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Zoning Information
The guidelines below are not meant to be conclusive, as they may change before this site is updated. The Building Inspector is the enforcer of Zoning By-Laws. He will make the final judgment as to whether or not an application for a building permit adheres to Zoning By-Laws.
Most frequently asked question:
How much land and frontage do I need to build a house and how far from property lines does the house have to be?
The acreage, frontage and setback requirements are different for each town. A setback is the required measurement from the property line to the structure. Frontage is the linear foot measurement of the land abutting a street or highway. Click the town below to find its requirements:
Ashfield | Bernardston | Buckland | Charlemont | Conway | Erving | Gill | Hawley | Heath Leverett | Leyden | Shelburne | Shutesbury | Whately
| District | Lot Size/Frontage Single-Family | Front Set back | Side Set back | Rear Set back |
| Rural/Agricultural | 2 acre/200' | 25' | 25' | 25' |
Bernardston(1/20/10)
| District | Lot Size/Frontage Single-Family | Front Set back | Side Set back | Rear Set back |
| Central Village Res. | 20,000/125' | 20' | 15' | 15' |
| Residential 1 | 40,000/150' | 20' | 20' | 20' |
| Residential Agric. | 60,000/200' | 35' | 35' | 35' |
| Business | 20,000/150' | 20' | 20' | 20' |
| Industrial | 80,000/200' | 50' | 20' | 20' |
| Expedited | 20,000/150' | 20' | 20' | 20' |
Buckland(9/22/08)
| District | Lot Size/Frontage Single-Family | Front Set back | Side Set back | Rear Set back |
| Village Residential*** | 20,000/100' | 20' | 10' | 10' |
| Rural Residential | 80,000/200' | 20'' | 15' | 30' |
| Village Commercial | 20,000/100' | 20** | 10' | 10' |
| Commercial | 80,000/200 | 30' | 30' | 30' |
| Historic Industrial | 20,000/100 | 20** | 10' | 10' |
| Industrial | 80,000/200 | 50' | 30' | 30' |
**Call inspector for exception
*** Increase the lot size to 40,000 sq. ft and lot frontage to 150 ft. if water or sewer is not available
| District | Lot Size/Frontage Single-Family | Front Set back | Side Set back | Rear Set back |
| Residential/Agricultural | Call Inspector | Call Inspector | Call Inspector | Call Inspector |
Conway(4/14/86) Bylaw
| District | Lot Size/Frontage Single-Family | Front Set back | Side Set back | Rear Set back |
| All | 1 acre/ 200' | 50' | 25' | 25' |
Erving(10/5/09)
| District | Lot Size/Frontage Single-Family | Front Set back | Side Set back | Rear Set back |
| Central Village | 21,780/125 | 20' | 10' | 20' |
| Village Residential | 21,780/125 | 20' | 10' | 20' |
| Rural Residential | 87,120/225 | 50' | 50' | 50' |
| French King Commercial | 87,120/225 | 100' | 50' | 50' |
Gill(12/11/06)
| District | Lot Size/Frontage Single-Family | Front Set back | Side Set back | Rear Set back |
| Village/Residential | 1/4 acre/100' | call inspector | 10' | 10' |
| Residential | 2 acre/200' | 50 | 30 | 30 |
| Residential/Agricultural | 2 acres/200' | 50' | 30' | 30' |
| Village/Commercial | 1 acre/150' | 20' | 25'' | 25' |
Hawley(11/27/78)
| District | Lot Size/Frontage Single-Family | Front Set back | Side Set back | Rear Set back |
| Rural | 2 acres/ 250' | 60' | 30' | 30' |
Heath(5/12/07) Bylaw
| District | Lot Size/Frontage Single-Family | Front Set back | Side Set back | Rear Set back |
| All | call inspector |
Leverett(3/12/08)
| District | Lot Size/Frontage Single-Family | Front Set back | Side Set back | Rear Set back |
| Residential/Village | Call Inspector | Call Inspector | Call Inspector | Call Inspector |
| Roadside/Residential | 60,000/200' | Call Inspector | Call Inspector | Call Inspector |
| Rural Outlying Residential | 200,000/400' | Call Inspector | Call Inspector | Call Inspector |
| General Business | 40,000/150' | Call Inspector | Call Inspector | Call Inspector |
| Commercial | 40,000/150' | Call Inspector | Call Inspector | Call Inspector |
| Aqua Prot | Call Inspector | Call Inspector | Call Inspector | Call Inspector |
Leyden(1/24/78)
| District | Lot Size/Frontage Single-Family | Front Set back | Side Set back | Rear Set back |
| Residential/Agricultural | 2 acres/ 200' | Call Inspector | Call Inspector | Call Inspector |
| Within 1/4 mile of Town Hall | 1 acre/ 100' | Call Inspector | Call Inspector | Call Inspector |
Shelburne(5/6/08)
| District | Lot Size/Frontage Single-Family | Front Set back | Side Set back *** | Rear Set back |
| RA | 86,000/250' | 25' | 20' | 20' |
| VR | 20,000/100'* | 20'** | 10'' | 20' |
| VC | 20,000/100' | 20'** | 10' | 20' |
| C | 86,000/250' | 30' | 30' | 30' |
| I | 86,000/250' | 50' | 30' | 30' |
*If public water or public sewer is not available increase the lot size to 40,000 sq.ft. and the lot frontage to 150ft.
**However, the front yard dimension may be determined by the setback of existing structures on adjacen parcels where those setbacks are less than the minimum front yard dimension required by this bylaw
***New driveways must be set back to meet the Side Yard requirement for each district unless a variance is granted by the ZBA
Shutesbury(3/24/09)
| District | Lot Size/Frontage Single-Family | Front Set back | Side Set back | Rear Set back | Max. Height |
| RR | 90,000/ 250'* | 75' | 25' | 25' | 35' |
| FC | Call Building inspector | 75' | 25' | 25' | 35' |
| TC | 90,000/ 250' | 20' | 20' | 20 | 35' |
| LW | 90,000/ 250' | 20' | 15' | 15' | 28' |
*Call Building inspector for additional lot area and dimensional requirements for accessory apartments, two,three, and four-family dwellings and open space design.
Whately(4/24/07)
| District | Lot Size/Frontage Single-Family | Front Set back | Side Set back | Rear Set back |
| Agricultural/Residential with water | 40,000/ 175' | 50' | 20' | 20' |
| Agricultural/Residential without water | 60,000/ 200' | 50' | 20' | 20' |
| Commercial | 60,000/ 200' | 50' | 20' | 20' |
| Industrial | 60,000/ 200' | 50' | 20' | 20' |
I own a building lot that does not meet the present zoning requirements for frontage and area, is my lot grandfathered? In order to determine whether a lot may be grandfathered, several questions must be answered and deed research must be done: Grandfathered Lot Application.
This page was last updated on 09/03/2010 .