Capitola, FL

Leon County allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot in every zoning district under Sec. 10-6.803(b), capped at 800 square feet when attached to a single-family home or 1,000 square…

Leon County's land development code caps the size of sheds and other accessory structures by zoning district under Sec. 10-6.802 and requires a rear-yard setback of at least 7½ feet…

In unincorporated Leon County, any tree of 18 inches DBH or greater is a protected tree and cannot be cut down without an approved permit or exemption from the County Administrator's…

Weeds, grasses, shrubs, bushes and underbrush cannot exceed 18 inches on improved or unimproved residentially-zoned lots in unincorporated Leon County, under Sec. 14-41. Growth over…

Trees and landscaping inside a Leon County sight triangle must be trimmed so drivers get an unobstructed view between two and ten feet above the road centerline. A tree can overhang…

Any unincorporated Leon County use that receives or ships materials by motor vehicle must provide dedicated off-street loading berths sized to Schedule 6-6, not shared with required…

Leon County's only local on-street parking ordinance covers angle parking: where signs or pavement markings mark angled spaces on a county road, drivers must park inside the marked…

In Leon County's OR-1 Office Residential zoning district, off-street parking tied to any permitted non-residential use may not sit in the front yard between a building and the street…

Leon County requires electric vehicle charging infrastructure on new development under Sec. 10-7.545.1. Multi-family and non-residential sites with 25 or more required parking spaces…

In unincorporated Leon County, a junked or abandoned motor vehicle cannot sit on private property for more than 15 days under Sec. 14-31(a) of the Code of Laws. Seven conditions in…

Tiny houses built in unincorporated Leon County get their own smoke alarm placement rule. Sec. 5-2.10(f) adds a local subsection, R314.3.2, to the Florida Building Code - Residential…

From 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. on weekdays (10:00 a.m. on weekends and holidays), Leon County bars loud loudspeakers and public address systems near residential areas, and bars yelling…

Leon County bans unmuffled compression or exhaust engine brakes on Highway 27 North from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., with a $500 civil fine per violation.

Outdoor concerts need a temporary use permit, and at designated activity centers amplified events can run until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Leon County limits construction, demolition and street-excavation noise to 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays, and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays, under Sec…

Leon County treats a pet's unreasonably loud and raucous barking or noise as a per se noise violation under Sec. 12-56(8), enforceable against whoever owns, controls or cares for the…

Leon County bars unreasonably loud noise from commercial premises that carries onto neighboring residential property between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Leon County bans loud gas blowers, power fans and similar internal combustion engines in residential and noise-sensitive areas between 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. under Sec. 12-56(12), but…

Leon County's land development code, Sec. 10-6.811, regulates day care centers and employer-based day care services but says plainly it does not apply to family day care homes. The…

Leon County lets residents run a home occupation in any district that allows residential use, under Sec. 10-6.803(c), but caps it at one outside employee, one-third of the home's…

Leon County bars any sign or visible evidence of a home occupation under Sec. 10-6.803(c)(5): no merchandise display, no exterior sign, and even advertising on a business vehicle must…

Leon County makes it unlawful for any dog or cat to run loose on a street, park or other public place, or to be on someone else's private property without consent, even under an…

Leon County has no breed ban; instead it classifies individual animals as dangerous by behavior, not breed, after a petition and hearing. A classified animal must be permanently…

Leon County bans keeping any potential rabies-carrier wild animal as a personal pet. A narrow grandfather clause lets owners who already had one before June 1, 1988 keep it under a…

Leon County's urban-agriculture code allows honeybee colonies on community gardens and urban farms under Sec. 10-6.816(e)(4)b and (f)(4)b, but folds the actual standards into state…

Leon County doesn't require every pet owner to spay or neuter, but it forces the issue at two points: any animal impounded a second time must be neutered before its owner can reclaim…

Leon County bans retail pet stores from selling or offering to sell dogs, cats or rabbits, a puppy-mill ordinance meant to push buyers toward breeders, shelters and rescues instead…

Leon County discourages and fines residents who feed feral cats and dogs in the unincorporated county. Feeding is allowed only for a spayed or neutered feral animal, and only on…

Leon County allows up to ten hens or ducks per home under Sec. 10-6.816(d)(1), kept in a rear-yard pen or coop for personal egg use only. Roosters are banned outright in home gardens…

Leon County sets no blanket pet cap, but after two convictions for at-large, tethering, or rabies violations, owners must get a multiple-pet permit once totals exceed acreage-tiered…

Along Leon County's protected canopy roads, you can't just repair or maintain an existing fence: the Land Development Code requires an environmental management permit application…

At intersecting streets in unincorporated Leon County, nothing between three and ten feet above street grade may block the sight line across the corner. Fences and walls inside that…

Any retaining wall higher than two feet built as part of a permitted development in unincorporated Leon County must be designed and certified by a registered professional engineer. The…

Leon County requires every pool and spa to sit behind a 48-inch barrier with self-closing, self-latching gates before it can hold water.

Leon County exempts no pool by size or type: above-ground and portable pools need the same 48-inch safety barrier as in-ground pools before use.

Leon County bans illicit discharges and illicit connections into its storm sewer system under Sec. 10-13.107, enforcing the county's federal NPDES permit. Violators face code…

No clearing, grading, cutting, or filling can start in unincorporated Leon County until erosion and sediment control devices, like silt fences or temporary sediment basins, are…

Leon County requires buildings in flood hazard areas to meet ASCE 24 elevation standards or the county's flood protection elevation, whichever sets the floor higher.

