Warning: my neighbor told me to skip the permit for my 10x12 shed and now the city is making me tear it down

Ivan Bell · 2026-09-17T09:55:05.156013+00:00

So back in April I built a 10x12 shed in my backyard here in Aurora, and my neighbor Dale, who has lived on this block for 22 years, told me not to bother pulling a permit. He said the city never checks, nobody cares about a little shed, and I would just be wasting $180 and 3 weeks of waiting. I listened to him because he has a nicer fence than me and I figured he knew the deal. Fast forward to last Tuesday and a code officer is standing in my yard with a clipboard saying the shed sits 2 feet inside my side setback and it has to come down or get moved. Dale came over while the guy was writing the notice and just shrugged and said the rules must have changed. I am now out the $1,400 I put into the build, plus lumber prices went up so rebuilding it right is going to cost me even more. Has anyone actually fought one of these notices and won, or am I really tearing this thing apart?

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Warning: my neighbor told me to skip the permit for my 10x12 shed and now the city is making me tear it down | Backyard Builds - Free To Speak