5 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Sedgwick County, Kansas.
Verified from official government sources
In unincorporated Sedgwick County, the Wichita-Sedgwick County Unified Zoning Code allows one Accessory Apartment on a single-family lot. It may be inside the main house, inside an accessory building, or built as an accessory building, but must stay under the same ownership.
UZC Sec. III-D.6.a
A maximum of one Accessory Apartment may be allowed on the same Lot as a Single-Family Dwelling Unit and may be within the Main Building, within an accessory Building or constructed as an accessory Building. The Accessory Apartment shall remain accessory to and under the same ownership as the principal Single-Family Dwelling Unit.
The Unified Zoning Code treats sheds as accessory structures. In residential districts they must sit at least five feet from the rear lot line (ten feet from an alley centerline), no closer to the street than the house, and generally three feet from a side line when set well back.
UZC Sec. III-D.7.e(1)
Accessory Structures shall be set back at least ten feet from the centerline of any platted or dedicated Alley, and if no Alley exists, then five feet from the rear Lot Line. Accessory Structures may not utilize more than one-half of any required rear Yard.
No single UZC section is titled 'garage conversion.' Turning a garage into living space is regulated as a change of use plus, if it becomes a second unit, an Accessory Apartment under UZC Sec. III-D.6.a. Off-street parking removed by the conversion may not be lost.
UZC Sec. III-D.7.e(8)
No Accessory Structure or Use shall eliminate or reduce the amount of off-street Parking or Loading required by this Code.
Garages and carports are permitted residential accessory uses under the Unified Zoning Code. As accessory structures they follow the same setback and height limits as sheds: five feet off the rear line, generally three feet off a side line, and no closer to the street than the house.
UZC Sec. III-D.7.b
Residential and agricultural Uses shall include, but not be limited to, the following Accessory Uses, activities and Structures: ... Garages, carports and Private Parking Areas.
A permanent dwelling in a residential district must meet the Unified Zoning Code's Residential-Design Manufactured Home standards: a double-pitched roof, site-built-style siding, and a permanent foundation. Movable tiny houses on wheels are RVs and cannot serve as a permanent home.
UZC Sec. IV-D
The roof must be predominantly double-pitched and have a minimum vertical rise of 2.2 inches for every twelve inches of horizontal run, and must be covered with material that is customarily used on site-built dwellings ... excluding aluminum, corrugated fiberglass, or metal roof.
1 cities in Sedgwick County have their own accessory structures rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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