Fort Lauderdale, population 152,397 (2005), is located in Broward County on the Atlantic Coast of Florida, 25 miles north of Miami. The City offers seven miles of beaches and 165 miles of waterways, supporting its nickname as the “Venice of America.”

Fort Lauderdale has a TDR provision in its code to enhance scenic views of the Intra-coastal Waterway, the waterway that extends north and south along the east Florida coast. In this code section, sending sites must be zoned IOA, Intra-coastal Overlook Area. Density in the IOA is 48 units per acre for residential and 90 units per acre for hotels. Receiving sites must be zoned NBRA, North Beach Residential Area, which allows 32 units per acre of residential and 50 units per acre for hotels. Using a Site Plan Level IV development permit, density in the NBRA can exceed this baseline if the sending site is within 300 feet of the receiving site and if the transfer would protect views from and to the Intra-coastal Waterway.

In March 2006, a member of the City’s Community Planning Office reported that the TDR provisions of the code had not been actively used but that the City would be studying possible improvements to these provisions in 2006.