Jacksonville Beach, FL: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

Section 34-728 is titled as covering the storage and parking of commercial vehicles, recreational vehicles, and repair of vehicles in residential zoning districts. Its stated purpose is preserving attractive residential areas and promoting safe, unimpeded traffic circulation. Subsection (e), headed Routine repairs and maintenance, is the repair rule. It says there shall not be major repairs and maintenance to oversized and other registered vehicles at any time during such storage or parking. The one carve-out is minor repairs or maintenance, which the section limits to up to 48 hours. A separate sentence lets the body of a truck type camper be removed from the truck or other vehicle.

The rule sits inside the section's parking restrictions, which reach residentially zoned property and residentially used property in an RD or PUD district. Subsection (g) says those restrictions are enforced in accordance with article XII, division 1 of the Land Development Code. Three exceptions in (g) matter to a driveway mechanic. The restrictions do not apply to commercial vehicles during the actual performance of a service at the premises where they are parked. They do not apply to loading, unloading or cleaning of vehicles, provided the act is fully completed in forty-eight (48) hours. And vehicles parked in these districts are subject to the restrictions regardless of the date the parking commenced, so a long-standing habit is not protected as an allowable nonconforming use under section 34-1101.

Running a repair business from a home adds a second layer. Section 34-725 permits home-based businesses in all residential zoning districts and requires a business tax receipt. The business must stay secondary to the residential use, may not use equipment or processes creating more noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors, or electrical interference than other residential properties allow, and may not attract unsafe, excessive, or hazardous traffic. Vehicles and trailers used for the business must be legally parked and stay out of the right-of-way and off sidewalks, and heavy equipment cannot be stored visible from the street or neighboring property.