Bradenton, FL Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)

Chapter 6.0 of the Bradenton Land Use Regulations sends development proposals to the city's design review committee when they carry certain attributes. All new development in the Urban Central Business (UCBD), Urban Core (UC) and Urban Village (UV) districts is covered, excluding detached single-family dwellings. Review also applies to new development or redevelopment of buildings with two or more living units in any district, additions and exterior changes to non-residential structures, all mixed use developments, new construction contiguous to a historic resource other than single-family detached structures, and new civic buildings or additions to them.

The standard guidelines in § 6.1 are written mostly as design direction, using words like should and recommended, and the committee applies them during review. Section 6.1.2.2 asks for a clear and harmonious pattern of vertically-oriented façade openings, with major vertical elements a maximum of 50 feet apart measured center-to-center in the UCBD and UC areas, reflecting the historic parcel increment of downtown, and a maximum of 40 feet in all other zones. Under § 6.1.2.3, buildings outside the UCBD, UC and UV districts should be designed to the scale and form of single-family houses.

Other numbers in the chapter include entries to shops or lobbies spaced a maximum of 50 feet apart in the UV, UCBD and UC districts, glass inset a minimum of three inches from the exterior wall, and large pane display windows covering a minimum of 60 percent of the storefront surface area. Awnings, trellises and canopies are set a minimum of nine feet above the sidewalk and project no more than seven feet from the wall. Street trees are planted at a spacing of approximately 30 feet on center, and blank walls are permitted only on internal-block side-property line walls and must be treated with a graffiti-resistant coating. Flat roofs are acceptable in the UCBD and UC districts when a strong, attractively detailed cornice or parapet wall is provided.