Escambia County, FL Ordinances (2026)

Escambia County allows live chickens as a permitted accessory use at single-family homes countywide under the Land Development Code (Art. 6), not just on agricultural lots. Larger…

Escambia County bans animals from roaming at large on any public or private property without the owner's consent, per Code Sec. 10-11(a). Off the owner's own premises, every animal…

Escambia County does not require every pet to be sterilized, but Code Sec. 10-29 forces it on repeat offenders. Anyone found guilty, regardless of adjudication, more than twice in…

A pet-grooming business is zoned as a 'personal service' in Escambia County, not as a kennel or agricultural use. Sec. 3-2.6(b)(3)b lists pet groomers as a permitted small-scale retail…

Escambia County requires microchips in two situations, not for pets generally. Under Code Sec. 10-13(b)(5), every animal redeemed from the county shelter must be microchipped before…

Escambia County lets residents feed and manage community cats outdoors, but Code Sec. 10-26 limits general feeding to daylight hours (or a 30-minute window after dark), sanitary…

Escambia County cannot ban or restrict registered honeybee colonies. Florida Statute 586.10 preempts beekeeping regulation to the state; keepers register with the Department of…

Florida law bars Escambia County from regulating dogs by breed: F.S. Sec. 767.14 says no local ordinance addressing dangerous dogs may be 'specific to breed, weight, or size.' Instead…

Feeding wild animals is restricted statewide by Florida FWC rules. It is illegal to intentionally feed bears, alligators, crocodiles, and several other species; violations escalate…

Escambia County has no separate 'hoarding' ordinance, but keeping animals without adequate food, water, air, and shelter is unlawful animal cruelty under Code § 10-16, which adopts…

Escambia County Code defines 'wild animal' broadly and excludes ordinary domestic pets. Keeping true exotic or wild species is governed statewide by Florida FWC captive-wildlife…

A veterinary clinic in unincorporated Escambia County needs the right zoning district and, if it boards animals, at least two acres. Sec. 3-2.2(b)(7)j permits veterinary clinics with…

Escambia County has designated the entire county-jurisdiction portion of Santa Rosa Island a native bird sanctuary under Code Sec. 10-52. Section 10-54 makes it unlawful to harass…

Escambia County does not ban retail pet stores from selling dogs and cats, but Code Sec. 10-12 requires any store, dealer, rescue or private seller to vaccinate a dog or cat before it…

Consumer fireworks are legal in Escambia County only on three designated holidays under Florida law: New Year's Eve (Dec 31), New Year's Day (Jan 1), and Independence Day (July 4)…

Florida Statute 553.883 governs smoke alarms in Escambia County homes. Homes and townhomes undergoing a repair or Level 1 alteration may use 10-year sealed-battery smoke alarms instead…

Escambia County allows burning of dry yard debris only, between 8 a.m. and one hour before sunset, in a pile no larger than 8 feet across, with strict setbacks from structures and…

Escambia County has no separate tiny-home ordinance. A tiny house on a permanent foundation is a dwelling under the Florida Building Code; as a second unit it must meet the ADU…

In unincorporated Escambia County, sheds and other accessory structures are limited to side and rear yards and are capped by size relative to the main house: on lots under two acres…

Escambia County has no standalone garage-conversion ordinance. Turning a garage into a second living unit is treated as an accessory dwelling unit under LDC 4-7.3(b)(1), which requires…

Escambia County's Land Development Code allows accessory dwelling units on single-family lots in most mainland zoning districts, so long as the principal home and the ADU are the only…

Florida law lets you post campaign signs on your own property, but candidates must remove their signs within 30 days of the election under Fla. Stat. 106.1435. Signs may not be placed…

Escambia County's sign code limits how much of a storefront window can be covered by advertising: window signs cannot obscure more than 30 percent of the window area they're placed in…

Escambia County allows tri-changing signs and electronic message centers, the code's terms for digital billboards and changeable-message displays, as long as they meet the sign…

On Pensacola Beach, any light directly or indirectly visible from the marine beach must use wildlife-friendly lighting under Escambia County's Barrier Island Lighting Ordinance. Bulbs…

On Perdido Key south of Semmes Road, all exterior lighting must be wildlife-friendly and no light may be visible outside the property's development footprint. Elsewhere in the county…

Escambia County caps how bright any illuminated sign, billboards included, can be after dark: no sign may exceed 500 candelas per square meter of luminance from dusk until dawn, and…

Backyard smokers are allowed and are expressly exempt from Escambia County's open-burning rules, even during a burn ban. But like grills, under the Florida Fire Prevention Code (NFPA…

Backyard grilling is allowed and is exempt from Escambia County's open-burning rules. But under the Florida Fire Prevention Code (NFPA 1), charcoal and propane grills cannot be used on…

