Monroe County, FL Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Land Development Code Section 131-2 sets a flat 35-foot maximum height for any structure or building in the unincorporated Florida Keys, and lists narrow exceptions: chimneys, spires or steeples on institutional or public buildings, radio and television antennas, flagpoles, solar apparatus, utility poles and transmission towers, and certain antenna-supporting structures permitted under Chapter 146. None of those exceptions may be used to let habitable or usable floor space poke above 35 feet, and in the Airport District the 35-foot limit is absolute with no exceptions allowed at all.

The county does allow limited relief tied to flood elevation. A new single-family or multi-family building voluntarily elevated above the FEMA base flood elevation can add up to 3 feet, capped at 38 feet and two habitable floors, with any enclosed space below the lowest habitable floor limited to 299 square feet and usable only for parking, elevators, storage or building access. An existing building retrofitted to meet base flood elevation can add up to 5 feet, capped at a total of 40 feet. After updated FEMA flood maps take effect, both new and existing residential buildings in the special flood hazard area get a 40-foot height limit to comply with Florida Building Code elevation requirements.

Existing multifamily buildings that already exceed 35 feet can be elevated up to 40 feet as of right, but going beyond 40 feet requires a public hearing before the Planning Commission and a BOCC resolution setting the specific approved height. The Ocean Reef master planned community gets its own carve-out: non-habitable decorative features such as finials or parapets may exceed 35 feet by up to 5 feet, capped at 40 feet total, and buildings there may reach 60 feet with four habitable floors if approved by the Ocean Reef Community Association.