New Berlin, WI Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

Chapter 275's Table 275-33-2 sets the minimum front, side and rear yard for each of New Berlin's ten residential zoning districts, and every district also carries an Ordinary High Water Mark setback and a wetland setback layered on top of the base yard requirements. In the R-4 Low-Density Single-Family Residential District, the printed rear setback is 50 feet, the front setback is 50 feet and the side setback (each side) is 15 feet.

Additional Requirement (1) under section 275-33 D creates a specific exception to that R-4 rear setback: it drops to 25 feet if either of two conditions is met, the lot is vacant and part of a platted residential subdivision recorded before February 27, 2001, or the building permit for the principal structure on the lot was issued before February 27, 2001. The date functions as a grandfather line protecting older platted lots and existing construction from a rear-yard standard adopted later.

Other districts carry their own numeric variations set out in the same table: R-5 has a front setback that shifts between 30 and 40 feet and a rear setback between 25 and 35 feet depending on whether the street has curb-and-gutter or open-ditch drainage (Additional Requirement (4)), and every district's wetland setback drops from 30 feet to 10 feet for lots platted, or with a principal-structure building permit issued, before October 9, 2001 (Additional Requirement (9)). Relief from any of these numeric minimums requires a variance from the Board of Appeals under section 275-30, or, for a reduction of up to 20% of a required setback, an administrative adjustment from the Director of Community Development under section 275-30.1.