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

Port Orange's downtown design rules sit primarily in the Planned Community, Port Orange Riverwalk (PC-R) zoning district, adopted in Chapter 17, Section 30 of the Land Development Code. The PC-R district covers roughly 35 acres east of U.S. 1/Ridgewood Avenue along the Halifax River, part of the Riverwalk Special Character District created by the Port Orange Town Center Redevelopment Plan, adopted by Ordinance No. 1998-78 in December 1998. Section 30(b) caps the whole district at 800 residential units, 240,000 square feet of commercial space and 51,700 square feet of office space, and its Section 30(b)(2) 'Design guidelines' require every project to build a compact, mixed-use, pedestrian-first pattern, flatly banning drive-thru lanes for banks, fast-food restaurants and drug stores unless the city council specifically approves one through a master development agreement.

Beyond the district-wide rule, PC-R divides development into five project types, each carrying its own dimensional table; the hi-rise residential category, for example, caps buildings at 175 feet from the required finished floor elevation, sets an 80-percent impervious coverage ceiling, and requires a streetscape of at least ten feet along street frontages consistent with the design manual. A separate, older layer of the code, Chapter 14's general Architectural Design chapter, adds that any new development, renovation or addition within the Riverwalk District of the Port Orange Town Center must follow a uniform architectural theme reflecting Florida vernacular styles, specifically Key West, Marina/Coastal and Mediterranean with nautical themes.