Zoning explained · Broward County

Downtown Core West (DCW) sub-area, Oakland Park Downtown Development District (OP3D) Oakland Park, Florida

DCW is the Downtown Core West sub-area of the OP3D, located west of N. Dixie Highway, and together with Downtown Core East is the mixed-use epicenter of downtown Oakland Park with ground-floor active uses. Uses come from the OP3D Use List (Sec. 24-266), Downtown Core column; any listed use without a P, C or A is prohibited, and unlisted uses are reviewed as conditional uses.

3 buildings zoned DCW61 permitted business types

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Insights › Zoning & land use › Oakland Park — DCW

Permitted uses

What you can operate in DCW, Oakland Park

The businesses the DCW district in Oakland Park allows. The ones on the left are permitted by right; the ones on the right need a special approval first. (Zoning codes are set by each municipality, so DCW here means specifically Oakland Park's DCW district.)

Allowed by right

Art galleriesArtists' studios, photography studios [P1, also accessory]Athletic club, health clubs, gymnasiums, indoor sports games and/or athletics, personal training, fitness studio—Up to 5,000 square feet on ground floor with additional floor area permitted only on upAuction houses (antiques only)Beauty salon/barberBeverage manufacturing, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, with restaurant (incl. brew pub) [P18]Book or magazine publishers [P1]City of Oakland Park municipal facilitiesClothing alterations/shoe repair [P1 or accessory]Colleges and universities [P1]Community residences (up to ten residents) [P1, 20]Community gardenConsignment shopDance or music schools [P1,2]Dry cleaner retail [P3]Dwelling units in duplex, triplex, multi-family, or mixed-use building, [P1]Dwelling unit as a single-family house, only on existing lots with existing single-family dwellings for replacement. [P1]Dwelling units in townhome configuration [P1]Education tutoring centers for school-age children [P1]Farmers markets IndoorFarmers markets - outdoor (site plan review by development review committee)Home occupations in accordance with section 24-75 [P1]Indoor entertainment centers including arcade games, indoor mini golf, group team building activities, computer games, escape rooms, and/or billiards—Less than 5,000 square feet of floor area [P1 or accessory]Kitchen incubator [P1 or accessory]Laboratories, research, development, scientific [P1]LibrariesLive-work units (residential portion must comply with supplemental regulations to master business list item #1)Massage and health spa, state licensed [P15]Medical offices including physical therapy, dental, and other healthcare not otherwise listed [P1]MuseumNail groomingOffice—Professional [P1]Parks and public squares or plazasPrinting, copying, office support, mailing, shipping and packaging—2,000 square feet or less [P1]Radio, television, recording, or music practice studios, soundproofed with DRC review to determine adequacy of controls to reduce nuisance [P1]Real estate sales office [P1]Recovery communities [P1, 21]Restaurant—Food halls, subject to site plan review by DRC [P12]Restaurant and Restaurant Bar [P12]Retail sales—Stores up to 5,000 square feet on ground floor with additional floor area permitted only on upper floorsSchools, hobby or personal interest training such as culinary, art, computer coding, acting, martial arts, wellness, hobbies, or other life enrichment, non-trade skill [P1]Senior living/Assisted living [P1]Skating rink [P1]Train Station

With special approval

Air mobility station including veriports or drone portsAthletic club, health clubs, gymnasiums, indoor sports games and/or athletics, personal training, fitness studio—Stores 5,000 square feet or larger on ground floorBanquet facilities (assembly hall) [C1]Bar or nightclub [C18]Beverage manufacturing, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, with tasting room or bar [C18]Bowling alleysCigar/Hookah bar [C18]Community center [C1]Day nurseries, childcare centers, adult day care [C1]Fish marketHotelsMeat market [conditional or accessory]Parking garages for general public use (paid or unpaid) or as accessory to a use [conditional if not accessory]Pharmacies [C14]Places of Worship [C1]Retail sales—stores 5,000 square feet or larger on ground floorTheater and motion picture houses, maximum of 5,000 square feet on the ground floor. [C1,2]

Build envelope

Development standards

Headline dimensional limits for this district. Confirm exact figures against the current code for your specific parcel.

Heightmax 3 stories (45 ft); up to 5 stories (FAR 1.7) or 6 stories (FAR 2.0) with Bonus Provision Program per height code on map

StandardFAR base (3 stories) 1.0

Density65 du/ac on sites > 13,000 sq ft; 45 du/ac on sites <= 13,000 sq ft; min 600 net sq ft per residential unit

Setbacks by street classPrimary Boulevard = 5 ft behind Trafficways ROW line; Primary Pedestrian A = 2 ft behind; B 5 ft; C and D 10 ft; Secondary 10 ft; Tertiary 10 ft; side interior 0; rear 5; stepback 10 ft above 3 stories abutting IN sub-area

StandardOpen space min 10% (lot <= 13,000 sq ft) or 20% (> 13,000 sq ft), 25% of it pervious

Footnote 1where permitted, the use is not allowed on the ground floor facing a Primary Boulevard / Primary Pedestrian A or B street unless set back 30+ ft behind another business or 40+ ft from the ROW; allowed on upper floors and on ground floors on other streets

Footnote 12outdoor dining prohibited 11 pm-7 am and within 300 ft of IN, NET, R-1, RM-16, RM-25 zoning unless noise mitigation plan approved

Footnote 14pharmacies 500 ft from schools/child daycare; Footnote 15: massage and health spa 1,500 ft from another

Footnotes 20/21community residences and recovery communities - upper floors only (no ground-floor residential), 660 ft / 1,200 ft spacing, state license required

Accessory usesArtists' studios, photography studios; Bank—Lobby, teller counter only as accessory to a restaurant; Bank—ATM only, shall be built into a building wall of outdoors or in a vestibule; Clothing alterations/shoe repair; Electric vehicle charging stations [A6]; Engravers; Food caterers and commercial kitchens providing food for delivery to consumers or to other restaurants; Food production & confectionery manufacture; Furniture and cabinet manufacturing, repair, and refinishing [A2, 1]; Indoor entertainment centers including arcade games, indoor mini golf, group team building activities, computer games, escape rooms, and/or billiards—Less than 5,000 square feet of floor area; Kitchen incubator; Meat market; Parking garages for general public use (paid or unpaid) or as accessory to a use [A1; otherwise conditional]; Restaurants—Food truck, food cart, or sales of food or beverages from a wheeled vehicle only when an accessory to and on the same property of a restaurant, brewpub, tasting room, or bar/nightclub with [A12]; Vending—Indoor machines

Read from Oakland Park Land Development Code Art. XX (OP3D)Sec. 24-264(B) (Downtown Core), Sec. 24-266 (OP3D Use List) with supplemental regulations (D); permitted = by right, conditional = needs conditional-use / special-exception approval

The fine print

In plain English

BY RIGHT No hearing needed

If your business is on the by-right list, you can occupy a space in this district and open — no zoning hearing. Building permits and licensing still apply, but the use itself is already allowed.

SPECIAL Approval first

Special-approval uses can work here too, but they go through a public review before opening. Plan for extra time and possible conditions — we'll tell you which path a space needs.

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