Hernando County, FL Ordinances (2026)

Building or altering a stormwater system in Hernando County requires an Environmental Resource Permit. Under Fla. Stat. §373.413, the Southwest Florida Water Management District…

Erosion and sediment control in Hernando County runs through the Environmental Resource Permit. Under Fla. Stat. §373.413, clearing and construction that alters a stormwater system…

Florida bars keeping captive wildlife without a state permit. Section 379.3762 makes it unlawful to possess any wildlife, native or not, until the owner holds an FWC permit. FWC sorts…

Hernando County allows up to four hens in residential districts with an administrative permit: no roosters, ducks, geese, or turkeys. Coops go in the rear yard, 25 feet from a…

Beekeeping is lawful throughout Hernando County, and Florida preempts local bans. Section 586.10 gives the state exclusive authority to regulate and permit managed honeybee colonies…

Hernando County requires every dog off its owner's property to be leashed and under direct control. Section 6-2 defines direct control as immediate, continuous physical restraint. Dogs…

Breed-specific dog bans are prohibited in Florida. Section 767.14 lets local governments regulate dangerous dogs but bars any rule specific to breed, weight, or size. A 2023 amendment…

Florida law lets Hernando County residents use consumer fireworks on three designated holidays. New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and the Fourth of July. Every other day, only…

Open burning in Hernando County is state-regulated. Small yard-trash piles of leaves and limbs may be burned, but land-clearing burns need Florida Forest Service authorization, and…

The Hernando County Noise Control Ordinance sets decibel limits at the property line: 60 dBA daytime and 55 dBA overnight in residential areas, with the quiet window running 9:00 p.m…

Hernando County exempts construction noise from its decibel limits only between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. (Sec. 21-136(l)). Outside that window, a job site must meet the standard…

Hernando County's Noise Control Ordinance does not cover animal noise. Sec. 21-136(f) defers barking and animal sounds to the Florida Statutes, so complaints run through Hernando…

Hernando County does not ban leaf blowers. Sec. 21-136(m) exempts domestic power tools from the decibel limits between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., so daytime use is fine and only…

Amplified music in Hernando County must stay within the Noise Control Ordinance decibel limits: 60 dBA daytime and 55 dBA overnight at a residential property line. Vehicle sound…

Florida preempts local STR bans under Fla. Stat. §509.032(7)(b), so Hernando County cannot prohibit vacation rentals. It does require each rental to register with the Clerk, follow the…

Short-term rental guests in Hernando County follow the same Noise Control Ordinance as everyone else: 60 dBA daytime and 55 dBA overnight at the property line. There is no separate STR…

A Hernando County vacation rental owes about 11.5% in lodging taxes: Florida's 6% sales tax plus the county's 0.5% surtax (6.5% total), plus a 5% Tourist Development Tax on stays of…

On-street parking in Hernando County follows county rules and Florida traffic law, which bars parking within 15 feet of a fire hydrant and on sidewalks or crosswalks. Most of the…

Under Fla. Stat. 705.103, abandoned and derelict vehicles on public or private property can be taken into custody and removed after notice. Hernando County code separately bars storing…

Hernando County caps residential fences at four feet in front yards and eight feet in side and rear yards. Rear-yard fences backing waterfront, golf courses, or common areas drop to…

Hernando County's Fence Code bans electric, barbed-wire, razor-wire, chicken-wire, and scrap or sheet-metal fences in residential districts. Wood, vinyl, aluminum, chain-link, and…

Hernando County requires a zoning permit for residential fences before installation, and all fence construction must conform to the county Construction Code. Masonry walls, coops, and…

Florida has no statute making a neighbor split a boundary fence's cost, so cost-sharing in Hernando County is voluntary. A malicious spite fence is a common-law nuisance, not a…

Every residential pool in Hernando County must have a barrier at least four feet high with gates that open outward, self-close, and self-latch. Florida's Residential Swimming Pool…

No Hernando County ordinance can force a turf lawn. Florida Statute 373.185 bars any local ordinance or deed restriction from prohibiting Florida-Friendly Landscaping, so residents may…

