Daytona Beach, FL Landscaping Rules: Rainwater Harvesting (2026)

22 of the Daytona Beach Land Development Code treats a rainwater cistern as an accessory use available to any principal use or structure citywide; the accessory-use table lists it as permitted by right in all 21 base zoning districts, from the SFR-5 single-family district through the T-5 transect district and the M-1 through M-5 industrial districts. The code requires the tank to be located directly adjacent to the principal structure on the lot, rather than freestanding elsewhere on the parcel, and it must be affixed to the principal or an accessory structure so it can capture runoff from that structure's gutter system, rather than standing as an independent rain-catchment tower.

Placement inside a required front, side, or rear yard is barred unless the cistern is either underground or stands less than five feet tall, which lets small barrel-style systems tuck against a house wall in a side setback while a taller aboveground tank has to sit outside the yard. The section also forbids using the cistern as signage, closing off a workaround where a property owner might paint advertising on a large visible tank. Because the standard sits in Article 5's accessory-use chapter rather than Article 6's stormwater rules, it governs residential rain barrels and larger commercial cisterns alike, whether the water collected is used for irrigation, cleaning, or another onsite purpose; the code sets no maximum size or capacity for the cistern itself, only its location and appearance.