Published
The county’s own permit packet prints two different setback lists
Two pages, two lists
Fremont County’s Pre-Construction Check List for Building Permits is a five-page packet. Two of those pages tell you where a building may sit on a parcel. They were both read on 14 August 2026 from the revision dated 17 April 2026, and they do not print the same numbers.
The page headed Sample Site Plan gives one set. The page headed Site Plan Sheet, immediately after it, gives another. Neither page refers to the other, and neither says which governs.
| The “Sample Site Plan” page | The “Site Plan Sheet” page | |
|---|---|---|
| Front | 30 ft from the property line adjacent to road | 50 ft — Hwy |
| Side | 25 ft (given as side and rear together) | 30 ft — Other Roads |
| Rear | 25 ft (given as side and rear together) | 25 ft |
| Streams and lakes | Not addressed | 25 ft, and 75 ft from the high-water mark |
| Detached accessory buildings | 10 ft side and rear; 30 ft front | Not addressed |
They may well reconcile. The form does not say so.
There is a reading in which these two lists agree. It runs like this: the figures on the second page are keyed to what the boundary faces — 50 feet where a parcel fronts a highway, 30 feet where it fronts some other road — while the first page is describing an ordinary interior side or rear yard at 25 feet. On that reading nothing is contradictory; the two pages are simply describing different edges of the same lot.
That reading is plausible, and no sentence on either page states it. But it is printed — in a different county document that the packet never cites. Table 4.1 of the Fremont County Development Code sets the minimum setbacks for rural property by what each boundary faces, and it matches the second page line for line.
The answer is in the Development Code, and the packet never points at it
Fremont County adopted a Development Code in 2011 by Ordinance 2011-04 and has amended it many times since; the consolidated copy the county posts on its Planning page carries amendments through Ordinance 2026-03. Chapter 4 of that code holds the dimensional standards the permit packet is summarising, and it states them by road classification rather than by road name.
Minimum setback (in feet) from ROW — Arterial, collector, or section line street: 50. Other roadway: 30. Property line not fronting a roadway: 25.
— Fremont County Development Code, 2011 Edition (Ordinance 2011-04), Table 4.1, Dimensional Standards for Rural District Property. Retrieved 19 August 2026
Read against the boundary in front of you, Table 4.1 gives three figures and one qualifier:
- Arterial, collector, or section line street — 50 feet from the right of way.
- Any other roadway — 30 feet from the right of way.
- A property line that does not front a roadway at all — 25 feet.
- Minimum street frontage — 100 feet, in every rural zone the table covers.
- A corner parcel meets the required setback along both road frontages, not just the one it takes access from.
- Lot coverage is capped at 14,000 square feet without a special use permit — a ceiling in square feet sitting underneath the percentage the table also prints.
That settles the reconciliation, and it also moves the line. The packet’s second page prints “50 ft – Hwy”, which reads as though only a state highway carries the larger figure. The code says arterial, collector, or section line street — and on the valley floor a great many ordinary county roads run along section lines. A parcel with no highway near it can still owe 50 feet at the front. Nothing in the packet tells a reader that.
So the instruction changes shape rather than disappearing. The rule is now knowable: the figure follows the classification of the road each boundary faces. What is still not published anywhere is how the county classifies the particular road in front of your parcel — and that is a much shorter question than the one this page would otherwise leave you with. Not “what is my setback”, but “is this road an arterial, a collector, or a section line street?”
The line the county puts in capitals
The Sample Site Plan page carries one warning that is not a setback figure at all, and it is arguably the most valuable sentence in the packet.
“The edge of road is NOT the property line!”
— Fremont County, Pre-Construction Check List for Building Permits, Sample Site Plan page, rev. 17 April 2026. Emphasis and punctuation are the county’s own. Retrieved 14 August 2026
The county shouts it because it is the mistake that gets made. A public road normally sits inside a right of way that is wider than the driving surface, so the legal boundary can be some distance back from where the gravel stops. Measuring a setback from the edge of the road rather than from the property line produces a building that is closer to the boundary than the plan claims — and on a parcel where the front figure might be 50 feet, that error compounds with the one above.
What the drawing itself has to show
Separately from the numbers, the packet is specific about the contents of the drawing. This part is unambiguous and is worth working through literally, because an incomplete application is not processed.
- All property lines, with the distance marked along each edge — not a sketch of the shape, but the measured length of every boundary.
- Setbacks from buildings to the property line on all sides, plus every existing structure already standing on the parcel.
- All surface water: floodplains, lakes, rivers, streams, canals and wetlands. The county names canals in that list explicitly.
- The road name, and the point at which the driveway will access the property — both, not just the access point.
- Easements, identified clearly on the drawing. The instruction is to be aware of them and mark them; the county is not offering to find them for you.
- A north arrow and a stated scale. The county’s own worked example is 1 inch = 100 feet.
- Architect’s, engineer’s or builder’s drawings where they exist — the packet asks for detailed drawings to be used in preference to a hand sketch when you have them.
