How close to the property line can a shed or deck go?

**Ten feet.** From any side or rear lot line, and also ten feet from your house.

The Accessory Building Regulations state that no detached accessory building may be located closer than 10 feet to any principal building, nor closer than 10 feet to any side or rear lot line. The Township's zoning ordinance says the same, and adds that **decks** should be no closer than 10 feet from side or rear lot lines.

**Your covenant says something different, and it does not control here.** The covenants allow a three-foot minimum side yard for a garage or other permitted accessory building located to the rear of the property. Freeman Township requires 10 feet. Where the two differ the stricter governs, so **10 feet is the number**.

This is a big enough difference to matter. A member working from the covenant alone could place a shed three feet from the line and be seven feet short.

**Measured at the drip edge.** The Accessory Building Regulations are specific: the distance is measured at the **drip edge of each building** — the outer edge of the roof overhang — not the wall. Since accessory buildings here are required to have at least a one-foot overhang on all sides, the roof is at least a foot wider than the walls on each side. Measuring wall to line will put you short.

**The rest of the setbacks still apply.** Accessory buildings must also meet the roadway setback of 30 feet, and on waterfront lots the 50-foot setback from the Water Line.

Confirm placement with the office before your slab is poured or your shed is delivered.

*Source: Lake of the Pines Accessory Building Regulations (6/8/2025), items 4 and 5; Freeman Township Zoning Ordinance No. 8, Sections 4.13.E and 4.13.F; Restrictive Covenants, Article VII, Section 3.*