Laredo, TX Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

Section 24-77.1 of the Laredo Land Development Code carries the master Dimensional Standards table, and every zoning district from AG down to the industrial M-2 district reads its setbacks off the same grid, with the R-1 single family residential district as the second column. For R-1, the table sets a front yard setback of 20 feet, a side yard setback of 5 feet along an interior lot line, 10 feet on a corner lot, and a rear yard setback of 6 feet, with a maximum height of 35 feet or 2.5 stories.

The table footnotes carry real legal weight. Footnote b, which the rear yard and interior side yard columns reference for several districts, states setbacks shall be six feet for residential use, ten feet all other uses, or the number of feet established in the adopted International Building Code, whichever is greater, so the printed number is a floor rather than a ceiling once the building code fire-separation distances come into play. Minimum lot area for a single-family lot in R-1 is 6,000 square feet with a minimum lot width of 46 feet measured at the building setback line, tighter than the RS residential suburban district 15,000-square-foot minimum but larger than the 4,500-square-foot floor in the R1-A reduced area district.

Every zoning district in the table carries its own numbers: R-1A and the manufactured-housing R-1MH districts drop the front yard down to 10 to 20 feet, while RSM and RS multi-family districts push it up to 30 feet, and the AG agricultural district requires a 35-foot front yard to match its rural character. The Zoning Board of Adjustment can vary a building setback only in peculiar and unusual circumstances that would prevent the reasonable use of the land, and the Building Standards Board and Planning Department administer compliance during permit review.