Outdoor kitchens in Coconut Grove

Coconut Grove is part of the City of Miami and lies on Biscayne Bay, just south of downtown. The community of Coconut Grove is older than the City of Miami and is known for lush landscaping, native trees and lots of many sizes and shapes.

Bahamian immigrants played an integral part in the development of Coconut Grove, and Charles Avenue, first called Evangelist Street, was home to some of the original Bahamian settlements. The Barnacle on Main Highway, built in 1891 by Ralph Middleton Munroe on bayfront land, is one of the oldest homes in the county still standing on its original site.

The City describes the Bahamian, or Conch, vernacular houses of the Charles Avenue area, built from the 1890s to the 1920s, as raised on wood posts or masonry piers so that air can circulate underneath. Early Grove houses such as the Mariah Brown House were built of Dade County pine for the hot, humid climate, and the Coconut Grove Library of 1901 is built of Miami oolite, the native limestone known as coral rock. Next to these houses stand newer homes in many styles, and the City's rules aim to keep that variety.

A FREILUFT kitchen does not imitate any of them. Its straight lines and standard colors in fine texture, with nearly all RAL colors available on request let it sit calmly beside wood siding, coral rock or stucco. For the counter, natural stone carries on the Grove's stone walls: natural stone worktops in Nero Assoluto, Anthracite Black, Taj Mahal and Calacatta Brazil.

Gardens have a long tradition here. The Kampong in Coconut Grove, once the home of the plant explorer David Fairchild, is today a garden of the National Tropical Botanical Garden.

Much of Coconut Grove lies in the NCD-3 Neighborhood Conservation District, a City zoning overlay meant to preserve the heavily landscaped character of its residential areas, protect the tree canopy and green space, and keep its architectural variety. In the City's planning process for the Coconut Grove conservation districts, participants ranked the tree canopy among their two highest priorities. In the NCD-3 single-family district, the rules require a minimum share of green space on each lot, and all landscaping must follow the City's landscape and tree protection ordinances.

For an outdoor kitchen, that means planning with the trees, not against them. The kitchen needs a firm, weather-resistant, non-combustible base; gravel is not suitable; we place it clear of large roots, keep the fire away from low branches and limit new paving to what the kitchen needs.

Dinner Key Marina, a City of Miami marina, is a short walk from the heart of Coconut Grove, and Miami City Hall next to it occupies the former Pan Am seaplane terminal. The City of Miami describes itself as a coastal city exposed to sea-level rise, flooding and storm surge, and in 2017 Hurricane Irma caused extensive damage to Dinner Key Marina.

Salt air does not stop at the seawall, and humidity stays high under the trees. 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. On a waterfront lot, anything built in or over the water follows its own rules: Work in, on or over tidal waters, such as docks and seawalls, needs a Miami-Dade County Class I permit, also inside cities such as Miami.

Within the City of Miami, building permits are handled by the City's Building Department, which enforces the Florida Building Code. In the City of Miami, the Miami 21 Code sets the standards for new development, and its atlas assigns a zone to every property. Depending on your property, further reviews can apply:

• Historic sites. City-designated historic sites in Coconut Grove include The Barnacle, the Mariah Brown House, the E.W.F. Stirrup House, the Coconut Grove Library and the Coconut Grove Playhouse. In the City of Miami, work on a historically designated property requires a certificate of appropriateness.
• Trees. In the City of Miami, removing or relocating a tree requires a tree removal permit under the City Code.
• Scenic corridors. Main Highway and South Bayshore Drive in Coconut Grove are among the City's designated scenic transportation corridors. In the City of Miami, work involving trees, coral rock walls or other environmental features in environmental preservation districts or scenic transportation corridors needs a certificate of approval.

We check this at the start of every project and prepare the documents the licensed contractor needs for the permits. Our guide to outdoor kitchen permits in Miami-Dade explains the steps.