Irvington, NJ Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

Section 650-11 of Chapter 650, General Provisions, was rewritten effective August 4, 2026 by Ordinance No. MC 3951, which added Subsection S: fences must now sit at least six inches off the property line and also comply with the Township's separate fence chapter, Chapter 294. That amendment sits alongside older subsections the ordinance left untouched: Subsection E treats every yard that faces a public street as a front yard, so a corner lot has to satisfy the applicable zone's minimum front-yard setback along both intersecting streets for the principal building and for any accessory structure.

Subsection D protects sightlines at intersections: no hedge, fence, or wall taller than three feet above curb level, other than a single post or tree, may stand inside the triangular area formed by the two street lines and a point 10 feet back from where they meet. Undersized lots get their own carve-out under Section 650-10(A): a lot legally created before October 14, 1971 that can't meet the district's minimum lot size may still be built on with a side yard as narrow as three feet, provided the owner controls no adjoining land that would let the lot be squared up to standard.

None of this replaces the district-by-district numbers: the actual minimum front, side and rear yard depth in feet for a given zone, from R-1L through M-3, is fixed separately in the Schedule of Area, Lot and Bulk Requirements attached to Section 650-8, and that schedule is what a property owner must check for their specific district before building.