Home Deerfield Beach News THE DEERFIELD BEACH PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENTS

THE DEERFIELD BEACH PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENTS

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Howard Levy
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Proposed Charter Amendments

On Tuesday, November 3, 2026, Deerfield Beach voters will be asked to consider nine proposed amendments to the City Charter.

This page provides information to help residents review the proposed changes, including an overview of the amendments, the existing and proposed Charter language, supporting documents, frequently asked questions, voting information and a glossary of commonly used terms.

Residents are encouraged to review the information provided and become familiar with each proposed amendment before voting.

AT A GLANCE

Election Day

Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Number of Proposed Amendments

Nine

What is Being Considered?

Proposed changes to specific provisions of the Deerfield Beach Charter.

Resident Resources & Public Forums

Learn more about the proposed Charter amendments, download a simplified community guide, or attend a public forum before the November 3, 2026 election.

Charter Amendments Community Guide

Download a simplified summary of the nine proposed Charter amendments appearing on the November 3, 2026 ballot. The guide may also be printed and shared.

 Download the Proposed Charter Amendments Community Guide (PDF) 

Public Forums

Residents are invited to attend one of two public forums to learn more about the proposed Charter amendments, ask questions, and better understand the items appearing on the November ballot.

Session 1

Thursday, September 17, 2026

Time: 

Location:

City Hall
150 NE 2nd Avenue
Deerfield Beach, FL
Session 2

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Time: 

Location:

West Community Center
580 Powerline Road
Deerfield Beach, FL

Choose either session. Both public forums will cover the same proposed Charter amendments.

Understanding the Proposed Charter Amendments

The City Charter establishes the framework for Deerfield Beach’s municipal government and outlines certain powers, responsibilities and procedures of the City.

The proposed amendments below identify changes that will be presented to voters during the November 3, 2026 election. Following this section, each of the nine proposed amendments is broken down individually to explain the ballot question, the current Charter provision, the proposed change and what a yes-or-no vote means.

For those who wish to review the complete legal language, the official ordinance, proposed Charter amendments and current City Charter are available in the Official Charter Documents section at the bottom of this page.

Proposed Charter Amendments

How Your Vote Works

Deerfield Beach voters will make the final decision on each proposed amendment to the City Charter. You will see nine separate yes-or-no questions on the ballot. Each question is decided independently, so you may vote yes on some amendments and no on others. A no vote leaves the current Charter provision on that subject in place and unamended.

Amendment A   |   Clarification and Update of City Charter

Ballot Question: 
Shall the City Charter be amended for style, clarity and consistency, along with amendments removing outdated provisions, and amendments updating the Charter to conform with state law provisions?

Current Provision: 
The Charter carries legacy wording, outdated newspaper and audit references, paper-check language that no longer match current practice and provisions that have been superseded by state law.

YES VOTE

Update the Charter to make it clearer, more consistent and aligned with current state law.

NO VOTE

Keep the current Charter language.

Amendment B   |   City Boundaries

Ballot Question: 
The Charter includes a lengthy and outdated legal description of the corporate limits of the City.  Shall the Charter be amended to replace the legal description with a map generally depicting the City’s present official corporate limits, and provide that the official map of the corporate limits of the City shall be maintained by the office of the City Clerk?

Current Provision: 
Charter §2.01 carries a lengthy metes-and-bounds description assembled over decades from special acts, annexations, plats, ordinances, and right-of-way references. It is difficult for a typical resident to read and grows more cumbersome as boundary records accumulate.  Further, the existing legal description is outdated and does not reflect more recent annexations of land into the City.

YES VOTE

Replace the Charter’s written description of City boundaries with a map maintained by the City Clerk. Deerfield Beach’s actual boundaries would not change.

NO VOTE

Keep the outdated written boundary description in the Charter.

VIEW AMENDMENT B ›

Review the proposed changes in the amendment PDF. Opens in a new window. 

Amendment C   |   Candidate Residency Requirements

Ballot Question: 
The City Charter requires candidates for Mayor to have resided continuously in the City, and candidates for Commissioner to have resided continuously in their qualifying District, for six months immediately before qualifying. Shall the Charter be amended to instead require two years of continuous residency in the City immediately before qualifying for candidates for Mayor, and two years of continuous residency in the qualifying District for Commissioner candidates, except where non-residency results solely from redistricting?

Current Provision: 
A mayoral candidate must have lived continuously in the City for six months immediately before qualifying. A Commission candidate must have lived continuously in the City for six months immediately before qualifying and live in the district prior to qualifying as a candidate.

YES VOTE

Require candidates for Mayor to have lived in Deerfield Beach continuously for two years immediately prior to qualifying. Commission candidates would need to have lived continuously in the City and their district for two years immediately prior to qualifying, with an exception for redistricting.

