ZoningVerdict

Garages, sheds, and accessory structures in Sterling Heights, MI

What the Sterling Heights zoning ordinance says about garages, sheds, and accessory structures, district by district. Section numbers link to the official ordinance.

M-1 — Light Industrial (M-1)

Accessory uses include maintenance operations, security sleeping quarters, and outside storage limited to licensed vehicles, materials produced on site, and necessary equipment, kept behind the building inside a 4 to 8 foot masonry wall or approved fence (Section 19.03). Stored material height steps down near the enclosure: 8 feet within 25 feet of the perimeter, 15 feet from 25 to 50 feet, 50 feet beyond that (Section 19.03.D.5). Shipping containers need screening, rear yard placement, a permanent foundation, a 15 foot height cap, and no stacking (Section 19.02.O).

All districts

Detached accessory buildings belong in the rear yard, at least 3 feet from any lot line and 10 feet from the house or a deck; they may not occupy the front or required side yards, and on through lots may not sit in a rear yard that faces a neighbor's front yard (Section 28.00.B). Height is capped at one story or 15 feet in residential and commercial districts; sheds on lots of a quarter acre or less are capped at 10 feet, and shed doors may not exceed 6 feet wide (Section 28.00.C). Buildings over 50 square feet need a concrete slab at least 3.5 inches thick (Section 28.00.C).

Size is scaled to the lot: on one family lots of a quarter acre or less, one garage plus, if the garage is attached, one shed up to 200 square feet, with detached accessory buildings capped at 700 square feet total (Section 28.00.E). From a quarter to a half acre the cap is 1,000 square feet (Section 28.00.F). Over a half acre, each additional quarter acre adds 200 square feet up to 2,000 square feet total (Section 28.00.G). Accessory buildings over 900 square feet need 20 foot rear and side setbacks (Section 28.00.F-G). Corner-lot sheds and pools have their own encroachment allowances (Section 28.00.B). Rooftop solar is allowed in every district up to 10 feet above the roof; ground-mounted solar in R districts belongs in the rear yard, 3 feet off lot lines, capped at 20 percent lot coverage (Section 28.00.J).

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