Alachua County, FL Ordinances (2026)

Alachua County requires owners and tenants of commercial property to source-separate designated recyclables from solid waste and keep contamination under 25 percent, while…

Unincorporated Alachua County residents may not set solid waste or recycling containers at the curb before 5 p.m. the day before collection, and must pull them back at least 15 feet…

Residential owners in Alachua County's universal collection area must use only the contractor-provided receptacle, sized to hold normally generated waste, and must secure it so nothing…

Alachua County Code § 75.201(d) bans throwing, placing, or depositing any solid waste onto rights-of-way, streets, alleys, waters, sinkholes, vacant lots, or another person's property…

Unincorporated Alachua County bars mixing yard trash, grass clippings, tree and shrub trimmings, palm fronds, and stumps, into containers or locations meant for regular solid waste…

Alachua County's licensed haulers may only collect residential and commercial solid waste between 7:00 a.m. and sunset, with no collection on Sundays or holidays absent an emergency…

Multi-family developments over ten units, and all commercial, mixed-use, and industrial developments in unincorporated Alachua County must provide garbage and recycling dumpsters that…

Alachua County Code § 75.302 requires every commercial property owner and tenant in the unincorporated county to source-separate recyclable material from solid waste and recycle it…

Unincorporated Alachua County residents in the universal collection area may set bulk items like furniture and appliances at the curb no earlier than 24 hours before pickup, separated…

Alachua County parks close to the public on hours the Parks and Open Spaces Department sets and posts, and § 76.4(a) makes it unlawful to be or remain in a park after closing without…

Alachua County lets residents keep a serviceable recreational vehicle in the side or rear yard, two feet off the lot line, or in the front yard if no other space exists, under Sec…

Alachua County Code § 74.20(b) makes it unlawful to keep or store an unserviceable vehicle on any land in unincorporated Alachua County unless it sits inside a completely enclosed…

Alachua County Code § 51.33 prohibits parking within five feet of a driveway, within 15 feet of a fire hydrant, within 20 feet of a crosswalk, double-parking beside a vehicle already…

Unincorporated Alachua County allows serviceable trucks, RVs, and trailers as an accessory residential use, but ULDC Section 404.82.5 bars semi-trucks, semi-trailers, box trucks, panel…

Alachua County lets residents on unincorporated land keep poultry as an accessory use to a single-family home, no separate poultry permit required, but flock size is capped by acreage…

Alachua County bans feeding or petting wild animals anywhere on county park property under Park Rules § 76.3(3). The same section bars capturing, collecting, harming, or harassing any…

Alachua County has no breed-specific dog rules; instead it classifies individual dogs as "dangerous" or "aggressive" based on documented incidents, then requires 14-day compliance with…

Every dog or cat adopted from Alachua County animal resources must be sterilized before release under Alachua County Code § 72.30(b)(2); if health prevents sterilization at adoption…

Alachua County Code § 72.24.5 requires every dog and cat four months or older that is sold, transferred, exchanged, adopted, or returned to its owner from the county animal shelter to…

Alachua County Code § 72.25 makes sterilize-ear tip-vaccinate-return the county's preferred response to outdoor community cats, exempting compliant cats from licensing and at-large…

Alachua County has no ordinance banning retail dog or cat sales; instead, § 72.44 requires any breeder, hobby or commercial, to hold a county breeder permit before breeding or offering…

Alachua County allows a veterinary clinic or hospital as a limited use in eleven zoning districts, from A-RB and AP through BR, BH, BA, BW, MS, and MP, and by special exception in the…

Alachua County requires owners to keep physical control of a dog anytime it's off the owner's property, it may not run at large on streets, sidewalks, schools or parks, with narrow…

Alachua County operates a state-authorized sterile needle exchange under Fla. Stat. §381.0038: an approved health entity swaps one clean needle per used one, must secure exchange sites…

Alachua County Code § 51.395 caps what a towing company may charge for nonconsensual tows and storage originating in unincorporated Alachua County, setting maximum base rates, mileage…

Alachua County treats a home-based vehicle-repair operation as two rules colliding: home-based businesses may only park and store commercial vehicles, heavy equipment, and trailers…

