Published
The county has a written standard for what a big project must look like, and a board that never looks at your cabin
The county has a rulebook for what big projects look like, and a board that applies it
If the parcel next to yours is proposed for something large — a commercial building, an industrial use, a large-scale subdivision, or a rural village — the county does not only ask whether it is allowed. It asks what it will look like, against a written standard, and a named board makes a recommendation before the permit is approved. That standard is Appendix F, and for a neighbour it is the most concrete answer available to “what would it actually be?”
“Where required by this Ordinance, the DRB shall review all plans for application in the County, except for single-family residential land uses and dwelling units, for compliance with the standards herein and shall make recommendations to the Commission and the Board prior to the approval of any permit requiring DRB review.”
— Fremont County Development Code, 2011 Edition (Ordinance 2011-04), section 2.03.050, Design Review Board, as amended by Ordinance 2017-01. Consolidated through Ordinance 2026-03. Retrieved from the county's live PDF 1 September 2026
Read the exception first. The Design Review Board never reviews a single-family cabin. An owner building one house answers to the zoning tables, the building code and the covenants, not to this board. The board exists for the project next door, which is why its standards are worth knowing from the outside.
Who the board is
The Design Review Board is an odd number of between five and eleven members, who must be residents, landowners, business owners, professional architects or land planners with a primary residence, business or land in the county. They are nominated by the Planning and Zoning Commission, approved by the county Board, serve two-year terms, and may serve no more than two in a row. The board is elective: if the county has not formed one, the Planning and Zoning Commission acts in its place wherever the code requires design review. Where a project sits inside a recognised community council or village committee area, the board confers with that body before recommending.
What the site has to do
| Standard | The rule |
|---|---|
| Topography | New construction conforms to existing topography as far as possible; building is avoided on slopes greater than 25 percent |
| Retaining walls | Faced with indigenous rock or brick; landscape timber prohibited; walls over five feet need evergreen planting in front |
| Blocks | Two to ten acres; each side of a residential block no more than 660 feet; no double-frontage lots |
| Edge | A buffer and a building setback at the periphery of the project, to give the parcels outside it a transition — the county's buffering rules are set out on the Ashton site |
| Open space | Ten percent of the site dedicated as usable, pedestrian-accessible open space, not counting lots, required landscaping or setbacks — a separate rule from the far larger shares the rural zones require of a plat |
The periphery row is the neighbour's row. The code's own reason for the edge buffer is a transition between the parcels in the project and those outside it, which is the existing cabin owner in one sentence.
What the buildings have to be made of
Appendix F is unusually specific about materials, and the lists run in both directions. For the townhome and multifamily buildings its residential standards cover, the allowed exterior materials are horizontal wood lap siding, cementitious lap siding, vertical board and batten, brick and stone, with hard-coat stucco only as trim. Vinyl or aluminium siding, glass curtain walls, exterior insulation and finish systems, exposed concrete block and exposed concrete foundation walls are prohibited as exterior materials. Roofs are gable or hip, in asphalt shingle, wood shingle, wood shake, slate or standing-seam metal, with flat skylights only and only to the rear. Height is capped at 30 feet to the eave at the front facade.
- Garages may not extend beyond the front facade, and a garage entrance on the front facade is prohibited unless the garage is set back at least half the depth of the house.
- One driveway per residence, no wider than 12 feet to the front facade, in gravel, concrete or pavers; asphalt driveways are prohibited; at least five feet from a parcel line; and no permanent parking between the house and the street.
- The front facade, porch and door face the street and are parallel to it; decks are allowed only to the rear; porches are at least six feet deep.
- Fences are brick, stone, ornamental iron or wood, no more than four feet in a front yard and not opaque along a right-of-way, no more than six feet in rear and side yards; chain link is prohibited except around ponds and recreation facilities, where it must be black vinyl-clad and screened.
- Accessory structures over 150 square feet, including detached garages, match the principal building's materials and sit in the rear yard.
- Townhome buildings hold no more than five connected units.
