Skip to main content
Loading…
This section is included in your selections.

A. The size and shape of single-family detached lots shall be as follows:

1. Minimum lot area, two thousand square feet where alleys are utilized, three thousand five hundred square feet if alleys are not provided.

2. Minimum lot width, thirty feet when alleys are utilized, forty feet if alleys are not provided. Minimum lot width and street frontage for infill lots designed for construction of a single-family residence shall be thirty feet when alleys are utilized and forty feet when alleys are not utilized. Infill lots to be used for duplexes or other multifamily uses shall have a minimum lot width and street frontage of fifty feet.

3. Minimum front yard:

Sixteen feet for single-family dwellings and duplexes. Ten feet for multifamily.

In addition, setbacks are encouraged to be staggered as provided in LMC 15.12.080(F) for the purpose of modulating the streetscape, providing more convenient opportunities for offsetting windows for privacy of individual homes or other desired design outcomes.

Garages facing the street, twenty feet.

Unenclosed porches may project up to six feet into the front yard, provided the porches are at least forty-eight square feet in area with no dimension less than six feet.

4. Minimum side yards:

Minimum on one side, five feet.

Minimum total both sides, ten feet.

5. Alternative lot configurations may be approved provided they comply with all of the following additional standards and design;

a. Other applicable standards in this chapter.

b. Design criteria in LMC 14.23.072, particularly LMC 14.23.072(L).

c. The design results in a superior land division layout considering its functionality and character with particular consideration given to privacy for individual lots, pedestrian access and convenience, and the design of public and/or private open space opportunities and natural features.

6. Minimum rear yard, fifteen feet, provided garages may be within three feet of the rear yard line, alley easement or paved surface when adjacent to an alley.

B. Lots intended for attached single-family, condominium and multifamily shall be reviewed and approved through a subdivision, townhouse, planned residential development, site plan review or building plan review process where such concepts are identified and the project is designed and conditioned subject to design requirements of Chapter 14.23 LMC.

C. Other Lot Standards for All Uses.

1. Minimum Usable Open Space. Where alleys are utilized, lots shall provide a contiguous open space equivalent to ten percent of the lot size. Specific open space requirements:

Shall feature minimum dimensions of fifteen feet on all sides, provided one side may be reduced to ten feet by the site plan review committee if it determines the space is designed with features that make it more inviting, private and useable. Design for reduction of the minimum dimension must include at least two of the following techniques;

a. A pergola or other architectural feature with landscaping;

b. An improved patio area with features for associated use such as sitting or barbeque;

c. Other design features and improvements that add to the usability, privacy and desirability of the private space.

As an example, a two-thousand-five-hundred-square-foot lot would require a contiguous open space of at least two hundred fifty square feet, or approximately fifteen feet by seventeen feet in area for a standard dimension, or ten feet by twenty-five feet if the dimension is reduced and design features added.

Such open space shall not be located within the front yard, except for those undeveloped lots vested prior to May 15, 2008.

For duplexes and triplexes, each dwelling unit must have direct access to its own usable open space.

Up to twenty-five percent of the homes in a subdivision in the HDR zone can meet the ten percent usable open space requirement by providing a ten-foot-wide side yard in a zero lot line or reciprocal use easement configuration per LMC 14.32.072(L) for the length of the lot provided the subject house is only single-story in height.

For townhouse developments, refer to LMC 14.23.080 and 16.61.040.

For multifamily developments, refer to LMC 14.23.080. (See Tables 16T-80, 16T-81, and 16T-82.)

Table 16T-80

Example configurations of usable open space on small lots.

Table 16T-81

Minimum standards for front-loaded lots in the High Density Residential District.

Table 16T-82

Minimum standards for alley-loaded lots in the High Density Residential District.

2. Maximum building coverage, fifty percent. Undeveloped lots vested prior to May 15, 2008, shall be exempted from this standard provided they meet minimum usable open space requirements herein.

3. Maximum development coverage, eighty-five percent. Side and rear yard patios are exempt from development coverage restrictions provided the paving material used is considered a pervious pavement by the city of Lacey’s public works department.

4. Maximum height of buildings:

Eighty feet, provided the following apply where building height is greater than forty feet and within eighty feet of an existing single-family residence (measured from the foundation walls) and not separated by a street or alley:

a. A fifteen-foot buffer of Type 1 landscaping is required between the building wall and any abutting single-family residential property line and shall include a six-foot sight obscuring wall or fence.

b. Buildings over forty feet shall step back one foot for each one foot of additional building height above forty feet.

c. Upper-story balconies facing existing single-family residential uses on buildings exceeding forty feet shall be constructed with opaque sides a minimum of forty-two inches high.

Accessory structures over sixteen feet in height are subject to design review requirements. Design shall demonstrate a compatibility with the primary structure and shall not dominate the site visually.

5. Accessory buildings: All accessory buildings must comply with the current building setbacks as stated in this chapter; provided, however, if the accessory building is less than two hundred square feet, the following setbacks are permitted:

Front yard, ten feet.

Side yard, five feet.

Rear yard, three feet. (Ord. 1539 §64, 2019; Ord. 1493 §12, 2016; Ord. 1480 §§17, 28, 29 (part (part)), 2015; Ord. 1310 §38, 2008).