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Building Setbacks & Zoning in Georgia (2026)

88 rules on the books across Georgia, 32 cities and counties. Select a rule to read the full details.

Severity: Few Restrictions · Light Restrictions · Some Restrictions · Significant Restrictions · Heavy Restrictions

Setback Rules

How far structures must be from property lines, streets, and other buildings. Different setbacks apply to front, side, and rear yards.

Acworth

Some Restrictions

Acworth sets minimum yard setbacks by zoning district in Table 73-3.5 of the Zoning Ordinance, requiring 20 to 50 feet…

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Atlanta

Some Restrictions

Atlanta sets a separate front, side, and rear yard depth for every residential zoning district, 60/25/35 feet in R-1…

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Augusta-Richmond County

Some Restrictions

Augusta-Richmond County's R-1 zoning sets minimum yard setbacks: 30 feet in front on local streets (40 feet on major…

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Bartow County

Some Restrictions

Bartow County's Zoning Ordinance sets a different front, side and rear setback for every zoning district in Article…

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Carroll County

Some Restrictions

Unincorporated Carroll County, Georgia's zoning ordinance bars any building from occupying a required yard under County…

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Chatham County

Some Restrictions

Chatham County Sec. 4-6.1 requires that no structure sit closer than 20 feet from any design right-of-way line, nor…

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Cherokee County

Some Restrictions

Yard setbacks in unincorporated Cherokee County vary by zoning district under Table 7.1A of the Zoning Ordinance…

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Clayton County

Some Restrictions

Clayton County requires front, side and rear yard setbacks for every structure, set individually for each zoning…

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Cobb County

Some Restrictions

Unincorporated Cobb County fixes minimum yard setbacks by zoning district in the Chapter 134 bulk-regulations table…

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Columbia County

Some Restrictions

Front, side and rear yard setbacks in Columbia County's residential districts are set by the § 90-53 lot and structure…

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Columbus

Some Restrictions

Columbus, Georgia's UDO sets minimum front, side, corner-side, and rear yard setbacks by residential zoning district…

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Coweta County

Some Restrictions

Coweta County's zoning ordinance sets minimum front, side and rear yard setbacks for every zoning district in Article…

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Decatur

Some Restrictions

In the City of Decatur, DeKalb County, Georgia, the Unified Development Ordinance's R-60 Single-Family Residential…

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DeKalb County

Some Restrictions

In unincorporated DeKalb County, minimum front, side and rear yard setbacks are fixed by zoning district in Table 2.2…

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Dunwoody

Some Restrictions

Dunwoody sets minimum building setbacks by zoning district in City Code § 27-58(b). Street-facing setbacks range from…

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Fayette County

Some Restrictions

In the R-85 Single-Family Residential District, unincorporated Fayette County's Section 110-128 sets a 100-foot front…

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Floyd County

Some Restrictions

In unincorporated Floyd County, how far a house can sit from the street and side lines depends on zoning district. The…

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Forsyth County

Some Restrictions

Front, side and rear setbacks in unincorporated Forsyth County are fixed district-by-district in Table 11.2(a) of the…

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Fulton County

Some Restrictions

In unincorporated Fulton County's R-1 Single Family Dwelling District, new houses must sit at least 60 feet back from…

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Gwinnett County

Some Restrictions

UDO § 210-120 sets minimum front, side and rear yard setbacks for every base residential district in unincorporated…

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Hall County

Some Restrictions

Hall County's Unified Development Code sets minimum yard setbacks by zoning district in Article 3 and Article 4…

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Houston County

Some Restrictions

Houston County's Section 82 setback table requires a 50-foot front yard from arterial and collector streets in every…

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Johns Creek

Some Restrictions

In Johns Creek's R-1 Single-Family District, homes must sit back at least 60 feet from the front line, 25 feet from…

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Macon Bibb County

Some Restrictions

Macon-Bibb County's yard setback table in Section 9.06 sets a 40-foot front, side, and rear setback from arterial and…

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Marietta

Some Restrictions

Marietta's R-1 Single-Family Residential/Agriculture district sets front setbacks that scale with the street: 50 feet…

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Paulding County

Some Restrictions

Paulding County's R-2 Suburban Residential District, the county's standard suburban zoning, sets a 35-foot minimum…

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Rockdale County

Some Restrictions

Rockdale County's dimensional standards table sets minimum yard setbacks by zoning district: 40 feet front, 10 or 30…

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Roswell

Some Restrictions

Roswell's UDC sets minimum primary-street, side-street, side-interior and rear setbacks for each building type and…

