Melbourne, FL Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Sec. 10-23 states the city council's purpose in Chapter 10, Article II is to recognize that the zoning code does not expressly permit nondomestic animals in certain zoning districts, while acknowledging that certain such animals may still be kept as family pets. Sec. 10-24 puts the city clerk, under the city manager's direction, in charge of administering that animal permitting process for animals maintained outside a residence. Sec. 10-25 draws a hard jurisdictional line: 'The city will not issue permits for animals regulated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,' and anyone in the city who keeps an FWC-regulated animal 'must possess the appropriate license and follow all applicable statutes, rules, and regulations' set by the state.

That means Melbourne does not create its own separate track for licensing dangerous or exotic wildlife, such as venomous reptiles or Class I/II wildlife under state rules; it defers entirely to the state license and enforcement scheme for those species, while the city's own animal permit process under Sec. 10-27 continues to apply to non-FWC-regulated nondomestic animals kept outside a residence. Sec. 10-30 lets the city clerk revoke any animal permit for a violation of its conditions, and Sec. 10-31 allows an appeal, first to the city manager and then to city council, each within 20 days of the adverse decision.