Alachua County requires anyone buying, selling or dealing in secondhand jewelry, precious metals, coins or similar goods, including pawnshops, to register with the county sheriff, log…

Alachua County confines sexually oriented businesses, cabarets, theaters, sex shops, and media stores, to the BH, BA, and BA-1 zoning districts as a limited use. Sec. 404.67 imposes…

Alachua County allows a massage therapist or massage establishment as a limited use in the AP, BP, BR, BR-1, BH, BA, BA-1, and BW districts, but County Code § 404.47 layers a local…

Alachua County Code § 403.07(b) caps every structure in the county's single-family residential zoning districts at thirty-five feet. The limit applies uniformly across RE, RE-1, R-1aa…

Alachua County Code § 403.07 and Table 403.07.2 set minimum building setbacks for every single-family residential district (RE, RE-1, R-1aa, R-1a, R-1b, R-1c). Lots under one acre need…

Within the Eastside Activity Center overlay near Gainesville, ULDC Section 405.42(f) grants a density bonus of one dwelling unit per 500 square feet of indoor public civic space (or…

Alachua County caps how far outdoor light fixtures can aim upward or outward: § 407.146(d) bans any fixture oriented so that light is emitted at more than 85 degrees from nadir…

Alachua County's outdoor lighting article bans any lamp or bulb visible beyond the property line it sits on, and caps how much light a development's fixtures may throw onto a neighbor…

Holiday and other seasonal light displays are exempt from Alachua County's outdoor lighting article entirely: no photometric plan, shielding, or footcandle limit applies to seasonal…

Alachua County bans electronic message centers on freestanding signs along the Interstate 75 corridor entirely. Elsewhere, a permanent freestanding sign's electronic display is capped…

Unincorporated Alachua County treats a food truck as a limited zoning use under Sec. 404.69.1. Every state and county license the operator holds must be displayed conspicuously on the…

Alachua County limits mobile food vending to specified commercial, industrial, TND/TOD, and Mixed-Use zoning districts. Sec. 404.69.1(e) bans a mobile food unit from setting up within…

Alachua County does not cap retaining wall height or require a general permit in its land development code. Section 407.08 simply says walls cannot be blocked, provided they don't…

Alachua County caps residential fences and walls at six feet in unincorporated areas, rising to eight feet for subdivision boundary fences or lots over one acre, under Alachua County…

Peddlers, canvassers and solicitors in unincorporated Alachua County must stop door-to-door activity in residential areas by 7:00 p.m. or sundown, whichever is earlier, and can't…

Using or reserving a facility, pavilion, or program area inside an unincorporated Alachua County park requires special authorization from the Parks and Open Spaces Department. Chapter…

Filming a commercial production on unincorporated Alachua County property requires a temporary filming permit from the Growth Management Director at least 15 calendar days before the…

A block party that closes a street or right-of-way in unincorporated Alachua County needs a Tier A temporary use permit from the Growth Management Department. Section 402.149(a)(4)…

A street fair, farmers market, craft fair, or carnival on private property in unincorporated Alachua County needs a Tier A temporary use permit under Section 402.149(a)(1) and (a)(3)…

A film production in unincorporated Alachua County must keep on-set sound within the county's general noise ordinance. Section 402.153(d)(5) requires filming permits to comply with the…

Commercial filming on property in unincorporated Alachua County needs a temporary filming permit from the Growth Management Department before it starts. Section 402.153(a) requires the…

Student and faculty filming done exclusively for educational purposes is exempt from Alachua County's temporary filming permit under Section 402.153(a)(1)d: as long as the shoot…

A film shoot that closes a public street, right-of-way, or sidewalk in unincorporated Alachua County loses its exemption from the temporary filming permit and must secure…

Bars, nightclubs and other commercial venues in unincorporated Alachua County may not play music, use sound amplifiers or run PA systems so loudly that the sound is plainly audible 50…

Air conditioners, compressors, power fans, blowers and other fixed mechanical equipment can't run in unincorporated Alachua County if they cause excessive, unnecessary noise beyond…

