Metal shops and barns in Norman
Norman's city limits run far east toward Lake Thunderbird, so a lot of its residents live on rural acreage where a big steel shop or hay barn makes sense. Two documents shape those projects: the residential permit checklist and the zoning ordinance.
Sealed drawings for steel
Norman's one and two family residential checklist has check boxes for Storage/Shop/Barn, Garage and Carport projects, and states in capital letters that all plans for manufactured steel buildings must be signed and sealed by an engineer licensed in Oklahoma (Norman one and two family residential checklist). Many kit sellers can supply stamped drawings, but confirm it is for Oklahoma and for your building size before ordering.
A-2 rural district
In the A-2 Rural Agricultural district, barns, sheds and other farm buildings are listed as permitted accessory buildings (Norman Zoning Ordinance). The ordinance sets these coverage limits (Norman Zoning Ordinance):
- Main and accessory buildings may cover no more than 25 percent of an interior lot, or 30 percent of a corner lot.
- Accessory buildings may cover no more than 20 percent of the rear yard.
- In the Ten Mile Flat Conservation Area, the limits drop to 15 percent of the lot and 10 percent of the rear yard.
A-2 yards
The district sets a 50-foot front yard or 100 feet from the road centerline, whichever is greater, 25-foot side yards and a 50-foot rear yard (Norman Zoning Ordinance). On a long rural lot, those setbacks rarely limit a shop, but the 20 percent rear-yard cap can.
Norman tips
- Measure your rear yard area before picking a size.
- Ask the seller for engineer-sealed plans in the quote, not after.
- Check the floodplain map for land near the river and creeks.
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