Jacksonville Beach, FL Accessory Structures: Shed & Carport Rules (2026)

Section 34-716 of the Jacksonville Beach Land Development Code opens by allowing accessory uses and structures in all zoning districts, as long as they are customarily incidental and clearly subordinate to a permitted use and sit on the same lot, or a contiguous lot in the same ownership, as that use. Utility sheds and workshops are named in subsection (c) as residential accessory structures, alongside detached garages and carports, greenhouses, piers, docks, boat houses and children's playhouses.

Setbacks come from subsection (a)(1). A detached accessory structure, excluding temporary structures, can be located in a required rear yard but cannot be closer than five feet to any interior lot line. On corner lots the street side and front yard setbacks are maintained for the full length and width of the lot.

Subsection (c) adds the size limits for any residential zoning district, excluding ADUs. Each structure cannot exceed fifteen feet in height, and the combined ground floor area of all enclosed, detached accessory use buildings cannot exceed 625 square feet. Because the cap is a combined figure across every enclosed detached accessory building, a second outbuilding uses up part of the same allowance. The use also cannot involve the conduct of business of any kind, cannot attract visitors in larger numbers than would normally be expected in a residential neighborhood, and cannot involve operations or structures out of keeping with the character of the residential neighborhood.

Oceanfront lots have a separate rule in subsection (a)(4). A detached accessory building can be built in the required front yard setback of an oceanfront lot only if it does not extend beyond the width of the principal building, does not exceed fifteen feet in height above grade, and does not exceed 625 square feet in ground floor area of the enclosed area only. A landscape buffer strip with a minimum width of fifteen feet from the front or rear property line must also be established and maintained, exclusive of required walks and driveways.

A building or portion of a building attached to the principal building is treated as part of the principal building and not as an accessory building, so the accessory limits above apply to detached structures only.