Zoning and the Planning Commission in Jacksonville, Florida

Every parcel in the consolidated City of Jacksonville carries a zoning district, and the rules for those districts live in one place: the Jacksonville Zoning Code is Chapter 656 of the City of Jacksonville Ordinance Code, according to the city's Zoning FAQ. The FAQ describes zoning as the standards and regulations that apply to land and structures, and says those rules help implement the Comprehensive Plan, the long-range document that sets where growth is supposed to go. Each district has a list of permitted uses and standards for setbacks, density and height, and some add design guidelines.

Consolidation made Duval County largely one zoning jurisdiction, but not entirely. The FAQ notes that the City of Atlantic Beach, City of Neptune Beach, City of Jacksonville Beach, and the Town of Baldwin maintain their own zoning and building departments, separate from the Consolidated City of Jacksonville/Duval County. A lot in Arlington, Oceanway or the Westside answers to the city's code; a lot east of the Intracoastal in Neptune Beach answers to Neptune Beach.

Looking up a property's district is a map exercise. The city's online GIS map, reached from the Planning Department pages, can be searched by street address or by the ten-digit real estate number, also called the tax identification number. The Zoning Section counter at 214 N. Hogan St., 2nd Floor, in the Edward Ball Building downtown, takes questions at (904) 255-8300 and keeps district summaries listing what is allowed by right and what needs an exception.

The Planning Commission is the citizen board in the middle of the process. According to the Planning Commission page, it reviews proposed land use changes, text changes to the Comprehensive Plan, and requests for exceptions, variances and waivers to the Zoning Code, plus appeals of administrative deviation orders, written interpretations of the code and final orders of the Cell Tower Review Committee. It also serves as the local planning agency under Section 163.3174, Florida Statutes, the state role that has it prepare the comprehensive plan. One carve-out matters downtown: exceptions, variances and waivers for property in the Downtown Overlay Zone are excluded from its list.

The commission's power splits two ways. On exceptions, variances, minor modifications to a PUD, cell tower waivers, liquor distance waivers and architectural waivers, the Zoning FAQ says the hearing is before the Planning Commission. On rezonings, it recommends. The FAQ lays out that rezoning applications for both conventional districts and Planned Unit Developments are held in a series of public hearings before the Planning Commission, Land Use and Zoning Committee, and City Council at City Hall. The council has the final vote.

The Jacksonville Daily Record showed that split in June 2019, when the commission voted 4-2 to recommend denial of a proposed rezoning of land at Butler Boulevard and Glen Kernan Parkway, mostly over traffic. The paper noted that the council's Land Use and Zoning Committee and the full council could still approve it. The recommendation shapes the record; it does not end the case.

The Planning Commission page lists total members as 9, while noting that the mayor makes 12 appointments, a count that includes alternates. Seats follow Jacksonville's six planning districts plus at-large members. As of October 9, 2026, the roster names Sean Hall for Planning District 1, Ali Marar for District 2, Michael McGowan, chair, for District 3, Joshua Garrison, vice chair, for District 4, a vacancy for District 5 and Lamonte W. Carter for District 6. The at-large members are Amy Fu, D.R. Repass, secretary, and Dorothy Gillette. Lisa King is listed as an alternate with two alternate seats vacant, W. Randall Gallup as the school districts representative and Mark McManus as the military representative.

The commission meets two times per month, on the Thursday after the LUZ Committee. Its October 8, 2026 meeting was noticed for 1:00 PM in Hearing Room 1002 on the first floor of the Edward Ball Building at 214 North Hogan Street.

The Land Use and Zoning Committee is the City Council's side of the process. Under Council Rule 2.102(1) it considers zoning, comprehensive planning, growth management and appeals from Planning Commission decisions, among other subjects. As of October 9, 2026, the City of Jacksonville website lists Joe Carlucci as chair, Rory Diamond as vice chair, and Raul Arias, Kevin Carrico, Reggie Gaffney, Jr., Rahman Johnson and Randy White as members. LUZ meets on the first and third Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber on the first floor of the St. James Building. Last verified: October 9, 2026, on the City of Jacksonville website.

Since February 1, 2026, Jacksonville has not taken paper zoning applications. The Current Planning Division page sends every applicant to the online Land Use and Zoning Application Portal. The application types listed there show the menu: rezoning to a conventional district under Section 656.109, rezoning to a Planned Unit Development under Section 656.340, minor modifications to a PUD, zoning exceptions under Section 656.131, variances under Section 656.132, sign waivers, liquor distance waivers, road frontage waivers and administrative deviations.

A PUD is the custom option. Instead of fitting a project into a standard district, the owner writes a site-specific set of rules that the council adopts by ordinance, as the Costco case on the Southside shows. Neighbors learn about it two ways. The Zoning FAQ requires the applicant to notify property owners within a 350 foot radius of the property, and to post signs supplied by the Planning Department on the site during the process.

The Costco case at St. Johns Town Center shows the full path. News4JAX, carrying a Jacksonville Daily Record report from May 28, 2025, documented Ordinance 2025-0249, a request to change Costco's 13.91-acre site at 4901 Gate Parkway from its existing PUD to a new PUD allowing a fuel station. Planning Department staff recommended approval with a traffic study, and the Planning Commission voted 6-0 in favor with the same condition. A week before the final vote, LUZ recommended denial on a 5-1 vote, and the council denied the rezoning on May 27, 2025. The council, not the commission, had the last word.

Small departures from the code stay at staff level. The administrative deviations page says the Zoning Administrator is authorized to reduce minimum lot area and required yards, off-street parking minimums, landscaping requirements and maximum lot coverage, to adjust buffer and driveway width requirements, and to increase the allowable maximum height of structures, including fences. A Jacksonville homeowner who wants a taller back fence or a garage closer to the side line typically lands here.

The hearing is held before the Zoning Administrator in the Edward Ball Building, with notices mailed to owners within 350 feet. The written order is executed within twenty-one days of the hearing and becomes effective fifteen days after execution unless appealed, and appeals of those orders go to the Planning Commission.

Some everyday questions never need a hearing. The Zoning FAQ says home occupations meeting certain criteria are permitted in any residential district, with no outside employees, no exterior signage and no business activity between 10 PM and 7 AM, and it lists barber shops, salons, dog grooming and restaurants as prohibited home occupations under Section 656.401. For fences, the maximum height is 4 feet within the front yard setback and up to 8 feet beyond it, under Section 656.402, with a visibility triangle required on Jacksonville corner lots.

Some neighborhoods get a second layer of rules. The Current Planning Division administers zoning overlay districts for the Downtown, Mayport, Springfield, Mandarin Road and Height, and San Marco, each adding standards to the base district. The Renew Arlington CRA Zoning Overlay page explains the mechanics: an overlay places additional performance and design standards on top of a standard zoning code, so if something is not addressed in the overlay, the current Zoning Code applies, and unless the overlay says otherwise the more stringent rule wins. The Arlington overlay applies only inside the boundaries of the Renew Arlington community redevelopment area.

That layering is why two similar lots in Jacksonville can face different rules. A lot in Springfield's historic grid or along Mandarin Road can carry overlay standards that a lot of the same base zoning in Baymeadows does not, so the Current Planning Division at (904) 255-7800 is the office that confirms which layers apply.