In unincorporated Escambia County, accumulated garbage, inoperable vehicles, and rat- or mosquito-harboring conditions are prohibited nuisances. Owners become liable once a condition…

Escambia County code enforcement treats an unauthorized accumulation of litter on a vacant lot the same as one on an occupied lot. Section 42-157(e) covers unincorporated-area parcels…

County parks close overnight under Code § 74-37: facilities wired for nighttime use shut at 11:00 p.m. and reopen at 5:00 a.m., while parks without night lighting close from sunset to…

Escambia County collects bulky waste for residents in the county's mandatory collection area, but you can also haul your own couch, appliance or brush pile to a county-designated…

Escambia County does not skip trash day for holidays. Section 82-131(1) states pickups 'shall not be reduced by holidays,' though a collector may reschedule a pickup that falls on a…

In the county's mandatory direct-collection area south of Stone Container Road, yard clippings, leaves and pine straw go out in containers under 32 gallons or 40 pounds, placed within…

Properties with six or more residential units, and commercial sites using mechanical containers, must follow Section 82-138: dumpsters have to sit on firm, level ground or a concrete…

Unincorporated Escambia County requires every residential property to subscribe with a county-franchised collector. Garbage is picked up at least twice a week, rubbish at least once a…

Recycling is a lawful disposal method in Escambia County, but the county code does not mandate that residents separate recyclables. Curbside recycling is offered through the franchised…

Escambia County makes it a violation to throw, discard or dump litter anywhere except a permitted disposal site, under Code § 42-154. The rule reaches roadsides, ditches, waterways and…

Franchised collectors must pick up residential garbage twice a week and rubbish once a week under Code § 82-131, capping each household at two 20-gallon garbage cans plus a cubic yard…

Escambia County bans permanent racks or structures for garbage containers in a public street or on private property in view of the street, but Code Sec. 82-7 specifically allows a…

Escambia County confines adult entertainment establishments to C-2 zoned districts under Land Development Code section 6.05.14(B)17 and layers on strict distance minimums: 1,000 feet…

Escambia County requires anyone operating a pawnshop in the unincorporated county to hold a local Business Tax Receipt under the "Pawn Broker" classification before opening, alongside…

Escambia County caps what tow operators can charge for nonconsensual tows, wrecks, and abandoned-vehicle removals. The Board of County Commissioners sets maximum rates by resolution…

Escambia County does not run its own tattoo-shop permitting program: Florida's Department of Health licenses body art under state law. Locally, inside the Warrington Redevelopment…

Escambia County bans loud generators and other internal combustion engines in residential and noise-sensitive areas between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. if the exhaust or combustion noise…

A motor vehicle burglar alarm in unincorporated Escambia County must stop sounding within 15 minutes of activation unless a real emergency exists. Trip it falsely more than twice in a…

Escambia County bans unreasonably loud noise from any commercial establishment, including its outdoor patio or beer garden, between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. when it creates…

A stereo, boombox or car audio system that's plainly audible to anyone besides the listener and unreasonably disturbs neighbors, or that's plainly audible at 100 feet in a commercial…

Loading and unloading a vehicle or vessel at a business or residence in unincorporated Escambia County cannot create unreasonably loud noise. The rule runs day and night with no fixed…

Skateboarding, along with bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, automobiles and roller skates, is banned outright on the concrete Casino Beach Boardwalk and the Quietwater Beach Boardwalk on…

Escambia County bans drinking or holding an open alcoholic beverage container in any public parking area that's visible from the street or open to vehicle traffic. The rule covers…

Yelling, shouting, whistling or singing in a residential or noise-sensitive area between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., or at any time it disturbs a reasonable person's quiet, violates…

Escambia County authorizes traffic infraction detectors, red-light cameras, at intersections in the unincorporated county under Code §§ 94-181 through 94-187, enforcing Florida…

Dockless rental scooters and micromobility devices on Pensacola Beach need Santa Rosa Island Authority approval, a $500.00 application fee plus $100.00 per device, under Escambia…

Escambia County allows mobile vending units, including food trucks, as a temporary use in specific zoning districts. Operators need an occupational license from the Tax Collector and…

Escambia County's Land Development Code bars mobile vending units, food trucks and carts included, from parking lot drive aisles, active driveways, sidewalks, and public rights-of-way…

Escambia County limits mobile vending units, the code's term for food trucks and carts, to eight named zoning districts: Agricultural, Commercial, Heavy Commercial/Light Industrial…

Escambia County bars illicit discharges and illicit connections into its municipal separate storm sewer system under Code § 42-307(a). The stormwater ordinance, enacted to meet NPDES…

Escambia County requires erosion and sediment control on every construction site before land clearing begins. LDC § 5-4.3 bars land-disturbing activity until control devices are…

Escambia County requires new construction and substantial improvements inside special flood hazard areas to sit at least three feet above FEMA's designated Base Flood Elevation. LDC…

