Outdoor kitchens in Bonita Springs

Bonita Springs lies in Lee County on the Gulf, with its southern boundary on the Lee–Collier county line and its western boundary 500 feet offshore of the mean high tide line. The city includes the barrier islands Little Hickory Island, home to Bonita Beach, Big Hickory Island and Black Island, and its downtown lies along the Imperial River. The community began in the 1870s, when Army Corps of Engineers surveyors camped on the upper Imperial River, and was first known as Survey, with the river called Surveyor's Creek; developers later renamed them Bonita Springs and the Imperial River. After a brief incorporation during the 1920s land boom, residents voted again in 1999, and the City of Bonita Springs was created effective December 31, 1999.

Within the city limits, building permits are handled by the City of Bonita Springs Community Development Department, which is responsible for planning, zoning and development and for the inspection of buildings and other structures. Fire permits and plans are reviewed by the Bonita Springs Fire District and can be submitted digitally to the district or on paper at the Community Development office. The City of Bonita Springs applies its architectural design standards to commercial, multifamily and similar projects, but not to single-family homes and duplexes. Its comprehensive plan sets aside about 8,671 acres for planned developments, whose permitted amenities include private golf courses, and the City is not responsible for enforcing private deed restrictions.

In Bonita Springs, a detached residential accessory structure must stay at least 5 feet from the rear property line, no closer to a side line than the district's side setback or 10 feet, whichever is less, and generally no closer to the street than the house. On the water, patios and other unroofed accessory structures may come within 5 feet of a seawalled canal, 10 feet of an artificial water body without a seawall and 25 feet of a natural water body without a seawall. Bonita Springs generally prohibits open burning, but grills that burn only gas and cooking fires in a grill designed for cooking are exceptions, and cooking fires remain allowed during burn bans. Outdoor fireplaces, fire bowls and similar warming-type containers must be at least 10 feet from any structure or combustible material unless the fire chief permits otherwise. How your kitchen is classified, we clarify with the City during planning.

The Flood Insurance Rate Maps for Lee County and its incorporated areas, effective November 17, 2022, are the basis of Bonita Springs' flood rules, and the city's 100-year flood zones include Zones AE and VE. In VE and Coastal A zones, patios below the design flood elevation must be structurally independent of the house, and above-ground tanks that are not elevated are not permitted. In 2017, two heavy rain events less than two weeks apart, a tropical disturbance in August and Hurricane Irma in September, caused historic flooding in the Imperial River watershed, with peak water levels in some areas 6.5 feet above those before July 31. Parts of downtown lie in the Imperial River floodway, where site improvements, fill or regrading are allowed only if an analysis shows no increase in the base flood elevation. In Bonita Springs, repairs and improvements to a building count as a substantial improvement when their combined cost within five years reaches 50 percent of the building's market value, and the building must then meet the flood-resistant construction requirements of the Florida Building Code. The City's floodplain administrator reviews earlier permits as part of that determination.

Hurricane Ian made landfall on the barrier island of Cayo Costa on September 28, 2022, and the National Hurricane Center puts the maximum storm surge inundation in Bonita Springs and at Bonita Beach at 8 to 12 feet above ground, with the most severe impacts along the immediate coastline. In Lee County, 5,369 structures were destroyed and 14,245 received major damage. At the Southwest Florida International Airport weather station in Fort Myers, the 1991–2020 climate normals show 53.39 inches of rain a year, 36.13 inches of it from June through September, and an average of 119 days a year with highs of 90°F or more.

On the Gulf at Bonita Beach, building seaward of the state's coastal construction control line needs a permit from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the City does not issue the building permit until the department has issued a notice to proceed. Seaward of the 1978 control line, the City also requires its own beach and dune permit for accessory structures and landscaping, limited to 1,000 square feet. On Bonita Springs' barrier islands, outdoor lighting at properties visible from the beach must be long wavelength, downward directed, full cutoff and fully shielded, and the sea turtle nesting season runs from May 1 to October 31. Fire pits and gas-lit fire tables on the seaward or shore-perpendicular side of a building must be screened so that the flame is not visible from any part of the beach. In Bonita Springs, no one may alter a mangrove tree without first obtaining a permit, where applicable, from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. On the coastal islands, including Little Hickory Island at Bonita Beach, the City's tree permit is part of the building permit for the site.