Valencia County, NM Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

105(F)(3) fixes the yard setbacks for the Rural Residential Districts (RR-1 and RR-2), the base residential zone across most of unincorporated Valencia County. The minimum front yard setback is 30 feet, though a freestanding yard sign only needs to clear 5 feet. Side and rear yards need a minimum 15-foot setback. The subsection lets an accessory structure sit closer, 15 feet from the property line in a side or rear yard, but only if it is no taller than 15 feet, stands at least 60 feet from a road, and keeps 10 feet of separation from any dwelling.

Fences, walls and hedges are allowed within any required yard, but they still have to respect the clear-vision-area rules in division (6), which forbid sight-obscuring structures or planting taller than 30 inches within a triangle at road intersections. None of these standards can be waived except through a planned development approval; the setback subsection itself states the requirements apply to all RR Districts unless varied or waived by a planned development. A homeowner also has to account for the separate 30-foot access requirement in division (5), since a driveway or private easement serving the parcel needs its own 30 feet of width in addition to meeting the yard setbacks. The setback rules were last amended by Ordinance 2021-02, adopted 7-21-2021.