Outdoor kitchens in Parkland, FL

Parkland was founded in 1963 on ranch land in northwest Broward County, with fewer than 100 residents and 420 acres at the time of incorporation. The City describes how it remained a rustic, country community, with its first paved roads in the 1980s and its first traffic light in the 1990s. Parkland lies in the northwest corner of Broward County and stretches west from State Road 7 to the Everglades. The City's comprehensive plan describes it as semirural, with single-family neighborhoods and multi-use trails for pedestrians, cyclists and horses.

Parkland's AE-1 agricultural estates district is intended for single-family homes on lots of at least 2.5 acres, and its AE-2 and BCE-1 districts for lots of at least one acre, both allowing limited agricultural use. The City also has a Parkland Equestrian District that promotes horse ownership with stables and riding rings.

In Parkland, the City's Building Department issues building permits and carries out structural, electrical, plumbing and mechanical inspections, and the Planning and Zoning Division reviews building permits for compliance with the City's Land Development Code. The City has adopted the Florida Building Code together with the Broward County Administrative Provisions. The City of Parkland in Broward County has its own outdoor kitchen permit checklist: a permit application for each trade, a survey with setbacks, sealed plans, the manufacturer's specifications and an HOA approval where one applies.

In Parkland's residential districts, patios, terraces, pool decks and screen enclosures are allowed only in side and rear yards, at least 15 feet from lot lines in the estate districts and 7 feet in the RS-2 to RS-4 districts, while in PRD and PUD communities the distances are set by the City Commission. The City publishes a setback chart that lists separate values for each subdivision. Since 2021, Parkland's Land Development Code has let owners in PRD planned communities request a customary accessory structure that is not shown on the approved master plan, such as an outdoor kitchen or pergola. It must be open on at least one side, sit in the rear yard, meet the screen-enclosure setbacks of the PRD and the Florida Building Code, and is reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Director. How your kitchen is classified outside planned communities, we clarify with the City during planning.

Many Parkland neighborhoods have a homeowners' association, and the City's outdoor kitchen checklist asks for an HOA approval letter where one applies; for some communities the City's setback chart requires HOA approval before the permit is submitted. Under Florida law, an association's architectural review is limited to the authority stated in its declaration of covenants, a denial must be explained in writing, and the association may not demand a building permit before it reviews the plans. Parkland's Community Appearance Board reviews new construction against the City's appearance standards, and single-family homes are exempt unless they are part of a planned community with two or more lots. Within those standards, detached accessory structures over 75 square feet must match the architectural style, materials and color of the house.

Along new lakes and canals in Parkland, a 20-foot maintenance easement is dedicated to the water control district or the City, and accessory structures may not be placed in drainage easements without written approval. In Pine Tree Estates, any building permit requires a drainage plan and a non-objection letter from the Pine Tree Water Control District. Parkland requires a City permit before any tree with a trunk caliper of at least two inches is removed, relocated or destroyed, including on developed lots, and trees removed without a permit must be replaced. The City describes itself as a designated Tree City USA for several decades. Parkland prohibits open burning without a permit, but outdoor noncommercial cooking in a stove, oven, barbecue pit or fireplace is exempt, provided the fire is properly contained and is not used to burn waste.