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

Plantation regulates sheds as "utility sheds" under City Code Section 27-310, a term defined in Section 27-11 to cover any storage structure accessory to a residential lot's primary structure; any building with metal sides or a metal or fiberglass roof is automatically deemed a utility shed regardless of what other materials it also uses. Section 27-310(e) sets the shed-specific dimensional caps: the cumulative floor area of all utility sheds on a single-family lot cannot exceed 150 square feet or 5% of the home's gross floor area, whichever is greater, height is capped at 10 feet, and the roof must be sloped, hip or gable, though it need not match the house's roofing material or color.

Placement is governed separately. Under Section 27-310(d), sheds (along with shadehouses, gazebos, cabanas, pergolas and greenhouses) may intrude into the side or rear yard setback in every single-family district except RS-1EP, but only down to a 10-foot minimum and never into a street-side setback. Section 27-310(c) additionally bars accessory buildings, including sheds, from the yard area between the street lot line and the front building face of the house, with narrow exceptions for lots fronting streets on three or more sides and for RS-1EP corner lots.

Under the general accessory-building rules of Section 27-310(b), a shed cannot be erected before the principal home exists, and outside the shed-specific 150-square-foot cap, the broader accessory-building ceiling for other structures is the greater of 35% of the principal building's floor area or 1,500 square feet, with height capped at the lesser of 25 feet or 20% taller than the house. Whether a proposed structure is "clearly incidental or subordinate" to the house is decided administratively by the PZED Director under Section 27-310(b)(5); an owner who disagrees can appeal that determination to the Planning and Zoning Board under Article III, Section 27-22 and Article V, Section 27-52.