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South Fulton

Some Restrictions

South Fulton sets minimum yard setbacks by zoning district in Table 4-1 under Zoning Ordinance Section 403.03(a). The…

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Walton County

Some Restrictions

The A1 Rural Estate District, the county's main large-lot residential zone, requires a 50-foot front setback, 15-foot…

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Warner Robins

Some Restrictions

Warner Robins sets minimum front, rear, and side yard setbacks by zoning district under Section 82 of the zoning…

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Whitfield County

Some Restrictions

In the R-4 Zero Lot Line Residential district in unincorporated Whitfield County, homes need a 20-foot front setback…

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Structure Height Limits

Maximum building heights allowed by zoning, including how height is measured and exceptions for chimneys, antennas, and rooftop equipment.

Acworth

Some Restrictions

Acworth caps building height by zoning district in Table 73-3.5 of the Zoning Ordinance: 35 feet in the R-1 through R-5…

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Atlanta

Some Restrictions

Atlanta limits buildings in R-4 single-family districts, the city's standard medium-density residential zone, to 35…

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Augusta-Richmond County

Some Restrictions

Augusta-Richmond County caps R-1 single-family homes at two and one-half stories or 45 feet under Section 8-6 of the…

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Bartow County

Some Restrictions

In unincorporated Bartow County, the Zoning Ordinance caps single-family homes in the R-1 residential district at 50…

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Carroll County

Some Restrictions

Unincorporated Carroll County, Georgia's zoning ordinance caps buildings at 35 feet in the Office and Institutional…

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Chatham County

Some Restrictions

Unincorporated Chatham County's residential and nonresidential R-district schedules cap maximum building height at 36…

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Clayton County

Some Restrictions

Clayton County sets a maximum building height for each zoning district in the Article 3 layout (Sec. 6.5). Certain…

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Cobb County

Some Restrictions

In unincorporated Cobb County, principal residential structures are capped at 35 feet under the zoning code's…

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Columbia County

Some Restrictions

Every one of Columbia County's ten residential zoning districts, from the rural R-A district to the densest A-R10…

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Columbus

Some Restrictions

Columbus, Georgia caps residential building height at 35 feet in most zoning districts (40 feet in HIST), with narrow…

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Coweta County

Some Restrictions

Coweta County's zoning ordinance caps residential structures at three stories and 35 feet in the RD Two-Family and R-2…

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Decatur

Some Restrictions

In the City of Decatur, DeKalb County, Georgia, the Unified Development Ordinance caps residential height by district…

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DeKalb County

Some Restrictions

Single-family homes in unincorporated DeKalb County are capped at 35 feet, dropping to 28 feet in Residential Infill…

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Dunwoody

Some Restrictions

Dunwoody caps residential building height at 35 feet for the principal house and 20 feet for accessory structures…

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Fayette County

Some Restrictions

Unincorporated Fayette County caps residential structures at 35 feet in the R-85 Single-Family Residential District…

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Floyd County

Some Restrictions

Unincorporated Floyd County caps building height by zoning district under the Unified Land Development Code's Table…

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Fulton County

Some Restrictions

In unincorporated Fulton County, the AG-1 and R-1 zoning districts cap residential buildings at 40 feet, measured from…

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Gwinnett County

Some Restrictions

UDO § 210-120 caps building height at 35 feet across Gwinnett County's six single-family districts, RA-200 through…

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Hall County

Some Restrictions

Hall County caps building height by zoning district under UDC § 2.1.6, measuring from mean finished grade to the…

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Johns Creek

Some Restrictions

In Johns Creek's R-1 Single-Family Dwelling District, no building may exceed 40 feet in height under the city's Zoning…

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Macon Bibb County

Some Restrictions

Macon-Bibb County caps buildings and structures in the R-1, R-1A, and R-1AA single-family districts at 35 feet under…

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Marietta

Some Restrictions

Marietta caps building height at 40 feet for a principal structure in the R-1 Single-Family Residential/Agriculture…

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Paulding County

Some Restrictions

Homes and other structures in Paulding County's R-2 Suburban Residential District top out at 45 feet under UDO Section…

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Rockdale County

Some Restrictions

Rockdale County caps building height at 35 feet in the W-P watershed protection and RM multi-family districts, but…

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Roswell

Some Restrictions

Roswell caps most detached houses at 35 feet or 2½ stories and accessory structures at 24 feet, measured from average…

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South Fulton

Some Restrictions

South Fulton caps residential building height at 35 feet across every R-1 through R-6 single-family zoning district…

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Walton County

Some Restrictions

Homes in Walton County's A1 Rural Estate District are capped at thirty-five feet under Section 4-1-120(E)(5) of the…

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Warner Robins

Some Restrictions

Warner Robins caps residential structures at 35 feet and three stories in every standard single-family and multi-family…

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Whitfield County

Some Restrictions

Chart 3-7 of Whitfield County's Unified Zoning Ordinance caps building height at 35 feet across every agricultural and…

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Lot Coverage Limits

The maximum percentage of your lot that can be covered by buildings and impervious surfaces like driveways and patios.

