Appearance, building mass, and design treatments.
Cape Coral Land Development Code § 5.8.5
in effectSection 5.8.5. - Appearance, building mass, and design treatments.
A. Consistency Within a Development. Except for buildings on outparcels that contain only one unit, designed and constructed to be occupied by a single end user, regardless of the number of business operations conducted within the single unit, buildings within a development shall be designed with color schemes, building materials, finishes, roof types, roof lines, and exterior roof finishing consistent with or that resemble those of the principal building or structure on the main parcel(s).
B. Consistency and Integrity of Building Components. All portions of any exterior side of a building, extending from finished grade to the top of the parapet wall or eaves, extending the entire width of the side of a building, must be designed with consistent architectural style, detail and trim features. All architectural features other than parapet walls, including towers or cupolas, shall be designed so as to have an equivalent character from any ground-level angle from which they can be viewed.
C. Glazing.
1. For buildings abutting and facing a public street, transparent windows, doors, or any combination thereof, shall cover at least 25% of the first story building wall area from grade to a height of 10 feet.
2. For buildings with walls abutting but not facing a public street, transparent windows, doors, or any combination thereof, shall cover at least 15% of the first story building wall area from grade to a height of 10 feet
3. For lots abutting dedicated city parking areas or portions of alleys abutting dedicated city parking areas, transparent windows, doors, or any combination thereof, shall cover at least 25% of the first story building wall area from grade to a height of 10 feet.
D. Sides of a building. For buildings located on outparcels, all exterior sides of a building shall comply with this section. Additionally, except for a side of a building built flush with a side lot line, a side of a building that faces a rear lot line of an abutting property, and a side of a building that faces a property line that abuts an alley, all sides of a building shall comply with the standards of this section.
1. All exterior sides of a building subject to this subsection shall include a repeating or varying pattern and shall comply with both design elements listed below. At least one of the three design elements shall repeat horizontally. All elements shall repeat or alternate at intervals of no more than 50 feet, either horizontally or vertically.
a. Each wall shall provide visual differentiation of wall surfaces through variations in a minimum of one of the following:
i. Building materials;
ii. Finish textures; or
iii. Color.
b. Each wall shall provide a minimum of two of the following architectural features:
i. Columns;
ii. Pilasters;
iii. Awnings;
iv. Canopies;
v. Reveals (if provided shall have a minimum depth of ½ inch);
vi. Corbels;
vii. Quoins ;
viii. Keystones;
ix. Cornices (if provided shall have a minimum height of four inches); or
x. Other features as determined by the DCD Director that provide articulation or reduce building massing.
2. All exterior sides of a building shall provide a minimum number of design elements among elements a. thru r. below in accordance with the gross square footage of a building, as provided herein. Required design elements may be located on an exterior wall of a building, on the roof of the building, or on both the wall(s) and the roof of a building, as applicable. If located on a roof, the design element shall be located on a portion of the roof that faces in the same direction as the exterior wall. It is not the intent of this section, however, to require the design elements to be on both the exterior wall(s) and the roof.
Building Gross Floor Area (sq. ft.) | Minimum number of Design Elements Required
10,000 sq. ft. or less | 3
10,001 to 49,999 sq. ft. | 4
50,000 sq. ft. or greater | 5
a. Architectural features and detailing that create a frame and definition to the primary public entrance;
b. One or more canopies or awnings that extend a total length of at least 30% of the length of any side of a building subject to this subsection;
c. One or more attached porticos;
d. Peaked or arched roof form;
e. Overhanging eaves a minimum of 18 inches wide on all portions of a building with a pitched roof;
f. Arcade;
g. Colonnade;
h. Arches or arched forms other than roof forms or an arcade;
i. Windows or glazing that exceed the minimum glazing requirements of Subsection 5.8.5.C. by a minimum of 10% for a wall;
j. Ornamental or structural details, including, banding or moldings used throughout the exterior building walls that add decoration and detail to a building roofline, building openings, or windows;
k. Two or more ornamental or structural details that are horizontally continuous (except for interruptions for doors and windows), which may include belt courses or any type of three-dimensional molding, banding, projections, recesses, or niches that help to define a base, body, and cap to the proposed building;
l. A tower such as a clock tower or bell tower;
m. A cupola;
n. Sculptured artwork (excluding corporate logos or advertising);
o. Vertical articulation of walls, including pilasters, columns, or other relief with maximum separation of one third of the wall on which they are located, not to exceed a separation of 100 feet;
p. Planter boxes that are integrated into the building architecture or wing walls that incorporate landscaped areas or places for sitting; or
q. Curved wall containing an uninterrupted curve along at least 10% of the length of any side of a building subject to this subsection.
r. One or more vegetated trellises that occupy a minimum of 25% of the area of a single wall.
3. For buildings with a gross floor area of greater than 50,000 square feet, no exterior wall shall exceed 100 linear feet in a horizontal direction within a single, continuous wall plane, nor shall any single, continuous wall plane constitute more than 60% of the building's total length. A wall shall be deemed to be in a single, continuous wall plane unless it is offset (recessed or projected) by at least 24 inches from any adjacent wall plane or contains a pilaster that projects at least 36 inches from the wall.
Source: City of Cape Coral, Florida, Code of Ordinances, City Charter and Land Development Code (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/fl/cape_coral/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=ART5DEST_CH8NSIDEST_S5.8.5APBUMADETRFetched: 11/4/2026