LAST UPDATED IN 2025

I looked into this once again for a new listing at 10095 176th Ln in Jupiter Farms.

First, this is general information. If you really want to know for certain then call the Palm Beach county Planning & Zoning Department (561.233.5200) with your property parcel ID and speak to the “planner on call”, then hire an engineer ot architect, then a builder. Use this link to get the zoning information for your property and jot it down or print it out. Tired of dealing with Realtors who don’t know details like this? Call Chris Ryder at 561-626-8550.

The short answer: Yes, in Jupiter Farms, and in fact now for ANY residential zoned property in Palm Beach County, one may have what is termed an “Accessory Quarters” BY RIGHT. For lots in unincorporated Palm Beach County that are over 1 acre in size one may build a, “Accessory Quarters” A/K/A “mini house” or “Accessory Dwelling Unit”, so long as it is not separtely metered for electric from the main house, having under 1000 SF of air conditioned living space PLUS up to an additional 500 SF of area “under roof” like a garage, front or back COVERED porch being allowed. This must be built to correct elevation, being 2.5′ above the adjacent road for Jupiter Farms, must be under 25′ in height, and must be built with 25′ set backs from the side and rear property lines and 100′ from the front property line. Yet, there is a possibility to build it in the front of the house though not “by right.”

The long answer. The residential properties in Jupiter Farms are MOSTLY Agricultural Residential (AR) zoned, with some being having the Residential Estate (RE) zoning. ALL of Jupiter Farms is in the ‘Rural’ Tier, AND outside of the Urban Services or ‘U/S’ Tier. The AR and RE zoning districts are a residential district which, FYI, includes it in the use restrictions generally noted as being for a ‘residentially zoned’ districts.

Next we need to know the “Future Land Use” which for MOST of Jupiter Farms is Rural Residential 10 or “RR 10.” Note that note that Jupiter Farms is within the Jupiter Farms Neighborhood Plan. Thus the nomenclature on the Tables in the code of “AR – RR 10.”

Now, in 2023 PB County changed the rules for Accessory Quarters or what most folks call “Accessory Dwelling Units” (ADU’s). For the typical property in Jupiter Farms: Zoning is AR, the Future Land Use (FLU) is Rural Residential 10 or “RR 10.” Armed with this we look at the Unified Land Development Code and the Palm Beach County Amendments to same.

Acessory uses are covered in Article 5. And for Residential Districts, like the AR and RE found in Jupiter Farms, we note that…

Residential Districts
Accessory structures shall be allowed subject to the requirements below, provided they are not located in an established easement or required landscape buffer unless exempted by Art. 5.F.2.A, Easement Encroachment.
a) Accessory Living Quarters
Accessory dwellings, such as Guest Cottages, Grooms Quarters, and other Accessory Quarters, shall meet the minimum setback in Table 3.D.1.A, Property Development Regulations, with the exception of properties with an RR FLU designation (Like the RR-10 in Jupiter Farms) which shall be subject to a 25-foot side or rear setback. The front set back is 100′ and there IS a method to have one in the front yard of a property…

Table 3.D.1.A covers the required setbacks for buildings like this…

But one must lok at the ever important foot notes…

Note that the typical Jupiter Farms lot IS going to be governed by footnote 3, and 2, for set backs as these lots do NOT meet the minimum for an AR zone with RR-10, or even RR-2.5 Future Land Use. They are “existing non-conforming” lots and this is what this information assumes. BUT see above as for the Acessory Living Quarters there are different set backs codified.

But first we must check that we can do ANYTHING because there are “max building coverage” requirements in the code which we see in the above Table is 15%. For the typical 1.25 acre lot (> 1 Acre) let’s assume it has a descent sized 4,000 sf house on it. This is the total size of the building(s) (ALL BUILDINGS WITH A ROOF ON THEM) but would not include a pool or a screen enclosure, UNLESS it has a solid roof. But if you have other structures on your lot like a detached garage, stable, barn, pole barn, lien to, or ANYTHING WITH A SOLD ROOF then these WOULD BE ADDED to the 4,000 SF house roof area number I am using.

So let’s look at an example. A lot that it 165′ wide X 330′ deep. This is 1.25 Acres and thus an ‘existing non conforming’ lot for the AR (RR-10). Looking at Table 3.D.1.A again and we see that lot coverage must be less than 15%, so 0.15*165*330 = 8,167.5 sf. In this example we could have an accessory building that’s 8,167.5 – 4000 = 4,167.5 SF. A good sized barn but we want to know about ADU’s now that we know we have over 4k SF of have lot coverage to use! Looking at table 4.B.1.D we see that for a Single Family Principle Use one may have BY RIGHT Accessory Quarters, Estate Kitchen, or a Guest Cottage…

What we are looking for is the “Accessory Quarters”…

Accessory Quarters

a.   Definition

A complete, separate living facility equipped with a kitchen and provisions for sanitation and sleeping, located on the same lot as the owner-occupied principal dwelling.

b.   Building Area

The use shall be subject to the following:

1)   On less than one acre: a maximum of 800 square feet.

