Monroe County
Town of Riga, NY: zoning for new construction
The Town of Riga carries 1 zoning district, each setting its own lot size, setbacks and height for what you can build. No local short-term-rental law on record - which is not the same as permission. Power here is RG&E territory. The district table below has the setbacks, height limits and coverage - confirm the specifics with the building department at (585) 293-3880 ext. 124 before you rely on a figure.
Looking specifically at an accessory dwelling unit? See ADU rules for Riga →
Zoning districts
| District | Min lot | Setbacks F / S / R | Max height | ADU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rural Residential/Agricultural (RRA) — Riga's only conventional residential district, covering essentially the whole town outside the overlays and the commercial and industrial strips. THE LOT MINIMUM TURNS ON A TWO-TIER SERVICING TEST AND THE TEST IS UNUSUALLY DEMANDING: § 95-25D(1) requires ONE ACRE with 210 FT of lot width where there is 'no public water or sewer OR with EITHER public water or sewer', and § 95-25D(2) drops it to 30,000 sf with 150 ft of width only 'with public water AND sewer'. Having one service is worth nothing — the smaller lot requires BOTH, which is a stricter formulation than the sewer-conditional tests in Perinton, Ogden or Sweden where partial service usually buys an intermediate figure. THE RECORDED ONE ACRE IS THE RIGHT FIGURE FOR ESSENTIALLY THE ENTIRE TOWN AND THIS IS EVIDENCED, NOT ASSUMED: a 1,200-parcel residential sample from the Monroe County parcel layer (SWIS 264889) returned 1,174 on PRIVATE SEPTIC against just 13 on public sewer, while 1,195 of the same parcels are on PUBLIC WATER against 3 private. Riga is therefore a town on public water and private septic almost universally, which lands it squarely in the 'either but not both' branch — so the 30,000 sf tier applies to a rounding error of about 1% of parcels and must not be treated as the normal case. Front setback 60 ft, MEASURED FROM THE FRONT LOT LINE — § 95-25D(4) says so expressly, which is worth noting because the Town of Rush in this same county measures its front setback from the highway CENTER LINE; Riga's 60 is a true property-line figure and the two are not comparable. Rear 50 ft, rising to 60 ft where the rear yard abuts a street. THE SIDE SETBACK IS A FORMULA, NOT A FIXED NUMBER: 10% OF THE MINIMUM REQUIRED LOT WIDTH AT THE BUILDING LINE, rounded to the nearest whole foot, which evaluates to 21 FT on the one-acre 210 ft standard (the recorded figure) and to 15 ft on the serviced 150 ft standard — and rises to 60 ft where a side yard abuts a street. Note the formula keys to the district's REQUIRED width rather than the lot's actual width, so it does not grow on an oversized lot. Maximum height is two stories OR 35 feet, WHICHEVER IS THE LESSER — the stricter of the two formulations, so a tall two-storey design is cut by the storey count before it reaches 35 ft. Barns, silos, water towers and other farm structures are exempt from the height cap provided they stand at least 100 ft from every property line, and any building housing livestock or a noxious commodity must hold 100 ft to any lot line regardless of height. NO MAXIMUM LOT COVERAGE IS STATED ANYWHERE IN § 95-25 AND THE NULL IS DELIBERATE — the RRA envelope is controlled by the setbacks, the height and the minimum living-area schedule alone. Minimum livable area is substantial and tiered by form: 1,200 sf for a one-storey, 1,400 sf for a one-and-one-half-storey (at least 900 sf on the first floor), 1,400 sf for a split-level (at least 1,000 sf), 1,600 sf for a two-storey (at least 800 sf on the first floor), and 1,040 sf PER RESIDENCE for a two-family or duplex. | 1 ac | 60 / 21 / 50 ft | 35 ft | Special permit |
Short-term rentals
No local short-term-rental law on record - which is not the same as permission. NO SHORT-TERM RENTAL PROVISION EXISTS IN RIGA, AND THE FULL SWEEP WAS RUN RATHER THAN THE ZONING-ONLY SEARCH. Article V Use Districts (93,603 characters, covering every district in the town) returns nothing for 'short-term rental', 'tourist home' or 'bed-and-breakfast' in either hyphenation, and all 32 chapters of the Riga Town Code were enumerated from the eCode360 table of contents and swept for a rental, lodging, licensing, registration or occupancy chapter — none exists. That whole-code step is not optional in this county: Mendon hides a complete STR permit regime in Ch. 208 and Gates in Ch. 148, and a zoning-only search in either town returns a confident false negative. Riga's negative is therefore a tested one. ABSENCE IS NOT PERMISSION: § 95-25B lists the RRA District's permitted uses as a closed set with a Planning Board catch-all at § 95-25C(14) for uses 'of a similar character' — so a whole-house short-term rental is not authorised by silence and would have to be brought as a similar-character special use, at the Planning Board's discretion. RIGA HAS NO COMMERCIAL LODGING USE OF ANY KIND IN ITS RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT — no tourist home, no bed-and-breakfast, no boutique hotel — which is a narrower position than Mendon (tourist homes and B&Bs by special permit in two districts) and Rush (boutique hotels and B&Bs by special permit, but on a commercial list). New York State's 2025 statewide short-term rental registry (Ch. 99 of the Laws of 2025) obliges every host to register regardless of local law. Confirm with the Building Inspector at (585) 293-3880 ext. 124.
Good to know
- UtilityRG&E territory.
- Building dept(585) 293-3880 ext. 124
- Last reviewed2026-08-13
Working out a budget? A standard-finish build here runs $204–$268/sq ft - see the full cost to build a house in Riga, or what an ADU costs here.
Sizing up a specific parcel in Riga?
Aldo pulls the exact zoning district, setbacks, and build feasibility for any parcel — before you buy. Enter your email to open Aldo and run your free report.
Other Monroe County towns
All Monroe County zoning: Rochester (City) · Brighton · Chili · Clarkson · Gates · Greece · Hamlin · Henrietta · Irondequoit · Mendon · Ogden · Parma · Penfield · Perinton · Pittsford · Rush · Sweden · Webster · Wheatland · Town/Village of East Rochester (Village) · Brockport (Village) · Churchville (Village) · Fairport (Village) · Hilton (Village) · Honeoye Falls (Village) · Pittsford (Village) · Scottsville (Village) · Spencerport (Village) · Webster (Village)
Zoning figures for Town of Riga are compiled from the municipal code (last reviewed 2026-08-13) and provided for decision-support only - not legal, engineering, or architectural advice. Setback and dimensional standards often carry conditions and exceptions; verify with the building department at (585) 293-3880 ext. 124 before relying on any number. Source: Offsite / Aldo zoning dataset, municipalData.js.