Melbourne — city ADU rules and incentives

ADU legality: allowed-with-restrictions

Statewith-restrictions (Florida accessory-dwelling framework)

Countyallowed (Brevard County unincorporated zoning)

Cityallowed (City of Melbourne Municipal / Zoning Code — Accessory Dwelling Units)

Florida partially preempts local ADU restrictions; cities retain authority over design and setbacks. Melbourne permits ADUs subject to local conditions per its zoning ordinance.

City cost envelope

$100,150 all-in for a 575 sqft ADU (permit + build). Midpoint scenario.

Permit fee bundle: $2,400.

City viability (selected uses)

Long-term rentalyes

Short-term rentalwith-restrictions

Home officeyes

Relative supportyes

Brevard County — county ADU rules and overlays

County ADU ordinance

Brevard County regulates accessory dwelling units on unincorporated parcels through the Brevard County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 62 (Land Development Regulations), administered by Brevard County Planning & Development. Brevard is Florida's Space Coast — a long, narrow county stretching roughly 72 miles along the Atlantic from Titusville south to Micco, bracketed inland by the St. Johns River floodplain and eastward by the Indian and Banana River lagoons. The county hosts Kennedy Space Center and Patrick Space Force Base, both of which produce federal-overlay considerations. § 163.31771 FS is permissive only; Brevard's ADU framework is local.

State-floor overlay: No Florida statewide ADU preemption floor exists as of April 2026. SB 48 / HB 313 (2026 session) is the active preemption bill. Brevard retains full discretion until enactment.

County regulatory overlays

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.

County permitting (unincorporated parcels)

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.

DepartmentBrevard County Planning & Development Department

Address2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, FL 32940

Phone321-633-2070

Florida state — ADU law and programs

State ADU law

Florida does NOT currently have a statewide ADU preemption law in effect. Florida Statutes § 163.31771 (enacted 2004, last amended 2020) is permissive — it authorizes local governments to adopt ADU ordinances but does not require them to. ADU rules are therefore set municipality-by-municipality: Miami-Dade, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tampa, and a growing set of Florida cities have their own ordinances; many smaller counties and cities still prohibit or restrict ADUs by default. A preemption bill (SB 48 / HB 313) is pending in the 2026 legislative session and is likely to pass given that its 2025 predecessor cleared the Senate 37-0 and House 97-10 before dying on a procedural amendment dispute.

Florida Statutes § 163.31771 — Accessory dwelling units — Permissive (not mandatory) statute. Defines an ADU as 'an ancillary or secondary living unit, that has a separate kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping area, existing either within the same structure, or on the same lot, as the primary dwelling unit.' Authorizes — but does not require — local governments to adopt ordinances allowing ADUs in single-family residential zones. Contains no size caps, no owner-occupancy rules, no HOA preemption. All substantive rulemaking is local.

State financing programs

Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) does not operate an ADU-specific state loan or grant program. FHFC's primary affordable-housing lever at the ADU tier is the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP), which distributes state documentary-stamp-tax revenue to all 67 counties and 52 entitlement cities for locally-administered housing programs — some of which may fund ADU construction at the local level (notably Orange County's Affordable ADU Loan Program, run through the Orange County Housing Finance Trust). FHFC's FL Assist down-payment programs and HFA Preferred / HFA Advantage conventional loans apply to ADU-eligible primary residences but do not single out ADUs. Proposed CS/SB 1440 would create a state property-tax exemption of up to 100% of assessed value for an ADU rented at affordable rates.

State housing programs

Florida does not currently operate a statewide pre-approved ADU plan catalog (unlike California or Washington). State-level ADU implementation is driven by (a) the permissive § 163.31771 which lets willing jurisdictions adopt ordinances, (b) SHIP pass-through funding to local ADU programs (Orange County's Affordable ADU Loan Program is the model), and (c) the affordable-housing property-tax exemption under the Live Local Act (SB 102 / SB 328). The Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) — now reorganized as the Department of Commerce — provides technical assistance to local governments but no statewide ADU-specific mandate or program. Major counties (Miami-Dade, Orange, Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Broward) have published their own ADU ordinances and guidance documents.

Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs

Federal ADU law

The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.

Federal financing programs

Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.

Federal tax credits

There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.

Federal housing programs

HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.

Apollo Annex