Outdoor kitchens in Lakewood Ranch

The land of Lakewood Ranch was assembled in 1905 by John Schroeder of Milwaukee as the Schroeder-Manatee Ranch and bought in 1922 by the Uihlein family, which used it for timber, cattle, vegetables and citrus. Ground was broken for Lakewood Ranch in February 1994, and Summerfield Village opened with the first home sale in 1995. Lakewood Ranch is not an incorporated city but a census-designated place, an unincorporated community without its own municipal government. In the 2020 Census, the Lakewood Ranch CDP had 34,877 residents and 17,319 housing units, in Manatee County and, to the south, Sarasota County.

The Lakewood Ranch Stewardship District, created by the Florida Legislature in 2005, covers over 25,000 acres in Manatee and Sarasota counties and funds roads, stormwater, landscaping and utilities. By law it has no planning, zoning or development permitting power; the planning and permitting rules of Manatee and Sarasota counties control development. Because Lakewood Ranch is unincorporated, building permits come from the county: in the Manatee County part from the Development Services Department, now located at 9000 Town Center Parkway in Lakewood Ranch, and south of the county line from Sarasota County Planning and Development Services. Manatee County's Land Development Code governs all development and land use in the unincorporated county.

In Lakewood Ranch, design review is carried out by the homeowners' association of each village, and in older villages a modification request must be approved before any exterior construction. Florida law limits an association's review to what its covenants and published guidelines authorize, and an association may not require a county building permit before it reviews a project. Association rules in Lakewood Ranch can reach the outdoor kitchen directly. One community's design standards require outdoor kitchens to be contained inside the lanai, and another village allows fire pits outside the pool cage only with approval, burning natural or propane gas only, out of view from the street, with gas lines and tanks screened by landscaping. We plan the kitchen with your association's guidelines and submit what it asks for.

In unincorporated Manatee County, a building permit and a licensed contractor are required for any alteration of electrical wiring, natural gas lines, propane tanks and concrete slabs with footers. The 2026 state exemption for small residential projects does not cover electrical, plumbing, mechanical, gas or structural work, nor any property partly or fully in a flood hazard area. We prepare the documents with licensed partners.

The lakes of Lakewood Ranch are largely stormwater systems, and their banks come with rules. In the Country Club and Edgewater villages, no landscaping may be added or removed within the lake maintenance easement, removing cypress trees needs association and district approval, and pool water may not be drained into street drains or drainage ponds. In unincorporated Manatee County, a homeowner needs no county authorization to remove or replace a tree in the private back or side yard, but trees in an HOA greenbelt buffer or a conservation area may not be removed. Required street trees within 25 feet of the right-of-way must be replaced within 30 days, and mangroves are regulated by the state.

After Hurricane Ian in 2022, the Myakka River crested at a record 12.84 feet at Myakka River State Park, and a weather station in Lakewood Ranch recorded a gust of 63 knots. In August 2024, rain from Debby drove the Manatee River at Rye Bridge, north of Lakewood Ranch, to a record crest of 20.12 feet, and more than 160 buildings in Manatee County suffered major damage. Most of Lakewood Ranch lies in FEMA Zone X, but the flood maps show Zones A and AE and regulatory floodways along the Braden River headwaters, creeks and connected lakes, with no coastal V zones. Manatee County names the Braden River, Gamble Creek and the Myakka River among the rivers whose rainfall runoff causes flooding.