Rapides Parish, LA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

Rapides Parish has no zoning code, so yard setbacks for new lots in unincorporated Rapides Parish come from the subdivision design standards in Chapter 22 rather than a zoning ordinance. Sec. 22-195 fixes the minimum front yard setback at forty (40) feet, measured from the nearest corner of the dwelling or commercial structure to the center of the public road, and requires every other setback on the lot, meaning the side and rear yards, to be at least ten (10) feet from the property line.

The same article addresses related lot geometry: corner lots must be wide enough to permit an appropriate building setback from and orientation to both intersecting streets (Sec. 22-193), and double frontage or reverse frontage lots should be avoided except to separate residential development from traffic arteries or overcome topography (Sec. 22-194). Minimum urban single-family lot size is set at 6,500 square feet, with larger lots required near existing developments to protect their character (Sec. 22-199). These standards apply when the Rapides Area Planning Commission reviews a preliminary or final subdivision plat before the Police Jury accepts it; they govern the platting of new lots outside the incorporated limits of Alexandria, Pineville, Ball, Boyce, Cheneyville, Forest Hill, Glenmora, Lecompte, McNary and Woodwood, each of which sets its own building lines.

The setback figures were carried forward through amendments in 1978, 2003, 2005 and again in 2020, showing the Police Jury has kept revisiting the subdivision article rather than replacing it with a zoning code.