La Plata County, CO Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

Section 70-6 opens with Table 70-6 A, which sets minimum setbacks for structures and improvements that require a building permit. The row for agricultural and residential lots over 10,000 square feet reads 20 ft. front, 10 ft. side and 10 ft. rear. The table also carries a row for residential lots under 10,000 square feet, a row for commercial, industrial and mixed use lots, and a row for all public roads or streets at 20 ft. The table is organized by lot type, not by zone district.

The general criteria decide how the numbers apply. The front lot line is the one from which primary access is obtained, and on a corner lot each right-of-way frontage must meet the front setback. Decks, eaves, attached canopies (excluding carports) and similar above-grade architectural features can encroach up to five feet into a required setback. Fences, screening, buffering, privacy walls and retaining walls are exempt. Above-grade surface equipment for propane and other utility gasoline or oil sits at least ten feet from any right-of-way, and a greenbelt or open space between the property line and the public right-of-way can be applied to the setback.

Water gets its own number. Structures and improvements need fifty horizontal feet from wetlands and from the bank high-water line of streams and rivers. Roads, driveways, utilities, drainage features and fences must follow that 50 foot line to the maximum extent practicable, as the director determines.

Measurement is spelled out. Property line setbacks run along a line at right angles to the lot line to the closest exterior wall or projection of the building or structure. Roadway setbacks run from the edge of the right-of-way, or from the road center line plus an additional forty feet when the right-of-way width is unknown.

An applicant for a land use permit can propose alternative setbacks, but never for public roads, which stay at twenty feet unless another chapter such as Chapter 73 or Chapter 90 prescribes something else. The review body tests a proposal against ten criteria, among them sunlight and air, preventing the spread of fire, room for snow removal, and adequate visibility of traffic from driveways. The director can also require a site improvement location certificate, at the owner's expense, to verify setback compliance.