NO VOTE

Keep the current six-month residency requirements for candidates for Mayor and Commissioner.

VIEW AMENDMENT C ›

Review the proposed changes in the amendment PDF. Opens in a new window. 

Amendment D   |   City Election Dates

Ballot Question: 
Shall the Charter be amended to change Commission elections from March of odd-numbered years to November of even-numbered years beginning November 2028 to increase voter participation and decrease election costs, resulting in term extensions of approximately 20 months for all current Commissioners and the Mayor to maintain staggered terms, with no elections held in March 2027 or March 2029 and all future terms remaining four years?

Current Provision: 
Commission elections are held in March of odd-numbered years with staggered four-year terms. Districts 1 and 2 are next scheduled for election in March 2027; the Mayor and Districts 3 and 4 are next scheduled for election in March 2029.

YES VOTE

Regular City elections would move from March of odd-numbered years to November in even-numbered years, consistent with statewide elections. The November 2028 election will replace the March 2027 election, and the November 2030 election will replace the March 2029 election. As a result, there is an anticipated increase in voter participation and decrease in commission election costs for taxpayers to zero. Early voting will be available, and the current Mayor and commissioners will have a one-time extension of 20 months to their current term. Future terms will not be impacted and will remain for four years with staggered terms.

NO VOTE

Keep City elections in March of odd-numbered years.

VIEW AMENDMENT D ›

Review the proposed changes in the amendment PDF. Opens in a new window. 

Amendment E   |   Referendum Requirement for Certain City Property Transactions

Ballot Question: 
Shall the Charter be amended to remove the requirement that voters approve at a referendum election, and instead authorize the City Commission to approve, the sale, gift, trade, transfer, or lease of all or a portion of, or an interest in, city-owned real property with a fair market value exceeding $750,000, thereby eliminating the additional time and cost of conducting referendum elections for such transactions?

Current Provision: 
Covered transactions involving City property with a fair market value above $750,000 require majority approval from City voters at a referendum election. Limited pier restaurant, pier-operation, and beach-amenity contracts may be awarded by a four-fifths Commission vote instead.

YES VOTE

Allow City-owned property transactions over $750,000 to be streamlined through the City Commission approval process instead of requiring a citywide vote. A yes vote does not approve a specific property transaction or project.

NO VOTE

Keep the current voter-approval requirement and its existing exceptions.

VIEW AMENDMENT E ›

Review the proposed changes in the amendment PDF. Opens in a new window. 

Amendment F   |   Charter Review Board Every Ten Years

Ballot Question: 
Shall the Charter be amended to require a Charter Review Board to be appointed by the City Commission in May 2035 and every ten years thereafter, with the Charter Review Board consisting of five regular voting members and five alternate members appointed by the City Commission to review the Charter and make non-binding recommendations to the Commission regarding amendments to the Charter?

Current Provision: 
The Charter does not require recurring review. The 2025–2026 Charter Review Board was established by ordinance for this particular review.

YES VOTE

Set a regular Charter review beginning in 2035 and every ten years after, with five resident voting members and five alternates. The City Commission would decide which proposed Charter changes go on the ballot and Deerfield Beach residents would vote on them.

NO VOTE

Keep the Charter without a required ten-year review schedule. Future reviews could still occur through another authorized process.

VIEW AMENDMENT F ›

Review the proposed changes in the amendment PDF. Opens in a new window. 

Amendment G   |   Beach Area Development Regulations

Ballot Question: 
Charter Section 11.01 restricts development east of the Intracoastal Waterway, including height limits of 45 feet for commercial and 55 feet for multifamily zoned properties, floor area ratio and lot coverage limits for such properties, mixed use and accessory use restrictions, and restrictions prohibiting rezoning to commercial.  Shall the Charter be amended to remove only the floor area ratio regulations and the restrictions on mixed and accessory uses from the Charter?

Current Provision: 
Charter §11.01 fixes detailed restrictions back to May 2002 zoning and land development regulations: height caps (45 and 55 feet), floor area ratios of 1.0 commercial and .80 multifamily, lot-coverage limits, mixed- and accessory-use restrictions, and a bar on rezoning to commercial. The Commission may adopt stricter rules but cannot amend the Charter regulations without voter approval.

YES VOTE

The Charter’s 45 foot commercial and 55 foot multifamily height limits and specified rezoning restriction would not be affected.

Charter regulations on floor-area ratio and mixed and accessory uses for property east of the Intracoastal would be removed. Floor area ratio, and mixed and accessory uses would be governed by applicable Land Development Code regulations.

NO VOTE

Keep all current Charter Section 11.01 restrictions.

