What do Brevard County zoning codes like RU-1-13, EU, and AU actually mean?

In unincorporated Brevard County, Florida, RU-1-13 is single-family residential with a 7,500 square foot minimum lot, EU is estate residential on 15,000 square feet, and AU is agricultural residential on 2.5 acres.

You find a house you like on the Space Coast, you pull up the property record, and there it is: RU-1-13. Or EU-2. Or GU. Most buyers scroll right past it. Then they close, order a fence, plan a workshop, or price out a guest suite, and find out the letters and numbers on that line decided the answer months ago.

Brevard County zoning is not decoration. It sets your minimum lot size, your minimum house size, your setbacks, whether you can keep chickens or horses, and in some cases whether the lot is buildable at all. Here is what the common Brevard County, Florida residential classifications mean, and how to check the one attached to a specific Space Coast address before you write an offer.

What Do the Numbers in RU-1-13 and RU-1-9 Mean?

This is the single most misread thing in Brevard County zoning. The number is not the lot size. It is the minimum living area, in hundreds of square feet.

RU-1-13 means a minimum house of 1,300 square feet. The lot minimum in RU-1-13 is a separate number: 7,500 square feet, with 75 feet of width and 75 feet of depth. RU-1-9 sets the minimum living area at 900 square feet on a 6,600 square foot lot. Buyers who assume RU-1-13 means a 13,000 square foot lot end up disappointed when they see the neighborhood.

That distinction matters most when you are buying a small older home on a Space Coast street and thinking about a teardown or a major addition. The minimum living area is a floor, not a ceiling, but the lot dimensions and setbacks are what actually box in your footprint.

Which Space Coast Communities Use Brevard County Zoning?

Brevard County government primarily serves the unincorporated areas, and the county counts 16 municipalities inside its borders. The county zoning codes below apply only outside those city limits.

That is a bigger deal on the Space Coast than most relocation buyers expect. Merritt Island, Suntree, and Viera are all unincorporated. None of the three appears on the Brevard County Property Appraiser list of city governments, and all three are governed by Brevard County zoning. Melbourne, Rockledge, Satellite Beach, Indialantic, Indian Harbour Beach, Cocoa Beach, and Melbourne Beach are incorporated and run their own land development codes with entirely different district names.

So a home with a Melbourne, Florida mailing address in the 32940 ZIP code may sit under Brevard County zoning, not City of Melbourne zoning. If you are comparing two houses and one says RU-1-13 while the other says R-1AA, you are not comparing the same rulebook.

Brevard County Residential Zoning Codes at a Glance

Code Official name Minimum lot Minimum living area
GU General use 5 acres, 300 ft by 300 ft 750 sq ft
AGR Agricultural 5 acres, 200 ft by 300 ft 750 sq ft
AU Agricultural residential 2.5 acres, 150 ft by 150 ft 750 sq ft
SR Suburban residential 0.5 acre, 100 ft by 150 ft 1,300 sq ft
EU Estate use residential 15,000 sq ft, 100 ft by 100 ft 2,000 sq ft
EU-1 Estate use residential 12,000 sq ft, 100 ft by 100 ft 1,800 sq ft
EU-2 Estate use residential 9,000 sq ft, 90 ft by 100 ft 1,500 sq ft
RU-1-13 Single-family residential 7,500 sq ft, 75 ft by 75 ft 1,300 sq ft
RU-1-9 Single-family residential 6,600 sq ft 900 sq ft

Brevard County also carries mobile home and rural mobile home classifications (TR-1, TR-2, TR-3, RRMH-1 and others), single-family attached classifications in the RA-2 series, and planned unit development districts. Setbacks in the EU classifications run 25 feet front, 10 feet on the sides, and 20 feet rear, with a 35 foot height cap.

What Does AU Agricultural Residential Actually Allow?

AU is the classification that surprises Space Coast relocation buyers in both directions. It requires 2.5 acres with 150 feet of width and 150 feet of depth, and it permits a single-family home alongside genuine agricultural use: raising and grazing animals, fowl raising, beekeeping, plant nurseries, and the packing and sale of commodities raised on the property.