Before ringing the county it is worth knowing which question you are actually asking, because “what is my setback” has four different answers on one parcel.
| What that boundary faces | The figure in play | What to ask the county |
|---|---|---|
| A state highway | 50 ft front, per the Site Plan Sheet | Whether highway frontage is measured from the property line or the right-of-way edge |
| A county or section road | 30 ft, printed on both pages but described differently on each | Which of the two pages governs a road frontage that is not a highway |
| A neighbouring parcel, side | 25 ft per the Sample Site Plan page | Whether the 30 ft “other roads” figure ever reaches an interior side yard |
| A neighbouring parcel, rear | 25 ft, the one figure both pages agree on | Nothing, unless an accessory building is going there — then 10 ft may apply instead |
| A stream, canal or lake | 25 ft, and 75 ft from the high-water mark | Where the high-water mark is taken from on your particular watercourse |
Two of those repay attention on ground west and south of town. Canals are named explicitly in the surface-water list, which matters on irrigated ground where a lateral crossing a corner is easy to leave off a sketch. And easements are the applicant’s job to identify — the county asks for them on the drawing rather than looking them up for you.
What it costs to get this wrong twice
The site plan carries its own fee, and the fee is the reason to get the boundary figures confirmed before submitting rather than after.
| Item | What the county states |
|---|---|
| Site plan review | A $50.00 fee is charged for the review |
| Bringing plans back after approval | Charged an additional site plan review |
| Review time | Approximately four to six weeks to review and approve |
| Incomplete application | Will not be accepted or processed |
| Where applications go | By email to p.b@co.fremont.id.us, with parcel, section, township and range |
A setback corrected after approval is therefore not just a redraw. It is a second fee and, realistically, another pass through a queue measured in weeks.
If your ground is inside the city, none of this applies
Everything above is the county’s packet, and the county does not issue building permits inside the St. Anthony city limits. That carve-out is the single most consequential fact about building here, and it decides which forms you are even reading — start with which desk your address belongs to. If you are outside the line, the questionnaire on the last page of this same packet is the other half of the paperwork, and the two deadlines that follow approval are worth knowing before you submit. If the build is unusual in shape or span, who has to stamp the plans is settled separately again.
Where this page stops
This page reports what one public document prints, on the day it was read, and flags an ambiguity in it rather than resolving one. It is not a zoning determination and nothing here should be designed to. The office that can give you the governing figure for a specific boundary on a specific parcel is the Fremont County Building Department, Fremont County Courthouse, 151 W 1st North, St. Anthony — (208) 624-7200, with applications by email to p.b@co.fremont.id.us.
Common questions
Which setback list should I actually use?
Neither, until the county confirms it for your parcel. The packet prints two lists on consecutive pages without saying how they relate, so the only safe course is to take the specific boundary to the building department at (208) 624-7200 and get the figure that applies to it.
Is this a contradiction or am I misreading it?
You are not misreading it, and there is an answer — just not on the form. Table 4.1 of the Fremont County Development Code sets rural setbacks at 50 feet from an arterial, collector or section line street, 30 feet from any other roadway, and 25 feet from a property line not fronting a roadway. That reconciles the two lists. The packet never cites the code, which is why the form on its own looks contradictory.
What is the front setback on a parcel fronting a state highway?
The Site Plan Sheet page prints 50 feet for a highway frontage. The Sample Site Plan page prints 30 feet from the property line adjacent to road. Confirm which the county applies to your frontage before siting anything.
Do detached shops and barns have their own setbacks?
The Sample Site Plan page gives detached accessory buildings 10 feet at the side and rear and 30 feet at the front. The other page does not address accessory buildings at all, which is another reason to confirm rather than infer.
Why does the county shout that the edge of the road is not the property line?
Because a public road usually sits within a right of way wider than the driving surface, so the legal boundary can be well back from where the gravel ends. Measuring from the road edge puts a building closer to the boundary than the plan shows.
Does the site plan have to show irrigation canals?
Yes. The packet names canals explicitly alongside floodplains, lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands in the surface water that must be clearly indicated. On irrigated ground a lateral clipping a corner of the parcel still belongs on the drawing.
Who is responsible for identifying easements?
The applicant. The form instructs you to be aware of easements on the property and to identify them clearly on the drawing. The county is asking you to put them on the plan, not offering to research them for you.
What does a site plan review cost?
The checklist states a $50.00 fee for the site plan review, and states that bringing plans back for a change after approval means being charged an additional site plan review. Getting the boundary figures right before submitting avoids paying twice.
How long does the county take?
Approximately four to six weeks to review and approve building plans, as stated on the checklist. The same page states that an incomplete application will not be accepted or processed, so a missing element on the drawing costs the whole queue position.
Does any of this apply inside the St. Anthony city limits?
No. Fremont County administers building permits everywhere in the county except inside the St. Anthony city limits, so a build in town goes to the city and uses different forms entirely. Establishing which side of that line your ground sits on comes before everything else.