VIEW AMENDMENT G ›

Review the proposed changes in the amendment PDF. Opens in a new window. 

Amendment H   |   Main Beach Parking Area Restrictions

Ballot Question: 
Charter Section 11.02 restricts development on the City’s main beach parking areas, including limiting permitted uses, restricting garage and parking space size, lot coverage, floor area ratio, and setbacks. Shall this Section be amended to remove the minimum parking space size requirements, the restriction on commercial use exceeding fifteen days annually, and the prohibition on use of this parking to satisfy other properties’ parking requirements?

Current Provision: 
The covered parcels are limited primarily to parking and roadway purposes, public-safety, restroom, and subordinate public uses. The Charter caps a garage at two above-ground levels, sets a 1.0 floor area ratio, 50-percent lot coverage, and listed setbacks. Spaces must be at least 10 by 20 feet, significant commercial use is capped at 15 days a year, and the parking spaces cannot count toward another property’s parking requirement.

YES VOTE

Remove three Charter regulations for City-owned main beach parking parcels: the minimum 10-by-20-foot space size, the 15-day annual limit on significant commercial use (ex. City-approved special events), and the ban on counting the public parking spaces toward another property’s parking requirement.

NO VOTE

Keep the current Charter Section 11.02 restrictions.

VIEW AMENDMENT H ›

Review the proposed changes in the amendment PDF. Opens in a new window. 

Amendment I   |   Vote Required For Future Police Or Fire Service Provider Changes

Ballot Question: 
Shall the Charter be amended to require that any future action by the City Commission to transition, transfer, contract out, consolidate, or otherwise assign, police or fire services from the existing provider to another governmental entity or agency, special district, or sheriff’s office, be approved by an affirmative vote of at least four-fifths (4/5) of the City Commission?

Current Provision: 
The Charter does not include a supermajority vote requirement for a change in the City’s police or fire services provider, which can be done by a simple majority vote of the Commission. The Commission approved the current transition from BSO toward City police and fire-rescue departments by a four-fifths (4/5) vote, and implementation is underway.

YES VOTE

Require an affirmative vote of four of the five City Commissioners to approve any future change in the City’s police or fire services provider.

NO VOTE

Keep the current majority vote requirement for future police or fire services provider decisions.

VIEW AMENDMENT I ›

Review the proposed changes in the amendment PDF. Opens in a new window. 

Voting Info

The nine proposed Charter amendments will appear on the November 3, 2026, ballot. Find key information below about when, where, and how to vote, along with resources from the Broward County Supervisor of Elections.

  • Election Day
    Tuesday, November 3, 2026
    7:00 AM – 7:00 PM (if you are in line before 7 PM you must be allowed to vote)
  • Early Voting
    October 19 – November 1, 2026
    7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
  • Vote-By-Mail
    Vote-by-Mail ballots must be received by 7 PM on Election Day. Ballots may be returned by mail or in person at Supervisor of Elections offices and designated ballot return locations.
  • Polling Location & Voter Status
    Use the City’s interactive map to view voting district information and access Broward County Supervisor of Elections resources for polling locations and voter status.

FAQ’S

Find quick answers to common questions about the proposed Charter amendments and the voting process.

Glossary

Please note that these are not definitions taken from the Land Development Code.

  • City Charter: Deerfield Beach’s foundational local governing document.
  • Most Current Text: The most current official available language, from the August 4, 2026 second-reading packet.
  • Charter Amendment: A voter-proposed change to a specific Charter rule.
  • Conforming Change: A technical edit needed so approved sections work together.
  • Corporate Limits: Official City boundaries.
  • Continuous Residency: Living in the City or district for the full stated period without breaking residency.
  • Election Transition: The one-time schedule used to move from March odd-year elections to November even-year elections.
  • Term Extension: An approximately 20-month one-time extension for each current officeholder.
  • Fair Market Value: The property’s market value under the applicable valuation standard.
  • Floor Area Ratio / FAR: Total building floor area compared with lot area; it affects building bulk, not just height.
  • Lot Coverage: The share of a lot covered by the building footprint.
  • Mixed Use: More than one use, such as residential and commercial, within a property or project.
  • Accessory Use: A secondary use that supports the main use.
  • Parking Credit: Counting spaces on one property toward another property’s required parking.
  • Four-fifths Vote: At least four of the five Commissioners.
  • Prospective: Applies to future actions, not the transition already approved.

Official Charter Documents

OFFICIAL
ORDINANCE

Official scanned copy of the ordinance.

 View Ordinance 

PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENTS

Proposed language showing additions and deletions.

 View Changes 

CURRENT CITY
CHARTER

Charter currently in effect through Municode.

 View Charter 

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