Leon County requires a floodplain development permit before any construction, fill, grading or manufactured home placement begins in a mapped flood hazard area. Article VIII of the…

Leon County classifies a food truck as a 'mobile food service operation' under Sec. 10-6.817 only if it is self-contained, untethered to utilities, and moved off any single site within…

Leon County only lets a food truck skip full site-plan review if it clears eight strict tests under the land development code, and one of them is an outright ban on the right-of-way…

Leon County only recognizes a food truck as a compliant mobile food service operation if it sets up in a zoning district that already allows a restaurant, retail food-service use, or…

Leon County makes it unlawful to loiter in or about a game room in the unincorporated county in a way that blocks pedestrian or vehicle passage or interferes with anyone lawfully…

Leon County bans drinking or carrying an open container of beer, wine or liquor within 1,000 feet of any licensed bar, package store or bottle club, unless you are inside a closed…

Leon County outlaws possessing or using marijuana or any other controlled substance in county-controlled parks, with no exception for personal or medical use without county…

Leon County bans party noise that unreasonably disturbs neighbors, with tighter limits on stereos, music, and yelling at night.

Leon County requires anyone buying or selling secondhand precious metals or copper in the unincorporated area to keep a transaction register approved by the sheriff, verify each…

Leon County bans nude and semi-nude entertainment in any commercial establishment where alcoholic beverages are sold, dispensed or even available, under Sec. 11-24. A conviction can…

Leon County requires all trespass and nonconsensual towing-storage businesses to hold a sheriff-issued operating license, pass background checks and inspections, and follow strict…

Leon County's Rural Zoning District exists to protect agriculture, silviculture, and the county's pastoral character, and its own zoning code repeats the state's shield for farmers: a…

Leon County's own Rural Zoning District rules state that a bona fide farm operation is exempt from local regulation on land classified agricultural, mirroring Florida's Right to Farm…

Leon County levies a 5 percent tourist development tax on every rental of six months or less at hotels, motels, resort motels, apartments, roominghouses, mobile home parks, RV parks…

In unincorporated Leon County's R-1 Single-Family Detached Residential District, the Land Development Code fixes a 25-foot front setback and a 25-foot rear setback, with interior side…

In Leon County's R-1 Single-Family Detached Residential District, covering unincorporated Bradfordville, Suburban and Woodville areas, the Land Development Code caps every building…

In Leon County's Urban Fringe Zoning District, most noncluster development is capped at 30 percent impervious surface area, while cluster low-density residential and cluster commercial…

When a new residential development needs Type A, B, C, or D site plan review and Leon County Schools anticipates a bus stop there, the developer must install a streetlight built with…

Rural commercial and restricted uses in Leon County's Rural Zoning District must wall-mount outdoor lighting, follow Dark Sky Friendly guidelines, and use recessed bulbs and filters…

Medical marijuana dispensing, cultivating, and processing facilities must sit at least 500 feet from any existing public or private school, measured property line to property line…

Leon County treats a medical marijuana dispensing facility as a permissible use in any zoning district that already allows a drug store or general retail commercial use. Before…

Leon County adopts NFPA 70, the National Electrical Code, for all electrical work and requires a permit before any electrical system is installed, altered, or replaced.

Leon County requires a building permit before you construct, alter, move, or demolish any building or structure, or touch its electrical, gas, mechanical, or plumbing systems.

Every solar installation in unincorporated Leon County needs a building permit priced off the standard Development Support and Environmental Management fee schedule, with no surcharge…

Leon County designates the live oak as its official shade tree, the dogwood as its official flowering tree, and the longleaf pine as its official native tree, and gives those species…

Leon County requires every improved property owner or occupant to deliver solid waste to the county's disposal system on the schedule the county sets, making use of the collection…

Dumping, leaving or burying solid waste on public or private property without the owner's written consent is a criminal offense in unincorporated Leon County under Sec. 18-176. Letting…

Leon County adopts the ICC Property Maintenance Code setting minimum habitability standards for light, heat, sanitation, and repair of existing residential structures.

Leon County caps digital billboards at six countywide under Sec. 10-9.609, and a company can hold no more than two-thirds of that total. A new one requires permanently removing four…

Leon County exempts window signs from its sign permit requirement, but caps them at 25 percent of the window or spandrel glass area under Sec. 10-9.202(13) and Sec. 10-9.401(o)(2)g. Go…

A dilapidated structure, one showing structural defects from disrepair or decay that threaten public health, safety or welfare, is a prohibited public nuisance in unincorporated Leon…

Leon County has no data-center-specific noise code, but its general noise ordinance caps commercial equipment noise reaching nearby residential property.

County parks and picnic shelters run first-come, first-served, but the parks and grounds supervisor may assign or reserve a facility for a specific group under Sec. 13-89, and the…

Every Leon County park is open daily from a half-hour before sunrise to a half-hour after sunset, and Sec. 13-66 bars anyone from being in a park after dark unless boating, fishing…

Leon County lets a property owner bar solicitors outright by posting a sign reading 'NO SOLICITING' that cites Sec. 12-82; soliciting on posted private property without the owner's…

Leon County requires anyone irrigating turf with reclaimed wastewater to follow an approved nutrient management plan under Sec. 10-14.105(f). The plan must document application…

Leon County requires a building permit before you install, replace, or remove impact-resistant window or door coverings on any structure.

Leon County requires storm debris to be sorted by type and stacked at the road's edge for county pickup, with strict placement limits.