-1 district
- Side yard
- 5'1" to 7.5 feet, 10% of lot width
- Corner lot side yard
- 15 feet minimum on street side
- Rear yard
- 20 feet, principal building
- Accessory rear yard
- 7.5 feet minimum
- Porte cochere encroachment
- up to 15 feet into front setback
Summary
Hialeah's R-1 one-family district sets a 20-foot front yard, side yards of at least 10 percent of the lot's average width (minimum 5'1", maximum 7.5 feet), and a 20-foot rear yard under Code Secs. 98-500 through 98-502. Corner lots need a 15-foot side yard along the street, and a porte cochere may push up to 15 feet into the front setback if it meets city design standards.
Sec. 98-500. - Front yard required. In the R-1 one-family district, there shall be a front yard depth not less than 20 feet in distance from the front lot line. A porte cochere may encroach with the front setback up to a maximum of 15 feet, provided the roof is integrated architecturally with the roof of the residential building and the driveway is improved with pavers, stamped concrete or other city-approved materials. Sec. 98-501. - Side yards required. In the R-1 one-family district, there shall be side yards, the width of each to be not less than ten percent of the average width of the lot, but in no case shall each such side yard be less than five feet one inch or more than 7½ feet in width. For a corner lot, the side yard parallel abutting the street shall be not less than 15 feet. Sec. 98-502. - Rear yard required. In the R-1 one-family district, every principal residential building shall provide a rear yard of a minimum depth of 20 feet to a rear lot line and 10 feet to the front of an accessory building, and every accessory building shall provide a rear yard with a minimum depth of seven and one-half feet.
Full Breakdown
Hialeah zones nearly all of its single-family neighborhoods R-1 one-family, and Chapter 98's Division 3 fixes the dimensional envelope for every lot in that district. Sec. 98-500 sets the front yard at not less than 20 feet from the front lot line, though a porte cochere can encroach up to 15 feet into that setback if its roof is architecturally integrated with the house and the driveway underneath is finished in pavers, stamped concrete or another city-approved material rather than plain asphalt. Sec. 98-501 ties the side yard to the lot itself: each side yard must be at least ten percent of the lot's average width, but the code puts a floor and ceiling on that percentage, never less than five feet one inch and never more than seven and a half feet.
Corner lots carry a bigger burden on the street-facing side: that side yard must be at least 15 feet since it functions as a second front. Sec. 98-502 requires a 20-foot rear yard to the property line for the principal residence, with only 10 feet needed between the house and a detached accessory building, while any accessory structure itself needs just seven and a half feet of rear yard. Utility and storage sheds are carved out of the 'accessory building' definition entirely; those follow the separate perimeter setback rules in section 98-1670 instead of Sec.
98-502. Owners of pre-existing substandard lots are not automatically barred from building: Sec. 98-499 lets a legally divided lot that misses the 7,500-square-foot minimum still hold a one-family residence as long as the front, rear and side yard minimums here are met.
Violations & Fines
Building department plan reviewers check every submitted site plan against Secs. 98-500 through 98-502 before issuing a permit; encroaching into the front, side or rear setback without an approved variance or the specific porte cochere exception is grounds for permit denial or a stop-work order on an unpermitted structure. Owners seeking relief from these numbers must apply to the planning and zoning board or, for changes up to 20 percent of the requirement, the administrative variance committee.
Frequently Asked Questions
How close to the front property line can I build in Hialeah's R-1 district?
What is the minimum side yard for a Hialeah single-family home?
How far must my house sit from the rear property line?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Hialeah
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Hialeah to another location·View the Florida building setbacks & zoning overview
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