Buying Land in Broward County, Florida

A county split by a hard development line

Broward County's land-use pattern is unusually binary compared to most of the counties on this site: the eastern, coastal two-fifths or so of the county is densely developed -- Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, and dozens of other municipalities -- while the western majority of the county's land area is Everglades wetland, managed as conservation and flood-storage land rather than a private development frontier.

The dividing line between these two very different land-use worlds is a real, mapped planning boundary, generally referred to as an urban development boundary, that the county's comprehensive plan uses to keep urban-style development from expanding westward into the Everglades system. See the dedicated wetlands page below for more detail on how that boundary functions and what it means for evaluating land near it.

The Everglades Water Conservation Areas

West of the urban development boundary, much of Broward County's land area consists of Everglades Water Conservation Areas -- large impounded wetland basins managed chiefly by the South Florida Water Management District as part of the regional water-storage and Everglades restoration system, rather than as private real estate. This land is generally not available for ordinary private purchase or development, and what private inholdings do exist in or near these areas carry substantial regulatory and practical constraints.

If you're evaluating any parcel in the western part of the county, confirm its status relative to the conservation areas and the urban development boundary directly with Broward County before assuming standard zoning and development expectations apply.

Building in the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone

Broward County, along with Miami-Dade County, is one of only two counties in Florida designated under the statewide Florida Building Code as the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ). That designation adds construction requirements beyond the rest of the state's code -- most visibly, impact-resistant or shuttered windows and doors, and generally more stringent wind-load engineering standards -- reflecting the two counties' historical exposure to the most severe hurricane wind conditions in Florida.

For anyone planning to build in Broward County, this means budgeting for HVHZ-compliant materials and product approvals specifically, rather than assuming standard Florida Building Code requirements found in most other counties on this site.

Water management, septic, and building basics

Broward County falls within the South Florida Water Management District, which manages both consumptive-use water permitting and the region's extensive canal and levee drainage system -- a mid-20th-century regional flood-control network that much of the county's flat, low-lying land depends on for practical drainage. Where central sewer isn't available, septic systems are permitted under Florida's statewide onsite sewage rule, Chapter 64E-6 of the Florida Administrative Code, administered locally by the Florida Department of Health in Broward County. Building permits and inspections follow the statewide Florida Building Code (with the HVHZ additions noted above), administered through the county building department or the applicable municipal building department.