During a declared disaster, the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners can order collection of hazardous debris from public and private land, enter private property with owner…

Alachua County prohibits development in a flood hazard area without a floodplain development permit and building permit. New residential structures near an established flood hazard…

Alachua County's Building Code requires impact protection on qualifying new or renovated single-family homes in the wind borne debris region. Under County Code § 331.03, adopting…

Alachua County Code § 400.04(d) exempts ongoing agriculture and silviculture operations from any Unified Land Development Code provision adopted after July 1, 2003, so long as the…

Alachua County levies a 5% tourist development tax, stacked as 2%, 1%, 1% and 1% increments, on rentals of six months or less in any hotel, motel, apartment hotel, roominghouse…

Alachua County allows medical marijuana dispensaries only as a limited use in the BR, BR-1, BH, BA, BA-1, and HM zoning districts, and County Code § 404.45(a) requires every dispensary…

Alachua County confines medical marijuana dispensaries to six commercial and health/medical zoning districts, BR, BR-1, BH, BA, BA-1 and HM, as a limited use under County Code §…

A home-based business in unincorporated Alachua County must follow the county's general sign chapter rather than a separate home-business sign rule: § 404.62(d) sends every home-based…

Alachua County treats a family child care home as a limited use permitted by right in eleven residential and mixed districts, from Agriculture through R-3 and RP, once it satisfies…

Alachua County allows a home-based business as an accessory use to any legal residential dwelling, urban or rural, without a public hearing: County Code § 401.20(b)(7) lets the Growth…

Alachua County requires a sequence of building-official inspections before permitted work can be occupied, under County Code § 331.03 (Florida Building Code § 110.3). Foundation…

Alachua County requires carbon monoxide alarms in dwelling units where applicable, under County Code § 332.01(b)(4), part of its locally amended Housing and Maintenance Code. Failing…

Alachua County requires a building permit before anyone builds, enlarges, alters, repairs, moves, demolishes, or changes the occupancy of a building or structure in the unincorporated…

In Alachua County's Traditional Neighborhood and Transit Oriented Developments, a restaurant, pharmacy, dry cleaner, car wash, service station, fuel-sales business, or bank that adds a…

Alachua County Code § 77.09 bans dry-weather discharges of specific wastewater types, car-wash and pressure-washing runoff, chlorinated pool water, dumpster leachate, and…

Docks on unincorporated Alachua County waterfront are a limited use under ULDC Section 404.108, capped at 600 square feet through pre-application screening (900 with Development Review…

Any construction project subject to Alachua County's development review must submit an erosion and sedimentation control plan prepared by a certified specialist, professional engineer…

Alachua County requires the lowest floor of any residential structure on an existing lot of record in a flood hazard area to sit at least one foot above the base flood elevation, under…

Any development inside a mapped flood hazard area in unincorporated Alachua County needs a floodplain development permit before work starts, under Alachua County Code § 406.56. New…

Alachua County bans radios, stereos, sound amplifiers and musical instruments that are plainly audible 50 feet or more beyond the source property line, and separately caps ambient…

Alachua County bars outdoor use of power tools and portable mechanical equipment, including power saws, sanders, drills, grinders and lawn or garden tools such as leaf blowers, in…

Alachua County bans sounding a vehicle horn for more than 60 seconds except as an emergency warning, and separately bars operating any motor vehicle without a muffler at least as…

Alachua County's ULDC Section 405.29 bans new residential structures, schools, and outdoor music venues within the 65 DNL noise contour of Gainesville Regional Airport, and requires 25…

Alachua County lowers its ambient noise ceiling every night from 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.: residential property lines drop from 60 to 55 dBA, commercial from 65 to 60 dBA, while…

Construction, demolition, excavation, grading, pile driving and similar equipment may not run between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in unincorporated Alachua County unless the work is a true…

Alachua County sets frequency-based decibel ceilings at the property line for uses in industrial districts, measured with a sound level meter and octave band analyzer. Limits run from…

Alachua County treats a dog as a noise violation if it barks, bays, cries or howls continuously for ten minutes, or intermittently for a half-hour or more to the disturbance of others…

