Medford, OR Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Front yard, detached SFR
- 15 ft (20 ft to garage)
- Side yard, 0-18.49 ft height
- 4 ft minimum
- Side yard, 30.5+ ft height
- 12 ft minimum
- Rear yard
- Equal to greater side yard, 4 ft min
- Rear yard abutting street
- 10 ft
- Discretionary encroachment
- Up to 20% of setbacks ≥10 ft
Summary
Medford sets a 15-foot front yard setback for detached single-family homes in the SFR-00 through SFR-10 zones, 20 feet to a garage or carport, and a sliding side-yard scale keyed to building height rather than a flat number. Rear yards must equal the greater side setback, minimum 4 feet.
Detached SFR | Fifteen feet except the garage or carport must be 20 feet. If the garage door is perpendicular to the street, the minimum setback to the sidewall of the garage is 15 feet... Rear Yard: Equal to the greater side yard setback as calculated in Section 10.705(3), not less than four feet. Exceptions: (1) If the rear property line abuts a street, the setback is 10 feet or (2) if the property slopes downward from the street, see Section 10.705(1)(a).
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 2026-32, passed May 6, 2026).
Full Breakdown
710 of the Medford Land Development Code sets the residential site development table governing detached single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes and townhouses across the SFR-00 through MFR-30 zoning districts. For detached single-family homes in SFR-00 through SFR-10, the minimum front yard is fifteen feet, but the garage or carport must sit back 20 feet, or 15 feet to the sidewall if the garage door is turned perpendicular to the street. The minimum street side yard for a corner lot is ten feet, with the same 20-foot garage exception.
5 feet or taller, rounding to the nearest whole foot. 705(1)(a). 707 layers in exceptions: cornices, eaves and mechanical equipment may project one foot into any required yard; open porches and stairways may extend five feet into a front yard; and on blocks of legally built homes with shallower setbacks than the zone requires, a new front yard may be reduced to match the average of the abutting lots. An approving authority may also grant up to a 20 percent encroachment into any setback of 10 feet or more, but never into a public utility easement, a wildfire risk area, a slope over 15 percent, or where the Hillside Ordinance applies.
Violations & Fines
Setback standards are enforced through the City's development permit and building permit review process administered by the Planning Department; a structure built into a required yard without an approved exception or encroachment can be cited as a zoning code violation and required to be modified or removed as a condition of any subsequent permit or land use action.
Frequently Asked Questions
How wide must a side yard be in Medford?
Can I build closer to the street than my setback allows?
Does my garage need a bigger setback than the house?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Medford
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