The Town of Southwest Ranches has a barn plan program that gets little attention. It sells residents a pre-drawn barn plan that it reviews for a flat fee. The program is aimed at the household that keeps horses for riding rather than for income.
The Town's October 2026 newsletter put the program back in front of residents this month. If you're weighing acreage here and plan to add stalls later, how a barn gets permitted is part of what the land is worth.
The Property Appraiser's agricultural classification guidance
The Broward County Property Appraiser decides agricultural classification in this county. Its published guidance on agricultural classification says that Florida courts treat horses as livestock.
The Property Appraiser's guidance says the owner's house and grounds are carved out of agricultural classification.
What the Town drew for horse owners
The Town's October 2026 newsletter describes the program. To help preserve the rural lifestyle, the Town Council gave residents "a simpler mechanism to build a barn that is in compliance with Florida statutory requirements." The Town hired an architect to draw a prototype barn. The plan is a three-stall barn with a tack room. A resident buys the pre-drafted plan from the Town and submits it "at a reduced cost, and on an expedited basis."
The program has been around for years. The Town's June 2021 newsletter described the same three-stall barn with a tack room and the same reduced-cost, expedited submission. Even earlier, the Town's Comprehensive Plan Advisory Board minutes from January 21, 2021 referred to "the Town's prototype barn." In that meeting, a motion to make the prototype's footprint the required barn open-space footprint failed.
The fees, side by side
The Town Council adopted Resolution 2026-031, "Amending Comprehensive Fee Schedule," on March 12, 2026. The fee exhibit in the March 12, 2026 Council agenda packet lists two charges specific to the prototype barn. They appear next to the standard residential permit charges.
| Line in the 2026 fee schedule exhibit | Amount listed |
|---|---|
| Purchase of Prototype Barn Architectural Drawings | $150 |
| Prototype Barn Review | $200 |
| Building Permits, Residential | 2.0% of job value |
| Minimum Permit Fee, Residential, per discipline | $100 |
The two prototype lines are flat amounts. A standard residential building permit in the same exhibit is figured as a percentage of job value. A custom barn also starts with drawings the owner has to commission. With the prototype, the owner buys drawings the Town has already reviewed. The newsletters call the savings "reduced cost" without putting a number on it, and the exhibit doesn't show a total for a finished prototype barn either. Anyone budgeting a build should get the full figure from the Town. The October newsletter lists Emily Aceti, the Town's Community Services Manager, at [email protected] as the contact.
The Town's land development code
Barn placement and livestock limits are addressed by the Town's land development code, published on Municode. The code addresses animal structures, plot coverage and animal density.
Municode says its compilation was updated May 26, 2026, and it notes that the online code may not include every recent enactment.
Questions horse owners ask about this
Is the prototype plan new? No. The Town described the same three-stall plan with a tack room in its June 2021 newsletter, and the October 2026 newsletter brought it back to residents' attention.
Can I enlarge the prototype? The Town describes a fixed three-stall design with a tack room. Changes to it, and how a modified plan would be reviewed, are questions for the Town before you buy the drawings.
This post is general information about published rules. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, so confirm how they apply to your parcel with the Town, the Property Appraiser, or a qualified professional.
If you're considering how a permitted barn affects what an estate is worth, Tommy Crivello Group can review the land, its improvements and their permit history with you. Request a Private Valuation.
