Outdoor kitchens in Cape Coral

Cape Coral covers more than 120 square miles on a peninsula bordered by the Caloosahatchee River to the south and east and Matlacha Pass to the west, with more than 400 miles of freshwater and saltwater canals that open toward the Gulf. About 300 miles of them are freshwater canals that hold stormwater and pass it gradually to the tidal canals. Brothers Jack and Leonard Rosen founded Cape Coral in 1957 through their Gulf American Land Corporation and began digging its canals in 1958, using the dredged earth to raise the land, and the city was incorporated in 1970. Its early landmarks, such as the Cape Coral Yacht Club, followed the mid-century modern design of the time.

In Cape Coral, every lot on a saltwater, brackish or tidal canal must have a seawall along its entire water frontage, freshwater canals also allow approved alternatives, and the canals themselves are public rights-of-way. Under the City's engineering standards, the canal face of a new seawall sits on the property line, and its tie-rods and anchors reach more than five feet into the yard.

In Cape Coral's single-family R-1 district, the standard setbacks are 25 feet in front, 7.5 feet at the sides and 20 feet at the rear for the house and 10 feet at the rear for a pool cage, and every required setback must stay open above 30 inches. A six-foot utility easement around the lot is kept free of anything but driveways, walkways, sidewalks, fences and wells, with limited exceptions for hardscape and decks. Cape Coral's Land Development Code sets setbacks and heights for accessory structures such as pergolas, gazebos, unenclosed decks and pool enclosures, but has no category for a residential outdoor kitchen, and structures that are not listed may be reviewed through a similar use determination. No accessory structure may be built on a residential parcel without a main building, and setbacks are measured from the property line. In Cape Coral, every residential pool must be enclosed by a fence or a screen enclosure, and pool screen enclosures are not allowed in front yards or in utility and drainage easements and keep 7.5 feet to the side and 10 feet to the rear lot line. If a hurricane damages the enclosure that secures a pool, a temporary safety barrier must be in place within ten days. How your kitchen is classified, we clarify with the City during planning.

New FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps for Lee County, including Cape Coral, took effect on November 17, 2022, and according to the City more than 60 percent of Cape Coral lies in the Special Flood Hazard Area, in zones such as AE and VE. As a result, Florida's 2026 permit exemption for small residential projects does not apply to the majority of projects in the city, and never to electrical, plumbing, gas or structural work. Cape Coral's floodplain code requires development in flood hazard areas that is not covered by other specific rules to be anchored against flotation, built of flood damage-resistant materials, and to have its mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems above the design flood elevation. In VE zones, concrete patio slabs must be structurally independent, unreinforced and no more than four inches thick. In Cape Coral's Special Flood Hazard Area, every improvement or repair of a structure needs a permit with a substantial improvement and substantial damage application, and if the cost equals or exceeds 50 percent of the structure's market value, it must be brought up to current flood rules. The City considers a structure below the base flood elevation plus one foot of freeboard not flood compliant.

The National Hurricane Center puts the maximum storm surge inundation from Hurricane Ian in September 2022 at 6 to 9 feet above ground in Cape Coral, Pine Island and other communities at the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River, where the water level sensor in Cape Coral was lost or destroyed. In Lee County, at least 52,514 structures were affected, of which 5,369 were destroyed and 14,245 received major damage. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.

Cape Coral adopted the Florida burrowing owl as its official city bird in 2005, and the City counts more than 3,500 owl burrows. On construction sites, owl burrows must be roped off with a 10-foot buffer, or 33 feet during the nesting season from February 15 to July 10, and gopher tortoise burrows with 25 feet year-round. Around active bald eagle nests, Cape Coral sets Eagle Nest Management Zones with a radius of 1,100 feet, in which construction is restricted during the nesting period from October 1 to May 15. Within these zones, accessory structures such as pools, docks and gazebos may not be built during the nesting season. During construction in Cape Coral, trees that stay must be fenced off within a radius of one foot per inch of trunk diameter, and utility lines should be routed around that zone or tunneled beneath it. Mangrove trimming on Cape Coral's shorelines falls under the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, because the City is not among the local governments with delegated mangrove authority.