Melbourne Shed and Accessory Structure Rules

Yes, Melbourne requires a permit before any shed, detached garage, carport or other accessory structure is built or placed, no matter how little it costs.

The rule appears twice. Zoning Appendix B, Article VII, Section 1(C) says a building permit is required before construction or placement, that accessory buildings go up with or after the main building, and that they cannot be used until the principal structure is fully erected. The Melbourne Building Section adds that permits for accessory structures, like fences and driveways, are city ordinance permits that stay required regardless of construction value, so the HB 803 exemption in F.S. 553.79(1)(g), which the page says applies only to building permits, does not reach a shed.

The same Building Section page notes that the Melbourne code calls for inspections of city specific items, naming sheds, and each permit carries its own list of required inspections. The Building Section FAQ lists carports, garages and sheds among the projects people often discover need permits only after work starts, and asks for a survey with new construction so staff can confirm the structure sits wholly on the owner's land and meets the district setbacks.

On a Melbourne residential lot under half an acre, the zoning code allows three accessory structures of up to 600 square feet each and 900 square feet in total, with a 15 foot height limit.

Limits grow with the lot, as the table from Article VII, Section 1(B) shows. AEU and REU districts are treated differently: there is no cap on the number of accessory structures, but each must be smaller in size and scale than the house. In every Melbourne district, accessory structure area is also limited by, and included in, the impervious surface area ratio and stormwater runoff calculations.

Height is set in Section 1(A): residential accessory structures other than accessory dwellings stop at 15 feet, while accessory dwellings and non-residential accessory structures may reach 24 feet. Garden amenities such as pergolas, arbors and trellises do not count toward the Melbourne structure count, a detached accessory dwelling unit is counted separately, and an accessory dwelling joined to a detached garage or shed counts as one structure.

Outside the AEU and REU districts, a Melbourne shed must sit behind the house or be screened by a solid or opaque fence or approved landscaping, and it needs at least five feet from side and rear lot lines unless the district setback is smaller.

Section 1(E) spells out the Melbourne placement rules. Detached garages are the one exception to the behind-the-house rule. Side and rear setbacks are five feet or the district's own side or rear setback, whichever is less, while any accessory structure placed in front of the house and any on a corner must meet the district's front and side corner setbacks. Under Section 1(F), principal and accessory buildings must stay at least five feet apart in a front, side interior or side corner yard.

Two more Melbourne rules apply. A shed or garage tied to the house by a breezeway, common load bearing wall or common roof becomes part of the principal structure and takes the house setbacks. And no accessory structure may sit on an easement unless the easement allows it; where an easement along the lot line is wider than the setback, the inner edge of the easement becomes the setback. The Building FAQ adds that encroaching on a required setback takes a variance from Community Development, and that an owner may ask City Council to abandon an easement.

Replacement is easier than new placement in Melbourne. Section 1(G)(2) lets an existing shed on an existing concrete pad be replaced in the same spot as long as the square footage does not grow and the pad is not inside a government owned or public drainage or utility easement.

On a single family Melbourne waterfront lot, accessory structures must stay 20 feet from a canal and 35 feet from any other navigable waterway, measured from the shoreline or mean high water line.

The waterfront figures sit in Section 1(E)(7). Uses other than single family residential get smaller setbacks of five feet from a canal and ten feet from other navigable waterways, but a non-residential accessory structure that abuts a single family district or use must keep 35 feet from the shoreline for the first 35 feet along the neighboring side yard. Pools and screened pool enclosures are excluded from these waterfront setbacks; the Melbourne swimming pool permits guide covers them.

Only as a permitted accessory dwelling unit, because Melbourne's zoning code bars sanitary facilities and human habitation in every other accessory structure.

The habitation ban is in Section 1(D), which also says an accessory structure's use must be clearly incidental to the main building. Accessory dwelling standards are in Article VI, Section 1(A). An accessory dwelling may be created by converting existing living area, an attic or a garage, by adding floor area, by building a detached unit on a lot with an existing single family home, or by building a new single family home with an internal or detached unit. In the R-A, R-1AAA, R-1AA, R-1A, R-1B, R-2, R-3, R-P, C-1A and C-1 districts the lot must be at least 14,520 square feet; the CB-OZ overlay and the Eau Gallie Art Overlay Zone have no lot minimum.

On Melbourne lots under one acre an accessory dwelling may not exceed 600 square feet of living area; on larger lots the cap is 50 percent of the principal structure or 2,000 square feet, whichever is less. One unit is allowed per lot, it may not have a separate utility meter, and no extra parking space is required. A detached unit of 600 square feet or less sits behind the house and follows the accessory setbacks above, a larger one follows principal structure setbacks, and the height limit for a detached unit is two stories or 24 feet.

Melbourne prices a shed permit on the valuation schedule in its Building Permit Fees document effective August 7, 2026, which starts at $65.00 for work valued at $1,000 or less.

The Melbourne fee schedule names attached and detached accessory structures among construction related permits and bases the fee on the greater of ICC building valuation data or the contract price. From $1,001 to $50,000 the schedule charges a $65.00 base for the first $1,000, then $6.50 per additional $1,000 or part of one. Add-ons in the same document include a plan check fee of 50 percent of the base fee, a 5 percent technology fee on Building Division fees, $25.00 per department for Community Development and Engineering review, and reinspection fees of $38.00 the first time and $152.00 after that. When work starts before a permit is issued, all applicable permit fees are doubled. The figures are dated to that document, and the Building Section confirms the total for a specific project.

If a Melbourne shed cannot meet a setback, the Community Development fee list (fees as of July 1, 2025) prices an administrative waiver at $125.00 and a variance for a single or two family residence at $438.00, plus a $125.00 legal advertisement fee for the variance.

On timing, the Melbourne Building FAQ puts the typical turnaround for a residential construction permit whose plans need one review at 5 to 7 working days. The Building Section answers at 321-608-7900 and [email protected], with permit assistance Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

No, Melbourne regulates portable storage units as temporary uses with their own size, time and storm rules rather than as permitted accessory structures.

Under Melbourne Zoning Appendix B, Article VII, Section 3(A), a unit may be no larger than eight feet high, eight feet wide and 16 feet long, and one unit is allowed on a lot with a single family home. In residential districts it may sit in a required setback as long as it does not block a driver's view of vehicles, bicycles or pedestrians at a driveway. Residential use is limited to 14 days at a time and two times a year. When a weather service predicts winds of 75 mph or greater, every unit must be removed at least 24 hours before the predicted onset, or, as the alternative the code allows, tied down under a vendor proposal the building official approves.

The Melbourne building permits guide covers permits for the house itself.

Last verified: October 21, 2026, by re-reading Melbourne Zoning Appendix B Article VII Sections 1 and 3 and Article VI Section 1(A), the Building Section page and FAQ, the August 7, 2026 building permit fee schedule and the Community Development fee list.