Baldwin FL Laws: The Town That Voted to Stay Out
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TL;DR: Baldwin is a separate town inside Duval County, roughly 20 miles west of Jacksonville, with about 1,400 residents and its own zoning code under Chapter 22. Residential building permits run $0.70 per square foot and a rezoning application is $100. RVs can’t be lived in or hooked to water or sewer outside a licensed trailer park, and nothing can be built within 20 feet of a corner intersection in a residential district.
The short answers
Is Baldwin part of Jacksonville?
No. When most of Duval County consolidated with Jacksonville in 1968, Baldwin voted to remain independent. It runs a mayor-council government with its own town clerk and its own code.
What does a building permit cost in Baldwin?
Residential new construction or renovation is $0.70 per square foot. Commercial is $1.05 per square foot.
Can I live in an RV on my property?
No. It’s unlawful to occupy a recreational vehicle, fifth wheel, or camping trailer as living, eating, sleeping, or recreation space, or to connect one to water or sewer, unless it’s at a regularly licensed trailer park.
Can I park an RV there at all?
Yes, parked and stored only. Every point of the vehicle or trailer has to sit at least five feet from any property line, easement, or right of way.
Can I park my work truck in my driveway?
Not in a residential district. Trucks, truck-trailers, truck-tractors, semitrailers, and commercial trailers are prohibited on public streets and in private driveways in residential districts, except for loading and unloading.
What if my property isn’t shown on the zoning map?
It defaults to R-1A Single-Family until the zoning ordinance is amended.
How much is a variance?
$150 for non-commercial property, $300 for commercial. Rezoning is $100 and a conditional use is $75.
Baldwin is about 20 miles west of Jacksonville, two square miles, roughly 1,400 people. Most of Duval County folded into Jacksonville in 1968. Baldwin looked at that and said no thanks.
That decision is why this post exists. Baldwin residents vote in Jacksonville elections but live under a completely separate municipal code, which means almost nothing I wrote in the Duval County ordinance guide applies to them.
Also worth knowing: the town was incorporated in 1876 and reincorporated in 1913, so a fair amount of the code traces back to a 1964 codification. Some of it reads like it.
The permit fee schedule
This is the most useful thing in Baldwin’s code and the hardest to find. The fees were last updated by ordinance in August 2023.
Applications
| What | Fee |
|---|---|
| Rezoning | $100 |
| Variance, non-commercial | $150 |
| Variance, commercial | $300 |
| Conditional use | $75 |
| Site plan review | $200 plus town engineering costs |
| Land use verification | $10 |
| Small scale comp plan amendment | $250 |
| Large scale comp plan amendment | $1,050 plus $100 per acre over five |
| Planned unit development | $1,500 plus $100 per acre |
Building permits
- Residential new construction or renovation: $0.70 per square foot
- Commercial new construction or renovation: $1.05 per square foot
- Demolition: $70
- Roofing, new: $70 plus $0.05 per square foot
- Roof repairs: $7 per $1,000 of repair cost
- Accessory structures: $7 per $1,000 of structure cost
- Above-ground pool: $50 flat, or $7 per $1,000 of construction cost
- Land clearing: $50 per half acre up to one acre, then $50 per acre
- Mobile home placement: $63 single wide, $84 double, $98 triple
Trades
New construction runs $105 residential and $210 commercial for electrical, plumbing, and mechanical each. Repairs or upgrades are $70 residential and $140 commercial. A safety inspection is $35 residential, $70 commercial. Additional inspections are billed at the town’s cost plus seven percent.
Two things that catch people. Advertising costs aren’t included in application fees, and you’ll owe $12 for each public notification the town has to send. Bring a receipt showing payment, because applications aren’t considered without one.
The rules you’re most likely to break
Baldwin’s zoning chapter has a handful of specific provisions that don’t exist in Jacksonville’s code.
The corner rule. In any residence district, no fence, structure, or planting may be maintained within 20 feet of a corner street intersection. That’s a big radius. If you’re putting in a privacy fence on a corner lot, measure before you dig.
RVs and campers. You can’t occupy one as living space or hook it to water or sewer unless it’s in a licensed trailer park. Storage is allowed, but every point of the vehicle needs five feet of clearance from any property line, easement, or right of way.
Commercial vehicles. Prohibited on public streets and in private driveways within residential districts, except while loading or unloading. This covers semis, truck-tractors, and commercial trailers. For a town with deep railroad and trucking roots, it’s stricter than people expect.
Yard projections. Sills, cornices, eaves, and similar features can project no more than six inches into a minimum court and no more than 24 inches into a minimum side yard. Fire escapes, outside stairways, and balconies get three and a half feet, with building inspector approval, as long as they don’t block light and ventilation.
Height exceptions. Chimneys, towers, church spires, flagpoles, cupolas, smokestacks, and similar structures can go above the district height limit, but only after the community development board approves a use permit.
The video game room ordinance
Baldwin’s code makes it unlawful to operate a video game room within 500 feet of a church or school. A video game room means any business with three or more video games available to the public.
Penalty is a fine up to $250 and up to 60 days imprisonment.
The ordinance dates to 1983, which explains a lot. I’m including it because it’s a real, enforceable section of the code and because it’s a good reminder that small-town codes carry decades of accumulated specificity that nobody has cleaned out.
If you get denied, you wait
This one has real consequences for anyone planning a project.
When the town council or a zoning board denies a variance, exception, or rezoning application, no further application for the same relief on the same land can be filed for one year from the date of final action.
If two or more applications for the same thing on the same land get denied, the wait goes to two years from the last denial.
So a rushed, underprepared application isn’t just a lost $100 to $300. It’s a lost year. Get the application right the first time, and talk to the community development board before you file rather than after.
The community development board also absorbed the old board of adjustment’s duties, so it’s the body handling variances, use permits, group housing projects, and boundary interpretations.
Quick win
If you’re planning anything in Baldwin, call Town Hall before you spend money. The town clerk’s line is 904-266-5031.
Baldwin is small enough that a phone call gets you an actual answer, which is not the experience you’ll have navigating Jacksonville’s system. Ask three things: what zoning district your parcel is in, whether your project needs board review, and what the current fee is. That last one matters because the schedule has been amended several times and the version online may lag.
Ten minutes on the phone beats a one-year refiling ban.
Fees and code sections change, and Baldwin’s published code carries amendments through 2023. Confirm anything here with Baldwin Town Hall before you file or build.