Alachua County Code § 51.33 makes it unlawful to stop, stand, or park a vehicle on a sidewalk, bike path, or bike lane, or in the strip between the street curb and the sidewalk…

Alachua County lets owners in non-residential, mixed-use, TND, and TOD districts extend marquees, canopies, and awnings over a sidewalk and into the county right-of-way, but only after…

Alachua County's Local Public Lands Historic Preservation Ordinance bans vandalizing, excavating, removing or defacing any historic monument, artifact or archaeological resource on…

Alachua County exempts reclaimed and recycled irrigation water from the day-of-week and time-of-day lawn watering schedule in § 77.49. Under § 77.50(g)-(h), irrigation using a…

Alachua County Code § 77.63 requires irrigation system owners to catch and fix leaks themselves rather than report them to the county: the property owner must have the system inspected…

Alachua County's fire chief can activate a countywide burn ban whenever the Keetch-Byram Drought Index reaches 500, banning campfires, bonfires, trash burning, and other open fires…

Alachua County bans virtually all open fires, including backyard campfires and bonfires, once the Fire Chief activates an emergency burn ban triggered by drought conditions. During an…

Discharging fireworks in unincorporated Alachua County requires a special permit from the County Manager under the Fireworks Display Special Permitting Ordinance. Applicants must show…

Alachua County's ULDC defines a heritage tree as any native species 20 inches dbh or larger (30 inches for laurel or water oaks) under Section 406.11, and Section 406.14 puts heritage…

Alachua County singles out specimen trees, species the county rates as notable for age, size, condition, historic habitat value or rarity, for case-by-case protection on unincorporated…

New development in unincorporated Alachua County must plant street trees along both sides of streets and roads and in medians, spaced by a canopy-diameter formula, with trees placed…

Alachua County allows rooftop photovoltaic solar systems on conforming and legally nonconforming buildings in every unincorporated zoning district. Panels on flat roofs cannot rise…

New landscaping on development sites in unincorporated Alachua County must be at least 75 percent native species across trees, shrubs, and groundcovers. Up to 10 percent of that…

Alachua County limits landscape irrigation to fixed days and hours under Code § 77.49. During Daylight Saving Time, odd-address homes water Wednesday and Saturday, even-address homes…

Alachua County requires a tree removal permit before any regulated tree, native species eight inches or larger in diameter, comes down on unincorporated land, under Alachua County Code…

Alachua County Code § 74.36 caps 'nuisance overgrowth', weeds, grasses, shrubs, and underbrush left to grow uncontrolled, at 18 inches from the soil on any improved property in…

Alachua County Code § 74.29 bans creating, keeping, or allowing a 'hazardous land' or 'dangerous structure' on real property in unincorporated Alachua County. Under § 74.32, the Office…

Unincorporated Alachua County bans letting junk or an unserviceable vehicle accumulate on any land, including vacant lots. Codes Enforcement and law enforcement officers cite owners…

Alachua County bans planting any species on its Prohibited Non-Native Vegetation List, plus state-listed prohibited aquatic plants and noxious weeds, anywhere in the unincorporated…

Alachua County enforces the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code as its housing and maintenance code for structures and premises under County Code § 332.01, with local…

Alachua County bars carrying an open alcoholic beverage on public streets, sidewalks and public or semi-public parking lots in the unincorporated area, with narrow carve-outs for…

Alachua County lets law enforcement issue a civil citation instead of an arrest for adults found with 20 grams or less of cannabis anywhere in the unincorporated county, provided they…

A residential or public swimming pool built in unincorporated Alachua County must comply with Chapter 424 of the Florida Building Code, per County Code § 334.02, and is subject to the…

Alachua County follows the Florida Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act (F.S. Ch. 515) and the Florida Building Code. Per F.S. 515.27, new residential pools must meet at least one of…

A single storage shed built for a legal residential use in unincorporated Alachua County doesn't need a building permit if it's 150 square feet or smaller and sits within the zoning…

Alachua County permits one accessory dwelling unit (ADU) per principal residence in zoning districts A, RE, RE-1, R-1aa, R-1a, R-1b, and R-1c without counting toward gross residential…