Outdoor kitchens in Pelican Bay, Naples

Pelican Bay goes back to a 1972 partnership between Coral Ridge Properties, a division of Westinghouse, and the Collier family to develop 2,330 acres of beachfront land seven miles north of downtown Naples. The Pelican Bay Foundation was formed in 1979. Pelican Bay was planned with single-family homes and low-rise villas that blend into the habitat, high-rise condominiums set back from the beach, and a berm and boardwalk system that gives access to the Gulf without compromising the mangrove forest. Residents reach nearly three miles of beach by tram or on foot through the mangroves.

Pelican Bay has a Naples mailing address but lies outside the City of Naples, whose northern boundary begins at Pine Ridge Road. The community lies in unincorporated Collier County, is zoned as a planned unit development by the County, and building permits there are issued by Collier County. The County's rules for flood zones, beach lighting and vegetation are described on our Collier County page.

Under the Pelican Bay covenants, no structure may be started, built, improved or altered, and no grading, excavation or landscaping (including tree removal) may be done, without the prior written approval of the Pelican Bay Foundation. In Pelican Bay, exterior renovations and other projects not on the Foundation's list of minor projects are reviewed by its Design Review Committee, which typically meets on the first Wednesday of each month. The process starts with a required pre-application meeting, the owner submits evidence of the neighborhood association's conceptual approval, and plans must show items such as propane tanks and pool equipment.

We prepare the drawings, the site plan and the material samples for this review together with the design.

Construction work in Pelican Bay is allowed from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, with no work on Sundays or federal holidays. Materials must be secured or removed at least 48 hours before a predicted tropical storm or hurricane landfall in Collier County. We plan the installation dates with these rules in mind.

West of Pelican Bay lies the Clam Bay Natural Resources Protection Area, a 506-acre estuarine system dominated by mangroves and connected to the Gulf by Clam Pass. Its mangroves were affected by Hurricanes Irma (2017), Ian (2022), Helene and Milton (2024).

Near Collier County's beaches, the County's sea turtle rules apply to development and its lighting within 300 feet of mean high water. Outdoor lighting must be kept to the minimum needed, floodlights and landscape or accent lighting are prohibited, and light sources must be shielded or positioned so they are not visible from the beach, while existing lights visible from the beach must be turned off after 9 p.m. from May 1 to October 31 or shielded. For homes near the beach, we plan the kitchen lighting with these rules in mind.

During Hurricane Ian in September 2022, storm surge flooded almost all of Collier County south and west of US 41 (Tamiami Trail). The National Hurricane Center reports maximum inundation of 8 to 12 feet above ground in North Naples and 4 to 6 feet from Marco Island through Everglades City, and in Collier County 33 buildings were destroyed and more than 3,500 sustained major damage. Collier County has six FEMA flood zones, and owners can look up the flood zone of a property by street address in the County's flood map viewer. The current coastal flood map took effect on February 8, 2024.

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.