Before You Build in Miramar, FL: Permit & Rule Checklist (2026)

Miramar doesn't set a citywide retaining wall height cap, but its Land Development Code does regulate retaining walls built within FEMA-mapped regulated floodways. Section 616.3 requires any retaining wall involving fill placement in a regulated floodway to meet the no-rise engineering standard in Section 612.4 before the city will permit it.

Miramar requires a permit before any fence, wall, or landscaping goes into a utility easement, and Section 505.8 layers on an encroachment agreement for lots platted after January 1, 1996. Once that permit issues, the owner still must give any utility company access to the easement on demand, and the utility owes nothing for damage to the fence while it works there.

Miramar caps residential fences at six feet under Section 505.8, and front-yard fences are only allowed at all in the Rural, Estate, and RS1 districts, still capped at six feet and subject to the code's clear sight triangle rules. Non-residential fences run higher: eight feet next to residential property and ten feet next to other non-residential property.

Permit required if >24 inches deep. Barrier requirements apply. Walls 48+ inches may serve as barrier with lockable ladder. Electrical permit for pump.

At least 2 safety features per FL Ch. 515. Drain covers per VGB Act. Maintain clear water. Abandoned pools must be drained.

Miramar allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot as an accessory to a single-family detached home, capping it at 1,200 square feet, requiring it stay under 50% of the primary home's floor area and under two stories, per Land Development Code § 405.1.

Miramar lets homeowners convert a detached garage or other accessory structure into an accessory dwelling unit, but only if the resulting unit is a permitted use and meets every ADU code requirement, and the conversion can never create or expand a zoning nonconformity.

Miramar's Table 505-1 accessory-use standards cap utility sheds at 240 square feet and 10 feet tall, but only in the Rural, Estate, and Residential Single-Family 1 districts, where sheds need a 25-foot side and rear setback. Everywhere else on single-family, duplex, or triplex lots, sheds max out at 100 square feet and 8 feet tall with just a 3-foot side and rear setback.

Miramar's Land Development Code defines a tiny home as any residential structure under 600 square feet, then sets its own floor-area floor: Table 402-4 requires a minimum 300 square feet for a tiny house, the same minimum the table sets for accessory dwelling units.

Miramar bars all outdoor fires, including backyard fire pits, under City Code Sec. 9-2 except for noncommercial outdoor food preparation, frost-protection heaters, fire department drills, or a city commission temporary use permit for on-site land-clearing burns.

Miramar requires a Tree Removal/Relocation Permit before cutting down, relocating or encroaching on the dripline of any tree two inches or larger in caliper anywhere in the city. Section 506.14.5 limits when the Community Development Department can issue one, and approved permits under Section 506.14.6 are valid for only 90 days.

Miramar's Land Development Code makes every property owner responsible for keeping trees and hedges trimmed clear of street lighting, sight lines and sidewalks. Section 506.12.1 caps shrub height at three feet near driveways and intersections, requires removal of low branches obstructing streetlights, and mandates root barriers where roots are lifting a public sidewalk.

Miramar bans all landscape irrigation citywide between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. every day under City Code § 21-62(a). Existing landscaping at even-numbered addresses may water only Thursdays and/or Sundays; odd-numbered addresses only Wednesdays and/or Saturdays, implementing the South Florida Water Management District's year-round conservation rules.