Sanford, FL Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

"Impervious surface" is defined as any hard surface or structure, such as a roof, driveway, sidewalk, patio or pool, made of concrete, pavers, asphalt or similar material that keeps rainwater from soaking into the ground; the city ties the cap to flooding, drainage and water-quality concerns from polluted runoff. Every application must include an ISR calculation, using impervious square footage divided by entire lot square footage, and the regulations give a worked example of 4,000 square feet of impervious area on a 10,000-square-foot lot equaling a 40 percent ISR.

If a proposed project would push a lot above its 50 or 60 percent cap, the property owner has two options under the Schedule: remove an equal amount of existing impervious surface, such as excess patio or pool decking, or swap one impervious feature for another of the same size, such as removing an old shed to add a new patio. A property owner may also apply for a variance to exceed the cap, but the application must include a plan addressing the increased stormwater runoff the project would cause.

Any pervious pavement or non-compacted surface material only counts as pervious if it is continually kept free of clay or fine particles that would otherwise block water from percolating through it, and projects remain subject to other city, state and agency standards such as setbacks and wetland buffers.