Outdoor kitchens in Lee County, FL

Lee County covers 1,212 square miles on the Gulf coast of Southwest Florida, with barrier islands such as Gasparilla, Cayo Costa, North Captiva, Captiva and Estero Island along its Gulf shore. The Caloosahatchee River runs through Fort Myers to its mouth near Cape Coral and Pine Island. Lee County was created by an act of the Legislature on May 13, 1887, after separating from Monroe County, and became a charter county on January 1, 1997. The Sanibel Causeway opened on May 26, 1963, connecting Sanibel to the mainland of Lee County.

In unincorporated Lee County, including communities such as Lehigh Acres, North Fort Myers and Greater Pine Island, Lee County Community Development handles zoning, permitting, plan review and inspections. Within Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Estero, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel, the respective municipality provides these services. In unincorporated Lee County, a single-family home and its accessory structures on a single lot do not need a county development order, and the county's design standards for buildings apply to commercial developments. Private deed restrictions remain in force, but the county does not enforce them.

A Fort Myers address alone does not tell which rules apply. We check this at the start of every project and prepare the documents the licensed contractor needs for the permits. Under the Florida Building Code, a permit from the building official is needed before a structure is built or altered and before electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing systems are installed or altered.

Lee County is not in Florida's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, which covers only Miami-Dade and Broward counties. The county's adopted wind map shows design wind speed lines of 150, 160 and 170 mph for Risk Category II buildings and places the entire county in the wind-borne debris region. Hurricane Ian made landfall on Cayo Costa, a barrier island in Lee County, on September 28, 2022, with Category 4 winds of about 150 mph (130 knots). The National Hurricane Center counts at least 52,514 affected structures in Lee County, 5,369 of them destroyed and 14,245 with major damage.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. A FREILUFT kitchen is built to stay outside year-round and has storm hooks in the plinth that secure the doors; before a storm, secure everything loose.

The National Weather Service office for the Tampa Bay area dates the Southwest Florida rainy season from May 15 to October 15, with its peak from July to early September. In Fort Myers, June through September bring 38.47 of the 57.41 inches of average yearly rainfall, with average highs near 91 °F (normals 1991 to 2020). Near the Gulf, salt air reaches the garden: FREILUFT cabinets use 5/16 in (8 mm) marine-grade aluminum, finished with Off-Shore powder coating with a chromate-free, nano-ceramic pre-treatment.

During Hurricane Ian, storm surge flooded Fort Myers Beach and Estero Island 10 to 15 feet above ground, eastern Sanibel 9 to 13 feet, Estero and Bonita Springs 8 to 12 feet, Pine Island and Cape Coral 6 to 9 feet and Fort Myers along the Caloosahatchee 5 to 8 feet. Parts of the Sanibel Causeway and the roads to Sanibel and Pine Island were washed away. In Lee County, flood risk generally comes from hurricanes or from sheet flow, the natural drainage of surface water south toward the Everglades. The county's flood zones include AE, AH and AO zones and coastal VE zones with breaking waves over 3 feet, and in Coastal A Zones typical slab-on-grade construction is not allowed.

In flood zones of unincorporated Lee County, a building whose improvement or repair costs reach 50 percent of its market value must meet current flood rules, including a floor one foot above the base flood elevation. The county uses the Property Appraiser's structure value and does not count items such as pools, screens, sheds, gazebos or fences in the cost. In flood hazard areas of unincorporated Lee County, an accessory structure may stay below the required elevation only if it is anchored, used solely for parking or storage, and has its electrical or heating equipment elevated or otherwise protected. In VE zones, concrete slabs for patios and decks beside buildings must be unreinforced, structurally independent and no more than four inches thick. Where power, appliances and the base can go in your flood zone, we plan with the licensed contractor.

In unincorporated Lee County, accessory structures belong on the same lot as the main building and generally may not sit closer to the street than the house. Residential accessory structures must stay at least 5 feet from the rear lot line and, at the side, keep the district's side setback or 10 feet, whichever is less. On canals, bays and other water bodies in unincorporated Lee County, buildings and structures must generally stay at least 25 feet from the water. Unroofed patios, decks and similar structures no higher than 3.5 feet above grade may come within 5 feet of a seawall if fenced or screened, while freestanding roofed structures need 10 feet from artificial and 25 feet from natural water bodies.

In unincorporated Lee County, a cabana may be used for recreational purposes only, and installing or using stoves, cooktops, ranges or ovens in it is prohibited. As a condition of the building permit, the owner must record a covenant stating the permitted and prohibited uses. The code does not name outdoor kitchens; how yours is classified, we clarify during planning. The cities and planned communities can set their own rules.

Florida's coastal construction control line marks the part of the beach-dune system exposed to a 100-year storm, and no structure may be built seaward of it without a permit from the state. In unincorporated Lee County, buildings and structures must also stay at least 50 feet from the Gulf's mean high-water line or behind the county's coastal setback, whichever is stricter. On the Gulf beaches of unincorporated Lee County, the sea turtle nesting season runs from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. between May 1 and October 31, and artificial light may not shine directly or indirectly on nesting habitat during that time. New development seaward of the coastal construction control line needs a county-approved lighting plan, and outdoor fixtures visible from the beach must be shielded and mounted as low as possible. In beachfront gardens, we plan the kitchen lighting with these rules in mind.

In Lee County, the State of Florida has delegated the administration of its Mangrove Trimming and Preservation Act to one local government, the City of Sanibel. Elsewhere in the county, questions about trimming mangroves go to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. In unincorporated Lee County, removing a protected tree needs a county permit, but single-family lots of up to five acres are exempt except on coastal islands such as Gasparilla, Cayo Costa, North Captiva and Captiva. There the tree permit becomes part of the building permit, and up to five trees a year may be removed from a lot with an existing home without one.