How to Find Out If Your Business Is Allowed in a Melbourne Zoning District
The uses allowed in each Melbourne zoning district are listed in Tables 1A and 1B of the city's zoning code (Appendix B, Article V, Section 2(D)).
At Reach Commercial Real Estate, we represent tenants. We help you find locations, compare costs, investigate property questions and negotiate the lease.
1. Look up the address in the city's mapping system
Search the city's online mapping system by the property's address or its seven-digit tax account number. The city's Zoning FAQ says that is the most direct way to find information on a property.
2. Find out what is allowed in a Melbourne zoning district
Table 1B is the table of uses for the nonresidential districts. Its columns run R-P, C-1A, C-1, C-2, C-3, C-P, C-E, M-1, M-2 and I-1.
Each row starts with a use. One code follows for each district, in that order.
The legend has four codes:
P is a permitted use.
C is a use that requires conditional use approval.
P/A is permitted as an accessory use.
P/C is permitted or conditional use.
3. Compare restaurants, retail, bars and indoor recreation in C-1 and C-2
Table 1B permits restaurants, personal services and retail in both C-1 and C-2. Bars are conditional in both. Indoor recreation and amusement centers are conditional in C-1 and permitted in C-2.
Bars are also conditional in C-3, C-P, C-E, M-1, M-2 and I-1. They are not allowed in R-P and C-1A.
4. Check how the code defines a restaurant and a personal service
The code defines a restaurant as a place that sells food and drink to consume on the premises (Appendix B, Article II). It prepares the food there and serves it continuously during operating hours. It has a fully equipped kitchen in operating condition. Food and non-alcoholic drinks must make up at least 51 percent of gross revenue.
Melbourne's code does not name a coffee shop.
Personal service has its own definition. It includes barbershops, beauty shops, shoe repair, alterations, pet grooming, appliance services and window tinting.
Selling or serving alcohol for consumption on the premises needs a conditional use in some cases (Appendix B, Article VI, Section 2(Q)(1)). The code calls them restricted establishments:
Private clubs and lodges.
Bars, micro-breweries, micro-distilleries and other drinking establishments, unless they qualify as a restaurant or as accessory to a hotel or motel of 100 or more guest rooms.
Recreational establishments and amusement centers, including golf courses, marinas, tennis clubs and racquetball complexes, unless they qualify as a restaurant.
5. Check what applies when your use is not listed
If no listed use describes yours, the code treats it as the listed use with the most similar characteristics (Appendix B, Article V, Section 2(A)).
Appendix B does not name a tattoo studio, a nail salon, a fitness studio or a live music venue. A search of its full text returns no hits for tattoo, body art, live entertainment or live music.
The code defines indoor recreation with examples that include bowling alleys, theaters, gymnasiums, pool halls and skating rinks.
For an unlisted use, the Community Development Director decides whether it is allowed in the district. The director also decides whether it is a permitted use, a permitted use with conditions or a conditional use (Appendix B, Article V, Section 2(B)). The planning and zoning board hears appeals (Appendix B, Article V, Section 2(C)).
6. Check conditional uses and unincorporated Brevard County
A conditional use in Melbourne goes to the city council. Council may permit it by ordinance after a public hearing before the planning and zoning board (Appendix B, Article IX, Section 5).
Outside the city limits, the Brevard County Planning and Zoning page points to the county's Zoning Map. The map shows a property's official future land use and zoning classification in unincorporated Brevard County.
7. Confirm the answer with city staff
Call the Planning and Zoning Division to find out which zoning district allows your type of business (Starting a New Business Toolkit, Step 2).
The division can also check the address of your proposed location. That check helps show whether your business would be permitted there and whether other site improvements would be needed. The Zoning FAQ gives the Planner of the Day at 321-608-7500.
We help you organize the property information and questions for the office responsible for the address. We want to know which approvals apply before you commit. If other approvals are needed, we bring the expected process and timing into the lease discussion.
Our lease checklist includes a use clause and a permit contingency. Ask for each term on the list.
Extra items to add to your list
Accessory retail. Table 1B marks retail P/A in R-P and C-1A, which means permitted as an accessory use. Footnote 4 allows it only if it is directly associated with a principal use that is allowed.
Restaurants in C-1A. Table 1B marks restaurants conditional in C-1A and not allowed in R-P and I-1.
Special conditions. An asterisk on restaurants, bars and amusement centers sends you to the use standards in Article VI, sections 1 and 2.
The owner's signature. A conditional use application has to be signed by every owner of the land and notarized (Appendix B, Article IX, Section 5).
Start your search with Reach
You do not need to find the property before calling us. In most deals the landlord pays our fee.
Call 321-514-0876 with your business type, budget, preferred area and target opening date, or with the address of a space you have found.
Related: the space needs analysis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a business tax receipt confirm zoning?
No. The Brevard County Tax Collector says its Business Tax Receipt does not confirm that the business activity complies with local zoning. The City of Melbourne's Business Tax Receipts page tells you to contact the Community Development Department. The point is to ensure the planned location is compatible with the land use.
How far must a bar be from a school or house of worship in Melbourne?
450 feet from an existing house of worship, school or other restricted establishment (Appendix B, Article VI, Section 2(Q)(2)(b)). It is measured along the shortest route of ordinary pedestrian travel, from main entrance to main entrance. Properties in the city's Community Redevelopment Districts are exempt.
Sources
Written by Cassandra Hartford, founder and CEO of Reach Commercial Real Estate. She has worked in Brevard County commercial real estate for 17 years, representing buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants across Florida's Space Coast.
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