Guides for Lot Owners and Builders
These guides explain the rules and steps behind the site work on a Southwest Florida lot, from owl buffers and fill limits to culvert permits and driveway base, using what the cities and counties publish. Start with building on a Cape Coral lot if you are new to it.
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Building a home
Building on a Cape Coral Lot: The Site Work, Step by Step
On a Cape Coral lot the site work runs in a set order: owl and tortoise check, clearing, survey and stake-out, fill or stem wall pad, density test, drive cut and culvert, base rock, final grade, sod, then the certificate of occupancy.Burrowing Owls and Gopher Tortoises: What to Do Before You Clear a Lot
Before clearing a Cape Coral lot, search it, the right-of-way and the vacant lots next door for burrows, list each one on the city's notarized affidavit, and rope off a protection zone: 33 feet around an owl burrow from February 15 to July 10, 10 feet the rest of the year, and 25 feet around a gopher tortoise burrow all year.Building on a Lehigh Acres Lot: The Site Work, Step by Step
Lehigh Acres is a 96-square-mile pre-platted community of mostly quarter- and half-acre lots in unincorporated Lee County, so the house permit comes from Lee County, not a city.Stem Wall vs Monolithic Slab: What Each One Means for Your Fill
A monolithic (mono) slab is poured in one piece on a compacted fill pad, so the fill carries the house up to floor height; a stem wall gets its height from block walls, and the fill goes inside them as compacted backfill.How Much Fill Dirt Do I Need? The Cubic Yard Math, Explained
Multiply length by width by depth, all in feet, to get cubic feet, then divide by 27 to get cubic yards.House Pad Cost in Southwest Florida: What Sets the Price
Two house pads on the same street can be priced very differently, because the price follows the dirt: how far the lot has to come up, how many cubic yards that takes, how far the fill travels and what has to happen before the first truck arrives.
Driveways & culverts
Cape Coral Driveway and Culvert Permit: The City Packet, Explained
In Cape Coral, a driveway or drive cut across the city right-of-way needs a permit from the Stormwater Division, filed online through EnerGov, with a $26 processing fee and a $99 permit fee per driveway.Driveway Culvert Rules in Lehigh Acres and Unincorporated Lee County
In Lehigh Acres and the rest of unincorporated Lee County, a driveway culvert in the county right-of-way needs a Lee County DOT driveway permit, a pipe at least 15 inches round (or a 12 by 18 inch equivalent) in reinforced concrete, ADS double wall or A-2000, and mitered ends cut to at least 3:1.Lime Rock or Shell Rock Under a Southwest Florida Driveway
Lime rock is crushed limestone and shell rock is mostly broken shell, and both are carbonate materials that Florida road specs grade with the same strength test, so either can make a solid base when it goes down in thin lifts and is compacted wet.
Land & shoreline
Land Clearing Permits in Southwest Florida, County by County
Whether you need a permit to clear a lot in Southwest Florida depends on where the lot is, how big it is and whether a building permit already covers the work.What Lot Clearing Costs Depend On in Southwest Florida
The price to clear a lot in Southwest Florida is driven by what is growing on it, what lives on it, where the debris goes and how easy the lot is to reach, much more than by square footage alone.Seawall Alternatives for Freshwater Canal Lots in Cape Coral
On a Cape Coral freshwater canal lot, a sloped and stabilized bank can take the place of a vertical concrete seawall under city guidelines for applications filed on or after January 1, 2022.
Storms, septic & demolition
Getting Your Lot to Drain Before Hurricane Season
Southwest Florida's wet season runs from May 15 to October 15 and hurricane season from June 1 to November 30, so a lot needs open swales, ground that falls away from the house, and no loose fill or debris in the drainage path before the summer rains begin.Who Removes Storm Debris From Private Property in Florida
Under FEMA policy, removing debris from private property is the property owner's responsibility, and Lee County and Cape Coral crews only collect storm debris that residents place in the right-of-way, sorted the way the county or city asks.Septic Tank Abandonment in Cape Coral After a UEP Sewer Hookup
When Cape Coral's Utilities Extension Project brings sewer to your street, you get a Notice of Availability and have 180 days to connect, and your septic tank does not have to be removed but must be pumped, collapsed and abandoned under a $100 abandonment permit with a Health Department inspection.Demolition Permits in Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Lee County
Before a house, shed or pool comes down in Southwest Florida, the permit has to come from the right office, and the three offices around Cape Coral each ask for different paperwork.
Guías en español
Dos guías para dueños de lotes que prefieren leer en español. Todas las guías en español.
Lechuzas y tortugas de tierra: lo que debe saber antes de limpiar un lote en Cape Coral
En Cape Coral no se puede destruir una madriguera de lechuza (burrowing owl) sin permiso de la FWC, ni trabajar a menos de 33 pies de ella entre el 15 de febrero y el 10 de julio, o a menos de 10 pies el resto del año.Stem wall o losa monolítica: qué cambia en el relleno de su lote
En las zonas de inundación de Cape Coral la ciudad limita el relleno en el lote a 12 pulgadas, salvo aprobación del Building Official, y por eso la mayoría de las casas suben con un stem wall (muro de cimentación) relleno por dentro.
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