Acworth

Some Restrictions

Acworth's Zoning Ordinance limits how much of a lot can be covered by buildings, pavement and other impervious surface…

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Atlanta

Some Restrictions

Atlanta caps building footprint at 50 percent of total lot area for the R-4 Single-Family Residential District, the…

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Augusta-Richmond County

Some Restrictions

Augusta-Richmond County's R-1 (One-Family Residential) Zone caps building coverage at 30 percent of a lot's area…

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Bartow County

Some Restrictions

Non-residential and multi-family development in unincorporated Bartow County cannot cover more than 75 percent of a lot…

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Carroll County

Some Restrictions

In unincorporated Carroll County, Georgia's Office and Institutional (OI) zoning district, County Code §…

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Chatham County

Some Restrictions

For uses in Chatham County's R-districts, Sec. 4-6.2 caps building coverage at 40 percent of the lot. Single-family…

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Cherokee County

Some Restrictions

Cherokee County caps how much of a lot can be covered by buildings, from 20 percent in the rural AG district up to 60…

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Clayton County

Some Restrictions

Clayton County caps the maximum lot coverage for every zoning district, but the percentage is set individually for each…

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Columbia County

Some Restrictions

Columbia County caps how much of a residential lot can be covered by the house and accessory structures under Code of…

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Columbus

Some Restrictions

Columbus, Georgia's Unified Development Ordinance caps maximum lot coverage per zoning district, from 10 percent in the…

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Coweta County

Some Restrictions

Inside Coweta County's Village Center district, single-family detached lots face a tiered impervious surface cap: 35…

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Decatur

Some Restrictions

Decatur, Georgia's Unified Development Ordinance limits how much of a lot a house can cover. For a legacy lot of record…

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DeKalb County

Some Restrictions

In unincorporated DeKalb County, no lot can exceed the maximum lot coverage set for its zoning district, as low as 25…

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Dunwoody

Some Restrictions

Dunwoody limits how much of a residential lot can be covered by buildings, driveways, patios, pools, and other…

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Fayette County

Some Restrictions

In unincorporated Fayette County, the county code caps impervious lot coverage by zoning district rather than…

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Fulton County

Some Restrictions

In the TR Townhouse Residential district of unincorporated Fulton County, the combined footprint of all buildings and…

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Gwinnett County

Some Restrictions

Unincorporated Gwinnett County caps building footprint under UDO § 210-120: 25% of lot area in the RA-200 and R-LL…

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Hall County

Some Restrictions

In Hall County's AG-1 Agricultural district, Table 3.1.1 caps site coverage at 35 percent of the lot, alongside a…

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Houston County

Some Restrictions

Houston County caps building lot coverage at 25 percent for lots on private wells regardless of zoning district, and…

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Macon Bibb County

Some Restrictions

Macon-Bibb County caps building footprint in its core single-family zones at 25 to 35 percent of lot area. Section 9.04…

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Marietta

Some Restrictions

Marietta caps lot coverage at 35 percent for a home built in the R-1 Single-Family Residential/Agriculture district…

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Rockdale County

Some Restrictions

Rockdale County's dimensional standards table caps impervious surface at 20 percent of a lot in the R-1 single-family…

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Roswell

Some Restrictions

Roswell's Unified Development Code caps building coverage, the ground-floor footprint of every principal and roofed…

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South Fulton

Some Restrictions

South Fulton's Zoning Ordinance does not set one flat coverage percentage citywide; it assigns a lot-coverage maximum…

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Walton County

Some Restrictions

In Walton County's A1 Rural Estate District, the most common large-lot residential zoning in the unincorporated county…

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Warner Robins

Some Restrictions

Warner Robins limits how much of a lot a building can cover under Section 81 of the zoning ordinance. Lots without…

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Forsyth County

Light Restrictions

Most of Forsyth County's residential zoning districts have no maximum lot coverage percentage at all. Table 11.2(a) of…

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