Why are homes built so close together? (condo, new home)

[Koby]

Hi all,

I’ve been looking at properties online in St John’s County (and elsewhere in FL) and have noticed that the homes are built practically on top of one another. Aside from the obvious reason $$$ why are the setbacks so minimal? It may be a single family home but it looks more like a condo with some yard. I’m on 1/3 acre where I live now and that feels a bit close for comfort. Any areas with some breathing room?

[Scottamemnon]

Pretty much anywhere in the country where there are no rules on minimum lot sizes, and there is explosive population growth, there will be tiny lot sizes. It was this way in Texas when I lived there, same in South Carolina when I looked at moving there (came to Jax instead).

You do not have to get a house like that though, there are always larger lots available for a premium by most builders. I ended up getting an almost 1/4 acre on my new home build(in Nassau County), and there are some communities in St Johns where you will find that or more, even in new build construction.

[Florida2014]

There are no other reasons behind it, it's simply to squeeze in as many homes as possible into the smallest amount of space so profit margins are the highest they can be. But the poster above is correct, it's not unique to St Johns Co, most newer developments are built in this way.

We happened to be in Palencia a while ago in their million dollar house neighborhood, they *still* had very small yards and very little room between homes. I openly wondered why anyone would pay a million bucks for a house to be that close to folks on both sides of you.

[Gromicide]

Houses are also bigger nowadays. The builder can offer 50, 60, 70 ft lots but the footprint of the houses for those lots also increases.

[Florida2014]

Originally Posted by Gromicide

Houses are also bigger nowadays. The builder can offer 50, 60, 70 ft lots but the footprint of the houses for those lots also increases.

I would agree to this to some extent; however, there are a ton of homes going up in neighborhoods like Durbin, Nocatee, etc. that have very small homes (1500 sq ft or less) with lots equally tiny.

[Koby]

Some of the homes I’ve seen look like there’s about 10’ between homes, can that be right?

[Scottamemnon]

Originally Posted by Koby

Some of the homes I’ve seen look like there’s about 10’ between homes, can that be right?

In the congested area in Nocatee and 210, yes this is becoming pretty typical. If you look you can find communities with larger lots though. The larger lots tend to be in non-CDD communities with all the amenities though.

[EricBoyd]

I believe the minimum setback for residential lots is 7.5 feet on the sides, but it might be as low as 5 feet.

[Gromicide]

i thought the requirement was 10ft between the eaves.

[EricBoyd]

https://library.municode.com/fl/jack...56.305LODERECA


Sec. 656.305. - Low Density Residential Category


(f)
Minimum yard requirements. The minimum yard requirements for all uses and structures are as follows; provided, however that unenclosed front porches may extend five feet into the required front yard setback, and side opening garages may extend five feet into the required front yard setback as long as the garage doors do not face the street in the RLD-120, RLD-100A, RLD-100B, RLD-90, RLD-80, RLD-70, RLD-60, RLD-50, and RLD-40 Zoning Districts.


(7) RLD-60:
(i) Front—20 feet.
(ii) Side—5 feet.
(iii) Rear—10 feet.


(8)RLD-50:

(i) Front—20 feet.
(ii) Side—5 feet.
(iii) Rear—10 feet.


(9)RLD-40:

(i) Front—20 feet.
(ii) Side—3 feet.
(iii) Rear—10 feet.