The non-residential standards are stricter still. Village-core buildings must face the sidewalk with offsets every 40 feet, use wood or cementitious lap, board and batten, wood shingle, brick or stone, and may not use synthetic stone, stucco, exterior insulation finish, vinyl or metal siding. Rural-section buildings must have pitched roofs. Parking and driveways are gravel, concrete or pavers, never asphalt; dumpsters go in three-sided masonry enclosures; propane tanks are screened at the side or rear; exterior vending machines are prohibited outright. The parking count itself comes from the county's separate parking standard and the signage from the sign standard.
Why a cabin owner should know a standard that does not apply to them
Three reasons. First, the standard is the neighbour's ceiling and floor at once: it says the project cannot be vinyl-sided boxes on asphalt with a chain-link fence, and it also says what it can be. Second, the board is where a neighbour's view gets heard on the specifics, because the hearing that an overlay or a rezoning requires is about whether, and the design review is about what. Third, a standard in the code is a standard the county can be held to, and the conditions it attaches to a permit have to connect to the project.
The standard also tells you something about the county's taste, which is worth knowing when reading covenants: the code's own preference for wood, stone and pitched roofs is roughly the preference most Island Park architectural committees write into their own rules, and the plat's rules are the ones that bind the single-family cabin the board never sees.
If a large application appears next door
- Find out which standard applies: commercial, industrial, large-scale or rural village. Each triggers Appendix F and the board.
- Ask for the board's recommendation and the plans it reviewed. The materials and the edge buffer are on the drawings.
- Check the periphery. The buffer and setback at the project's edge are the part of the standard written for you.
- Read the drawings for the edge of the project first and the middle second, because the standard's street types, strips and sidewalks are the applicant's problem and the periphery is yours.
- Take the specifics to the hearing, and remember the code permits only what it names, which is the argument that precedes every other one.
Common questions
What is the Fremont County Design Review Board?
An advisory board of five to eleven members, residents, landowners, business owners, architects or land planners, that reviews plans for commercial, industrial, large-scale and rural village applications against Appendix F and recommends to the Commission and Board before a permit is approved. If none is formed, the Planning and Zoning Commission acts in its place.
Does the Design Review Board review a single-family cabin?
No. Section 2.03.050 excludes single-family residential land uses and dwelling units from its review. A cabin answers to the zoning tables, the building code and the covenants instead.
What kinds of projects does Appendix F apply to?
Commercial, industrial, large-scale and rural village development, for both residential and non-residential structures within those projects. Its residential standards cover townhomes and multifamily buildings; single-family homes inside such a project follow the general standards of the code.
Can a large development next door use vinyl siding?
No. For the residential buildings Appendix F covers, vinyl or aluminium siding, glass curtain walls, exterior insulation and finish systems, exposed concrete block and exposed concrete foundation walls are prohibited exterior materials. Allowed are wood or cementitious lap siding, board and batten, brick and stone.
Are asphalt driveways allowed in these developments?
No. Driveways must be gravel, concrete or pavers, and asphalt driveways are prohibited. Non-residential parking and driveways are likewise gravel, concrete or pavers, never asphalt.
How tall can the buildings be?
The residential standards cap building height at 30 feet to the eave, measured at the front facade. Rural-section non-residential buildings must have pitched roofs.
Is there a buffer between a big project and the lots outside it?
Yes. Parcels at the periphery of a project must carry a buffer and a building setback to provide a transition to the parcels outside it. The county's buffering rules and their widths are set out on the Ashton site.
How big can the blocks be?
Two to ten acres, with blocks mixing uses at two to five acres. Each side of a residential block may not exceed 660 feet, and double-frontage lots are not allowed.
How much open space must a large project dedicate?
Ten percent of the site, usable and accessible for pedestrians, not counting any part of a lot or the required landscaping and setbacks. That is a separate rule from the much larger open space shares the county's rural zones require of a plat.
Can buildings go on steep ground in these projects?
The standard says building shall be avoided on sites with slopes greater than 25 percent, and new construction must conform to the existing topography as far as possible.