Outdoor kitchens in Jupiter, FL

The Town of Jupiter was incorporated on February 9, 1925, and counted 61,047 residents in the 2020 Census. It is governed by a five-member Town Council and a Town Manager. The Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse, a 108-foot brick tower designed under Lt. George Meade, was completed in 1860 where the Loxahatchee and Indian rivers meet at Jupiter Inlet. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and stands within a 120-acre federal natural area designated by Congress in 2008. The Loxahatchee River runs through Jupiter, with Jupiter Inlet and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Upstream of the town, a 7.6-mile stretch of the river was designated a National Wild and Scenic River on May 17, 1985.

According to the Town of Jupiter, humidity and sea air discolored the brick of the Jupiter Lighthouse over the years, and the tower was painted red around 1910. That is why every surface outside needs a finish made for the coast: FREILUFT cabinets are finished with Off-Shore powder coating with a chromate-free, nano-ceramic pre-treatment.

The Town of Jupiter's wind contour map gives an ultimate design wind speed of 170 mph for Risk Category II buildings, such as homes, 160 mph for Category I and 180 mph for Categories III and IV. Jupiter is not in Florida's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone. In September 2004, Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne both made landfall at the southern end of Hutchinson Island, north of Jupiter, three weeks apart, and the National Hurricane Center lists an unofficial sustained wind of 70 knots reported by the Jupiter police department during Frances. On the lighthouse grounds, most of the old sand pines were killed by the 2004 hurricanes. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. A FREILUFT kitchen has storm hooks in the plinth that secure the doors; before a storm, secure everything loose.

New FEMA flood zone maps took effect for Jupiter on December 20, 2024, with Special Flood Hazard Areas A, AE and AH and the Coastal High Hazard Area VE. The Town notes that its flood hazard areas are scattered, so every property can flood, especially low-lying lots, lots on canals and lakes and coastal areas prone to tidal surges. In Jupiter's flood hazard areas, development not specifically covered elsewhere must be anchored against flotation, built of flood damage-resistant materials and have its mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems above the design flood elevation. Buildings there need their lowest floor at least 1.5 feet above the base flood elevation, and improvements adding up to 50 percent of a building's market value within five years trigger full compliance. On Jupiter's Atlantic oceanfront, no structure may be built seaward of a line 50 feet landward of the crest of the dune or within 100 feet of the mean high-water mark, whichever is farther, and the Town allows no variance from this rule. Minor structures seaward of the state's coastal construction control line in a flood hazard area must also meet the Town's flood rules and ASCE 24.

In the Town of Jupiter, any work regulated by the building, plumbing, gas, mechanical, electrical or fire codes needs a construction permit from the Town's building official. Applications are filed with the Town's Building Department, which applies the Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023). Building permits for accessory structures in Jupiter are reviewed and approved by the Planning and Zoning director or a designee, and a permit is only issued where the main house exists or is being built on the same lot. Required setbacks may come from the rules of the Planned Unit Development approved for a subdivision rather than from the zoning district. In Jupiter's residential districts, accessory structures may not stand in a required setback and must sit at least five feet behind the closest front corner of the house; only on lots at least twice the minimum size may they be placed in the front yard, 30 feet back and architecturally compatible with the house. No accessory structure may exceed the height allowed in its district, which is 35 feet in the R-1 single-family district. How your kitchen is classified, we clarify with the Town during planning.

Where an architectural style was approved for a Planned Unit Development in Jupiter, it must be used throughout, including its colors, materials and other treatments. Homeowners in deed-restricted communities need to check with their association, because the Town's Building Department cannot enforce association rules. On a locally designated historic site in Jupiter, or within a historic district, new improvements, new walls, fences or paving and changes of color require a certificate of appropriateness approved by the Historic Resources Board. A building permit obtained without it is invalid. Jupiter's lighting rules apply to all exterior lighting, so light sources may not be visible from neighboring properties and no light may spill from one residential property onto another. In residential sound zones, outdoor sound is limited to 55 dBA from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 45 dBA at night.