Brevard County

Permits for ADUs on unincorporated Brevard County parcels are issued by Brevard County Planning & Development. The county combines zoning, building, and floodplain review under a single intake. Brevard's geography produces meaningful divergence between barrier-island and mainland parcels: barrier-island parcels (Merritt Island, South Patrick Shores) face extensive VE-zone flood mapping and hurricane-wind exposure, while inland-mainland parcels abutting the St. Johns River face AE flooding and in some cases agricultural-conservation overlay.

Process overview: A Brevard County ADU permit is a combined review: (1) zoning verification; (2) submission of site plan, floor plan, and construction drawings via Accela; (3) planning review including flood-zone, wetland, and coastal-setback checks; (4) building-code plan review against the Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023) with hurricane-wind and (on the barrier islands) coastal-high-hazard provisions; (5) septic review by Florida Department of Health in Brevard County for parcels outside central sewer; (6) issuance, inspections, CO.

Impact fees: Brevard County assesses school, transportation, parks, fire, and law-enforcement impact fees. ADUs on existing single-family parcels face a reduced assessment relative to a full single-family dwelling. (schedule)

The Brevard County Property Appraiser maintains parcel-level assessment records for all real property in Brevard County, including parcels within incorporated cities. ADU additions are assessed as improvements to the host parcel. Florida's Save Our Homes 3% cap applies to the primary dwelling; improvements are added at full just value in the completion year. § 193.703 FS 'granny-flat' 20% assessment reduction is available for qualifying senior-family additions on application.

Assessment policy: Permit data feeds the Property Appraiser from Planning & Development. Homestead remains on the primary dwelling; ADUs do not carry independent homestead unless owner-occupied.

Brevard County administers flood, coastal, lagoon-protection, airport/spaceport, and critical-habitat overlays that cut across jurisdictions. The Indian River Lagoon system is one of North America's most biodiverse estuaries and is protected by lagoon-setback and septic-upgrade ordinances following the Save Our Indian River Lagoon (SOIRL) program. Barrier-island parcels face VE-zone flood mapping; mainland riverine parcels face AE-zone mapping along the St. Johns River.

• FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) — AE and VE zones are extensive on the barrier islands, the Indian and Banana river shorelines, and along the St. Johns River floodplain on the western county boundary. ADU construction in SFHA requires elevation, flood vents, and flood-resistant materials; VE zones add pile-foundation or breakaway-wall requirements.
• Coastal High Hazard Area (CHHA) — Barrier-island and near-coastal mainland parcels fall within CHHA and face heightened Comprehensive Plan review on intensification of residential use. An ADU in CHHA is not prohibited but is more heavily scrutinized.
• Coastal Construction Control Line (CCCL) — Atlantic-front parcels (primarily inside the incorporated beachside cities, but including some unincorporated pockets) are seaward of the CCCL and require a state DEP CCCL permit in addition to county approval.
• Indian River Lagoon Protection Overlay / SOIRL Program — Parcels along the Indian River Lagoon face enhanced septic-system review and, in some districts, mandatory sewer-connection or advanced-treatment septic requirements. An ADU adding bedroom count on a lagoon-adjacent septic parcel triggers SOIRL upgrade review.
• Patrick Space Force Base / Kennedy Space Center AICUZ — Air Installation Compatible Use Zones around Patrick SFB and Kennedy Space Center impose noise-attenuation and accident-potential restrictions on new residential construction. Affects a narrow slice of mainland-south-Brevard and north-Brevard parcels.
• Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) — Western-mainland Brevard tracts abutting pine-flatwoods and palmetto-scrub face moderate WUI exposure. Practical enforcement is maturing.