Mesa County, CO Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

B of the Land Development Code addresses vacant lots within Chapter 10's nonconformities framework. A vacant nonconforming lot, one that was lawfully created but no longer meets current lot area, width, or dimensional standards, may still be developed with any use the underlying zoning district permits, provided the development complies with the LDC's minimum setback standards. Where the underlying district permits a range of uses and intensities, and some of those uses or intensities would fit within the lot's applicable lot area, lot width, or other dimensional standards while others would not, only the uses and intensities that comply are allowed on the vacant nonconforming lot.

A separately requires an owner seeking to build on a nonconforming lot for any purpose to show the Director that the parcel was lawfully created, that no reasonable alternative exists to make the lot conforming (such as acquiring adjoining land), and that the proposed use meets all other zoning district regulations. D provides alternative reduced setbacks when a lot genuinely lacks room to build under standard dimensional rules: interior side and rear setbacks may be reduced to three feet, and the street setback may be reduced to twenty percent of lot depth, but only after the Director is satisfied that ordinary setbacks would leave no buildable area.