Two things to know before you fall for an AU parcel. First, there is a low intensity version, AU(L), written for smaller lots in neighborhoods with more residential than agricultural character, and it limits agricultural use to personal noncommercial activity. Second, barn and stall setbacks are large: 125 feet from the front lot line and 50 feet from the side and rear lot lines. A 2.5 acre AU lot in Brevard County does not automatically fit a barn where you want it.

Boarding horses for hire, kennels, hog farms, and roadside stands are conditional uses in AU, which means a public hearing, not a permit application.

Why GU General Use Zoning Can Stop a Space Coast Build

GU is the county's holding category. Brevard County planning staff describe it in their own reports as a classification historically interpreted as a holding category, covering rural single-family development or unimproved land with no definite current proposal for development. It carries a 5 acre minimum with 300 feet of width and depth.

Here is the trap. Plenty of GU land in Brevard County was classified decades ago and never revisited, and parcels were later split. A GU parcel under 5 acres can fail its own minimum, and a buyer who assumed "it is zoned, so I can build" may need a variance or a rezoning before a single-family home is permitted. If you are buying raw land anywhere in unincorporated Brevard County, confirm buildability in writing before your inspection period closes.

How Do You Look Up the Zoning on a Brevard County Property?

Brevard County directs the public to one place for the official classification. Both the county's rezoning page and its variance page say to review the GIS Zoning and Future Land Use interactive map to determine a property's official zoning.

The property appraiser is not the zoning authority. Use BCPAO for the parcel facts you need in order to apply a zoning minimum, then use the county GIS map for the classification itself.

What if the Zoning Does Not Fit Your Plans?

You have two paths in unincorporated Brevard County, and they land in front of two different boards.

A rezoning changes the classification. It takes a minimum of two public hearings. The Planning and Zoning board, sitting as the Local Planning Agency, makes a recommendation, and the Board of County Commissioners makes the final decision. A sign goes up on the property at least 15 days before the first hearing, and courtesy notice goes to every property owner within 500 feet about 10 days out. Conditions attached to an approval get recorded as a Binding Development Plan.

A variance waives a specific code requirement based on a hardship from special conditions that are not the result of the applicant's own actions. The Board of Adjustment makes the final decision on a variance, and there is a 30 day appeal window before building permits can be approved.

Neither is a formality, and neither is fast. If your purchase depends on one, that belongs in the contract, not in your hopes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Brevard County zoning apply inside Melbourne or Satellite Beach?

No. Melbourne, Rockledge, Satellite Beach, Indialantic, Indian Harbour Beach, Cocoa Beach, and Melbourne Beach are incorporated municipalities on the Space Coast with their own zoning codes and district names. Brevard County classifications like RU-1-13 and EU apply in unincorporated areas such as Merritt Island, Suntree, and Viera.

Is a Melbourne, FL address always inside the City of Melbourne?

No. Mailing addresses and city limits are different things in Brevard County, Florida. Suntree uses a Melbourne postal address while sitting in unincorporated county, which changes which zoning code, which permitting counter, and which set of local rules apply to the property.

Can I keep chickens or horses on a Space Coast property?

It depends entirely on the classification and, in a subdivision, on the recorded covenants. AU agricultural residential in unincorporated Brevard County permits fowl raising, beekeeping, and the grazing of animals on a minimum 2.5 acre parcel. Standard single-family classifications like RU-1-13 do not. Check the county GIS map and the HOA documents before you buy on that assumption.

Before You Write the Offer

Zoning is one of those things that costs nothing to check and quite a lot to get wrong. If you are looking at land, an older home you plan to expand, or anything in unincorporated Brevard County where the plan is bigger than "move in," pull the classification first and tell me what you want to do with the property. I would rather spend twenty minutes on it now than watch you find out at the permit counter. My partner Nichole and I got your back. Reach out anytime at (321) 212-7676 or www.livingspacecoast.com.