RX-: Residential Mixed Use Setback Requirements for the City of Raleigh

In the City of Raleigh, setback requirements for the RX-: Residential Mixed Use district are determined by the specific building type selected for the development and are measured perpendicularly from the edge of the existing or proposed right-of-way. While base setbacks generally range from 5 to 10 feet for primary streets and up to 20 feet for rear lot lines, these standards are often superseded by "Frontage" designations which mandate specific "build-to" ranges to ensure a consistent urban street wall.

The RX-: Residential Mixed Use district is a mixed-residential district intended to provide for a variety of residential building types and housing options at densities in excess of 10 dwelling units per acre in the City of Raleigh [Section 3.1.1.A].

Base Setback Requirements by Building Type

In the City of Raleigh, unless a property is subject to a specific Frontage overlay, the following base setbacks apply to buildings in the RX- district based on their classification.

Building Type	Primary Street (min)	Side Street (min)	Side Lot Line (min)	Rear Lot Line (min)
Detached House	10'	10'	5'	20'
Attached House	10'	10'	5'	20'
Townhouse (Site Boundary)	10'	10'	10'	20'
Apartment	5'	5'	0' or 6'	0' or 6'
Civic Building	10'	10'	0' or 6'	0' or 6'
Tiny House	10'	10'	5'	10'
Open Lot	10'	10'	10'	10'

[Sections 3.2.1 through 3.2.9]

Special Rule for Townhouses

For Townhouse developments in the City of Raleigh's RX- district, the rear site boundary setback may be reduced from 20 feet to 6 feet if a permanently recorded open lot or common area lot of at least 20 feet in width is used to satisfy the requirement [Section 3.2.3.C.4].

Alley Setbacks

In the RX- district, many building types allow for alley access. Where an alley is present, buildings must adhere to the following:

Detached/Attached/Townhouse/Apartment/Tiny House: 4' or 20' minimum.
Civic Building: 5' minimum.
Open Lot: 10' minimum.

[Sections 3.2.1 through 3.2.9]

Impact of Frontage Overlays

In the City of Raleigh, Frontage requirements place different standards on the development that override the base dimensional setbacks of the RX- district. If a conflict occurs between the base standard and the frontage standard, the frontage requirement controls [Section 3.4.1].

Frontage Type	Primary Street Build-To Range (Min/Max)	Side Street Build-To Range (Min/Max)
Parkway (-PK)	50' (Minimum Setback)	N/A
Detached (-DE)	Per Infill Rules [Sec 2.2.7]	N/A
Parking Limited (-PL)	Base Setback / 100'	0' / 100'
Green (-GR)	20' / 50'	20' / 50'
Urban Limited (-UL)	0' / 20'	0' / 20'
Urban General (-UG)	0' / 20'	0' / 20'
Shopfront (-SH)	0' / 15'	0' / 15'
Green Plus (-GP)	30' / 50'	20' / 50'

[Sections 3.4.3 through 3.4.10]

Setbacks for the Frequent Transit Development Option

When a property in the City of Raleigh's RX- district utilizes the Frequent Transit Development Option, it is subject to specialized dimensional standards to encourage transit-oriented growth [Section 3.7.1].

Category	Requirement (min)
Primary Street Setback	10'
Side Street Setback	10'
Side Lot Line Setback	0' or 5'
Rear Lot Line Setback	15'
Alley Setback	4' or 20'

[Section 3.7.1.C]

Sections Cited