Docks, piers, and marinas anywhere in unincorporated Escambia County, from Perdido Key to Pensacola Beach, must sit back from the property boundary by ten percent of the waterfront…

Any grading, subdivision, or construction inside a mapped flood hazard area in unincorporated Escambia County needs floodplain administrator review before a permit issues. The county…

Escambia County's nuisance ordinance makes it a code violation to create or maintain any condition that breeds rats, vermin, flies, mosquitoes or other disease-carrying arthropods on…

Any concert, festival of arts, crafts or food, circus or similar outdoor event expected to draw more than 5,000 people a day in unincorporated Escambia County needs a county permit…

Escambia County bans selling food, renting gear, or serving beer in any county park unless the county administrator issues a permit first. Under Code § 74-36, permits cover sporting…

Escambia County collects a five percent tourist development tax on every hotel, motel, roominghouse, tourist camp or condo rental of six months or less: four cents under County Code §…

Escambia County requires a local business tax receipt to operate any business, profession or occupation in the county, classified and priced on a rate schedule set by County Code §§…

Escambia County protects trees 12 inches or greater in trunk diameter countywide, but a tree 60 inches DBH or larger is a heritage tree with elevated protected status, and unlike…

Escambia County bars development that threatens threatened or endangered species habitat unless the applicant first secures an approved mitigation plan under LDC section 4-5.4. Perdido…

Escambia County requires a building permit before you construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish or change the occupancy of any building or structure, per Sec. 14-84. A…

Escambia County doesn't require a blanket residential fire sprinkler mandate, but any building or addition with a fire sprinkler system of 50 or more heads needs engineer-sealed design…

Any electrical installation, alteration or repair covered by the Florida Building Code needs a permit from Escambia County Building Services before work begins. Section 14-84 requires…

Escambia County runs new construction through a fixed sequence of building official inspections under Sec. 14-173: foundation, slab, wind load, framing, sheathing, roofing and final…

Escambia County applies the Florida Building Code, Plumbing to every plumbing installation, alteration, repair or replacement, and Sec. 14-84 requires a permit from Building Services…

High-value new construction in Escambia County's wind-borne debris region must include hurricane opening protection under Sec. 14-126: permits applied for on or after July 1, 2008 for…

Anything built seaward of Florida's coastal construction control line in unincorporated Escambia County, from Perdido Key to Pensacola Beach, must meet the stricter of two Florida…

Unincorporated Escambia County has no blanket decibel curfew; the County Noise Abatement Ordinance (Code Ch. 42) bars unreasonably loud amplified sound at night. Loudspeakers and PA…

Neither Escambia County nor Pensacola has a dedicated leaf-blower ordinance or a gas-blower ban. Leaf-blower noise is governed by the general prohibition on unreasonably loud sound in…

Most of unincorporated Escambia County uses a reasonableness standard, not fixed decibels. But Santa Rosa Island (Pensacola Beach) and Perdido Key have objective caps: 70 dbA in the…

In the City of Pensacola, building erection, excavation, demolition, alteration or repair is limited to 6:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Loud construction equipment (pile…

Sounding a vehicle horn or signaling device for more than ten consecutive seconds (except as a danger warning) is a per se violation in unincorporated Escambia County. Pensacola also…

Outdoor concerts, festivals and public events that will exceed noise limits need a permit (a limited waiver) from the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners. Without stated…

New buildings near NAS Pensacola, NOLF Saufley, or Pensacola International Airport in Escambia County must add interior sound insulation once they sit inside a mapped high-noise zone…

Escambia County Code Sec. 42-65(h) makes it unlawful for an owner, caretaker or controller of an animal or bird to let it make unreasonably loud noise, with a specific exemption for…

Escambia charges a 5% Tourist Development ("bed") tax on stays of six months or less, on top of Florida's 7.5% sales and discretionary surtax: collected from the guest and remitted to…

Florida requires a DBPR vacation-rental license before renting a whole home short-term. Escambia County (unincorporated Pensacola Beach and Perdido Key) adds no operating permit but…

Escambia County cannot require a vacation rental to be the owner's primary residence. State law bars local rules that prohibit rentals, so whole-home, non-owner-occupied beach rentals…

Escambia County and Pensacola cannot set minimum-night stays, annual night caps, or limits on how often a home is rented. Florida law expressly bars local rules on rental duration or…

The City of Pensacola makes it unlawful to park a vehicle on residential property without proper curb-cut driveway access, to protect sidewalks and traffic flow. Residents may not…

Curb and pavement markings that control parking are official traffic-control devices installed only by the government. In Pensacola the public works director plans and maintains them…

In public parking areas across Escambia County, oversized vehicles like motor homes and single-unit trucks may use up to two spaces, and rigs pulling trailers may use the minimum…

