Margate, FL Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

Lot coverage in Margate is set district by district, and the R-1 family carries the tightest lot cap. Section 40.510(D) provides that the combined area occupied by all principal and accessory structures cannot exceed forty (40) per cent of the area of the lot, for residential and nonresidential uses alike, in R-1, R-1A, R-1B, R-1C and R-1D. Because the cap counts accessory structures alongside the house, a shed or other accessory structure draws on the same 40 per cent as the dwelling. In R-2, § 40.511(D) raises the cap to sixty (60) per cent of the lot for all main and accessory buildings.

Multiple-dwelling districts measure a site instead of a lot: § 40.512(D) caps coverage at thirty (30) per cent on a developed site with four (4) or more dwelling units, and § 40.513(D) sets thirty-seven and one-half (37½) per cent for R-3A sites with three (3) or more units, both excluding areas below the design water elevation. Lot size shapes how much coverage is buildable. The R-1 table in § 40.510(C) runs from a 10,000 square foot lot at 100 feet wide down to 3,600 square feet at 45 feet wide, with minimum floor areas from 1,500 down to 600 square feet.

A non-residential structure or use in R-1 needs a lot at least 100 feet wide and 10,000 square feet in area under § 40.510(E). Coverage sits beside the setback minimums in the same section, so a proposed addition has to fit both the percentage cap and the required yards.