Lafayette, LA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Unzoned parish setbacks
- Front 20 ft, side 5 ft, rear 10 ft
- RS-1 corner lot example
- 20 ft front, 10 ft side street, 5 ft interior
- Governing section
- Code of Ordinances § 89-38(e)
- Small-lot reduction
- 1% per foot under 100 ft deep
- Appeal path
- Planning & zoning commission or BOZA
Summary
Lafayette ties yard setbacks to the zoning district under Code of Ordinances § 89-38(e)(3), but where parish land is unzoned, § 89-38(e)(7) sets a flat baseline: 20-foot front, 5-foot side, and 10-foot rear setbacks. A platted RS-1 corner lot gets its own worked example: 20 feet front, 10 feet on the side street, five feet on the interior side.
Sec. 89-38(e). Setbacks.(3)Required setbacks.a.Setbacks shall be provided as set out in the zoning district regulations (article 2)....(6)Corner lots...g.A corner lot for a single-family detached dwelling in the "RS-1" zoning district or the unincorporated area of Lafayette Parish has a 20 foot front lot line setback on the street assigned as the address on the final plat, a ten foot side street setback on local streets for the dwelling, a five foot interior side setback, and a ten foot rear setback. The front street and side street setback for a garage or carport shall be 20 feet.(7)Yards setback in unincorporated areas. The following setback requirements apply to the unincorporated areas of Lafayette Parish that are not zoned:a.Setback. Yard setbacks are as follows: Front setback 20 feet Side setback 5 feet Rear setback 10 feet
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 65).
Full Breakdown
Section 89-38(e) governs how setbacks are measured and required across the City of Lafayette and Lafayette Parish. ' Where a business or industrial lot abuts a residential lot, subsection (e)(3)b requires the commercial side to match whatever setback the residential district itself requires along that shared line. For land in the unincorporated parish that carries no zoning designation, subsection (e)(7) supplies a direct numeric floor: front setback 20 feet, side setback 5 feet, rear setback 10 feet. Owners on local, interior streets can ask the planning and zoning commission to waive the front setback if they submit a written request and show a typical lot layout restricting where the garage and dwelling sit.
The code also works a zoned example directly into the corner-lot rules at subsection (c)(6)g: a single-family detached corner lot in the RS-1 district, or in the unincorporated parish, carries a 20-foot front setback on its addressed street, a 10-foot side-street setback, a 5-foot interior side setback, and a 10-foot rear setback, with garages and carports facing the front or side street held to a 20-foot setback. City lots under 100 feet deep get their front and rear setbacks reduced by 1 percent for every foot short of 100 under subsection (e)(6)a, and lots under 50 feet wide get a minimum side setback of 10 percent of the lot's width under (e)(6)b.
Violations & Fines
Building inside a required setback without qualifying for one of the encroachment-table exceptions in § 89-38(e)(4) is a zoning violation the administrator can act on; an owner facing practical difficulty can request an administrative modification under § 89-38(g), with any denial appealable to the planning and zoning commission or BOZA under §§ 89-68 and 89-69.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the minimum yard setback on unzoned land in Lafayette Parish?
What setback applies to a corner lot in an RS-1 neighborhood?
Can a small, shallow lot get a reduced setback?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lafayette
Compare Lafayette to another location·View the Louisiana building setbacks & zoning overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.