Minnetonka, MN Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

The Minnetonka City Council set the R-1 yard standards in § 300.10, subdivision 5. The front yard setback is a minimum of 35 feet from the right-of-way of local and neighborhood collector streets and railroad lines. The code sets 50 feet from the right-of-way of major collector or arterial roadways identified in the comprehensive plan. On a corner lot, one front yard setback can be reduced by 10 feet, and on a double frontage lot the setback can be reduced by 10 feet toward the direction the city planner perceives to be the rear yard. Side yards work on a sum: the side yard setbacks together cannot be less than 30 feet, and each side keeps a minimum of 10 feet. The rear yard is a minimum of 40 feet or 20 percent of the depth of the lot, whichever is less.

Special lots get their own numbers. Principal buildings on lots-behind-lots need 40 feet or 20 percent of the average distance between opposite lot lines, whichever is less, but no less than 25 feet, and the City Council can reduce those setbacks to no less than 25 feet in three listed situations. Detached accessory buildings carry a 10 foot minimum, and a driveway serving a flag or neck lot sits at least 7 feet from side and rear lot lines.

Section 300.15, subdivision 9(a) lets items such as uncovered porches, decks, open terraces and outside stairways extend into a required yard by a distance not to exceed five feet, but never closer than 10 feet from any side lot line. In the R-2 district, § 300.11 sets a 35 foot front setback outside the R-2 plat, a 10 foot side setback, and a rear setback of 30 feet or 20 percent of lot depth, whichever is less. Every structure and all site work must also satisfy the wetland, floodplain, shoreland, steep slope and tree protection requirements in sections 300.23, 300.24, 300.25, 300.28 and 314.01.