In the City of Pensacola, passenger curb loading zones may be used only for loading or unloading passengers, up to five minutes. Freight curb loading zones are for delivery and pickup…

Escambia County code enforcement can order any inoperable vehicle accumulating on a lot removed as a nuisance under County Code § 42-196(c). Licensed car lots, junkyards, salvage yards…

In the City of Pensacola, RVs, campers and boats (major recreational equipment) may be stored on residential premises in a garage, the driveway, or a rear yard kept three feet off the…

In the City of Pensacola you may not park on a street in a way that leaves less than ten feet of roadway open for traffic. On unincorporated county roads, parking is governed by…

The City of Pensacola has no general overnight ban on passenger cars but treats a vehicle left in one spot over 72 hours as prohibited storage (24 hours downtown). In unincorporated…

Escambia County LDC § 5-9.4(b) lets fences go to the street right-of-way and to common (shared) property lines, but no fence may block visual clearance along a right-of-way or…

Escambia County's Land Development Code names seven approved fence materials for residential lots: masonry, chain link, wood, cast iron, aluminum, plastic and precast concrete. Barbed…

A light-frame fence up to ten feet high is exempt from a building permit in unincorporated Escambia County under Sec. 14-89(a)(3), but the exemption stops there: you still need land…

In Escambia County a retaining wall over 4 feet tall (measured from the bottom of the footing to the top) needs a building permit, and any wall supporting a surcharge or impounding…

In unincorporated Escambia County, residential fences may reach 3 feet in the front yard (4 feet if transparent) and 8 feet in side and rear yards. In the City of Pensacola the limits…

In the Medium Density Residential (MDR) district, principal structures need a 20-foot front and rear setback and a 5-foot side setback (10 feet for attached townhouses). Low Density…

Escambia County caps impervious and semi-impervious coverage through minimum pervious-cover percentages set per zoning district rather than one countywide number. Medium Density…

Escambia County sets maximum building height per zoning district rather than one countywide ceiling. Medium Density Residential (MDR) and Low Density Residential cap structures at 45…

For a single-family home, if a certified arborist documents that a tree is a danger, Escambia County cannot require a permit or fee to trim or remove it. Routine trimming of your own…

Florida law protects Florida-Friendly Landscaping. Neither Escambia County nor an HOA may prohibit a homeowner from installing native, drought-tolerant landscaping. Genuine overgrowth…

Removing a protected tree in unincorporated Escambia County needs a county permit under LDC § 2-3.6, and staff can only approve it if you meet one of six removal grounds in DSM Chapter…

Escambia County's solid-waste code carves backyard composting out of its junk-pile law entirely: Section 82-1 excludes 'noncommercial composting' from the definition of an unauthorized…

Overgrowth on residential or commercial lots in unincorporated Escambia County is a nuisance under the county code unless the land is agricultural, undeveloped natural land, or a…

In unincorporated Escambia County, home occupations are allowed as accessory uses wherever the dwelling is allowed, but must be unnoticeable to neighbors. Larger home-based businesses…

Florida cottage food operations selling up to $250,000 a year need no state food permit and can operate from a home kitchen. Products must be labeled and sold directly to consumers…

A home occupation may show no exterior evidence of the business, so on-premise signs are effectively barred. Signs are limited by the outdoor sign provisions in Article 8 of Chapter 5…

A Florida family day care home may care for up to 10 children depending on ages. It is a residential use, so Escambia County cannot zone it out of residential areas, but it must be…

A new residential pool in Escambia County can't get a certificate of completion without at least one pool safety feature under F.S. § 515.27(1): a code-compliant barrier, an approved…

Under Florida's Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act, a pool barrier must be at least 4 feet high on the outside, have no gaps a child could pass through, and gates must be…

Escambia County bans camping or sleeping on any public property in the unincorporated county, from tents and bedding to sleeping in a vehicle not registered or parked where that's…

Escambia County removes any privately built sign placed in a public right-of-way without a permit and can fine the owner under County Code § 86-91. A first offense draws only a…

Escambia County requires a right-of-way work permit before anyone disturbs the pavement of a county road, installs underground lines in it, or works on a driveway connection, unless a…

Escambia County treats garage and yard sales as temporary special events under its Land Development Code. On any parcel that is zoned or used as residential, all special events…

Escambia County's Agricultural (Agr) zoning district is built to keep farmland in production: Sec. 3-2.2 caps residential density at one dwelling unit per 20 acres, protects farmland…

Escambia County treats temporary, transient sellers with no established ties to the county, from tent sales to going-out-of-business events, as "itinerant vendors" under Chapter 18…

Escambia County requires any construction that could disturb a historical or archeological site, or that uncovers one mid-project, to stop and go through county review under LDC…

Escambia County has not opted out of medical marijuana dispensaries: Land Development Code Sec. 3-1.4(j) sets the countywide rule and expressly limits it to the unincorporated area…