2)   On one acre or more: a maximum of 1,000 square feet.

3)   The floor area calculation shall include only the living area of the Accessory Quarters under a solid roof.

4) Additional floor area under a solid roof that is utilized as a porch, patio, porte-cochère, carport, or garage shall not exceed 500 square feet.

So, for our example one may have a 1,000 SF of living area (air conditioned building space) plus another 500 SF of porch, patio, porte-cochère, carport, or garage (non AC space) and it must be placed at least than 25′ from the both the rear and side property lines.

An “Estate Kitchen” is “A second kitchen located within a principal Single Family, Zero Lot Line, or Farm Residence.”

A “Guest Cottage” is much like an Accessory Quarters BUT it is intended only for sleeping and is WITHOUT a kitchen.

Last FYI is that the accessory building MAY NOT have separate utilities and that you will be charged Impact Fees in addition to the building permit fees.

So, why are real estate taxes so high in Palm Beach County and percieved to be in Florida?

Short answer: They’re NOT!

I help people moving here all the time and they universally have sticker shock at the property taxes. Why are the taxes so high Chris? Well, for starters Florida does NOT have a personal income tax and the it costs $ to have all the stuff like police that we like having around. But Florida does not have a personal income tax. If one makes 150k in Connecticut they pay 6%, Massachusetts is 5%, New Jersey 6.37% and New York 6.41%. And if you live in one of the 5 boroughs of NYC then you add the city tax to that.

If you live in NYC then you would come back with the fact that NYC has low real estate taxes but in more typical places like Fairfield Connecticut then the residential millage rate is 26.79 and that is 43% HIGHER than Jupiter at 18.72, and 35.9% higher than Palm Beach Gardens at 19.72.

So stop griping. Move to Florida and avoid paying the state income tax and pay less for your real estate taxes. BTW, it’s warm here too.

This came up today. The MLS listing stated…”full impact windows and doors” but when the inspector got there he said that he could not give the house a mitigation credit for hurricane protection because the glass block needed panels over it. Does it?

First, if the house (and presumably the glass block in question) was built after the 2001 Florida Building code (POST March 2002 permit) was adopted then the house is assumed to be code compliant in terms of the wind storm protection. If there are no shutters there then the glass block should NOT require them ASSUMING that all the other windows and doors DID require some form of impact protection, given the location of the house.

Next, if the glass block itself, lets say in a bathroom remodel, was installed with a building permit issued under the 2001 (or later) FBC then you can assume that, as above, if there are no shutters in place then no shutters are required as, similar to above, if they were required then the building inspector would have seen to it that they were installed.

Finally, it IS possible to use glass block to fill in an opening in a wall and IF (that’s the BIG if) it was properly constructed (as in with an FBC approved block and detailed just like it is shown on the FBC Notice of Approval) then one would NOT need to have hurricane panels to protect it. The block itself must be approved for use in either the High Velocity Hurricane Zone (Miami-Dade and Broward counties) or with a Florida Building Code Notice of Acceptance for use elsewhere in Florida. THE BIG QUESTION IN THIS IS: THE BLOCK MUST HAVE BEEN INSTALLED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE APPLICABLE NOTICE OF APPROVAL. It’s not just that the right block was used but that it was properly installed. And Without a permit it can be difficult to know that IF right block was used and/or that it was properly installed. I will note here that as a practical matter I checked the glass block sold at the Home Depot near me which is made by a company called Seves and their Nubio, Clarity and Endura product lines are approved for “Miami Dade” or High Velocity Hurricane Zone use and these require a label. The others lines are NOT rated for small or large impact but are FBC approved for the wind loads. Thus, for the latter, the block would again need to be properly installed to take the prescribed wind load and these WOULD require an approved shutter to take the prescribed impact loading.

If you are reading this trying to decide if you need to put plywood up over glass block then I would advise that if you are not certain and the time and material allows for it then better safe than sorry.

For those in cyber space who say glass block is the same as block, Concrete Masonry Unit (CMU) please read:

FBC 1626.1

All parts or systems of a building or structure envelope such as, but not limited, to exterior walls, roof, outside doors, skylights, glazing and glass block shall meet impact test criteria or be protected with an external protection device that meets the impact test criteria. Test procedures to determine resistance to wind-borne debris of wall cladding, outside doors, skylights, glazing, glass block, shutters and any other external protection devices shall be performed in accordance with this section.