Artificial turf on a Hernando County home is governed by local zoning and stormwater rules, not a state ban. Florida-Friendly protections under Statute 373.185 cover living…

Hernando County sits in the Southwest Florida Water Management District (Swiftmud) and enforces a strict one-day-per-week irrigation schedule year-round, assigned by address. Florida…

Pruning or trimming a tree on your own Hernando County home draws no county permit. Florida Statute 163.045 goes further, barring any local government from requiring a permit, fee, or…

Hernando County code treats grass or weeds over 18 inches within 100 feet of improved property as a nuisance. Farm-zoned and conservation land is exempt, and Florida Statute 373.185…

Removing a tree on your Hernando County home is protected by Florida Statute 163.045: no local government may require a permit, fee, or mitigation to remove a residential tree once an…

Hernando County protects specimen and larger trees through its land development regulations on development and non-residential sites. On residential property, Florida Statute 163.045…

Hernando County cannot zone a home business out of a residential neighborhood. Florida's Home-Based Business Act, Fla. Stat. §559.955, bars the county and the City of Brooksville from…

Hernando County cannot cap your customers just because you work from home. Florida's Home-Based Business Act, Fla. Stat. §559.955, lets a home business receive clients, but limits…

A family day care home in Hernando County registers annually with the Florida Department of Children and Families. State law channels oversight through Fla. Stat. §402.313, requiring…

You can bake and sell cottage foods from a Hernando County kitchen with no permit and no local approval. Fla. Stat. §500.80 preempts cottage food regulation to the state, letting an…

A home business in Hernando County shows almost no outward sign of commerce. Florida's Home-Based Business Act, Fla. Stat. §559.955, protects the business but requires that, seen from…

A food truck in Hernando County is licensed by the state, not the county. Fla. Stat. §509.102 preempts licensing of mobile food dispensing vehicles to the Florida DBPR, so one state…

Hernando County cannot shut food trucks out of town. Fla. Stat. §509.102 preempts food-truck operation to the state and forbids a local government from prohibiting mobile food vehicles…

Hernando County decides whether medical marijuana dispensaries open within its borders. Fla. Stat. §381.986 lets a county or city ban dispensing facilities outright, but a local…

Growing cannabis at home is a felony in Hernando County. Florida allows medical marijuana only through state-licensed dispensaries and permits no home grow, even for registered…

Hernando County dropped the zoning permit for sheds with impervious roofs of 120 square feet or less under Ordinance 26-38, which also raised the allowed wall height to 8 feet.

Florida sets counties a 75% recycling goal, not a homeowner mandate, so no Hernando County resident is fined for skipping the bin. Coastal Waste collects recycling curbside weekly…

Hernando County's blue-cart service includes six bulk collections a year, up to ten items each, for furniture and appliances. Larger loads and construction debris go to the Northwest…

Florida law (Fla. Stat. §330.41) reserves drone regulation to the state, so Hernando County and its cities cannot restrict where you fly. FAA rules control instead. Avoid…

Commercial drone pilots in Hernando County need an FAA Part 107 certificate. Under Fla. Stat. §330.41 the county cannot add its own flight rules, but FAA airspace rules near…

Hernando County has no county-wide dark-sky ordinance, and Florida has no statewide dark-sky law. New commercial development must keep glare off neighboring property under the zoning…

Florida law overrides HOA solar bans in Hernando County. Under Fla. Stat. §163.04, a deed restriction or covenant may not prohibit solar collectors, and an association may only set a…

Rooftop solar is protected across Hernando County. Under Fla. Stat. §163.04, no local ordinance may prohibit installing solar collectors. A homeowner needs building and electrical…

Neither Hernando County nor the City of Brooksville can control rent. Florida's 2023 Live Local Act rewrote Fla. Stat. §125.0103 into a flat ban, deleting the old housing-emergency…

Hernando County cannot add local just-cause eviction protections. Fla. Stat. §83.425 preempts residential tenancy regulation to the state, so evictions across Spring Hill and…

Hernando County has no county-wide juvenile curfew on the books. Florida offers a ready framework in Fla. Stat. §877.20–877.25, but a curfew only takes effect where a county or city…