Building Setbacks & Zoning in New Haven, CT (2026)
3 verified building setbacks & zoning rules for New Haven, Connecticut, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Setback Rules
New Haven's RS-1 Special Single-Family district requires a 25-foot front yard, a 25-foot rear yard, and side yards of eight and twelve feet, with a narrower rule on corner lots.
New Haven RS-1 Yard Setback Minimums
Some RestrictionsNew Haven Zoning Ordinance § 11(a)(1)e (RS-1 District)
Minimum yards: Front—25 ft., except that where 75% or more of the entire street frontage (in feet) on the same side of the same street between the nearest two intersecting streets has been developed with buildings with front yards smaller than 25 feet, the required front yard shall be the same as the yard presently followed by existing buildings along the greatest quantity of street frontage (...
Structure Height Limits
New Haven's RS-1 Special Single-Family district limits new homes to three stories or an average height of 35 feet, whichever is lower, under the district's building requirements.
New Haven RS-1 Caps Height at 35 Feet
Some RestrictionsNew Haven Zoning Ordinance § 11(a)(1)d (RS-1 Districts – Building Requirements)
Single-family detached dwellings. There shall be only one principal building on a lot. Building requirements:a.Minimum lot area: 4,000 sq. ft. b.Minimum average lot width: 50 ft. c.Maximum building coverage: Total coverage of principal and accessory buildings not to exceed 30% of lot area. d.Maximum building height: Such height shall not exceed either three stories or an average height of 35 feet.
Lot Coverage Limits
In New Haven's RS-1 Special Single-Family district, a home and any accessory buildings together cannot cover more than 30 percent of the lot, and total impervious surface, meaning every building plus paved parking and walkways, cannot exceed 70 percent of the lot area. New Haven Zoning Ordinance Section 11(a)(1)c and g set these two caps for RS-1; the citywide bulk table at Section 20, Table 2 sets a different maximum building-coverage percentage for each of the other seven residential zones.
New Haven RS-1 Building and Impervious Coverage Caps
Some RestrictionsNew Haven Zoning Ordinance § 11(a)(1)c, g (RS-1 District); § 1 (Definitions - Building Coverage)
(c)Maximum building coverage: Total coverage of principal and accessory buildings not to exceed 30% of lot area. ... g.Maximum impervious surface coverage: Total coverage of building(s) and paved area (parking and walkways) shall not exceed 70% of the lot area. ... BUILDING COVERAGE means the proportion of the lot area, expressed as a percent, that is covered by the maximum horizontal cross sec...