Highlands County, FL Ordinances (2026)

A shed or other detached accessory building on a residential lot in unincorporated Highlands County can't sit in the front yard, must stay at least seven and one-half feet from any lot…

In unincorporated Highlands County, a guesthouse built as an accessory to a single-family home is allowed only if the owner signs an agreement that it will not be used for rental…

In unincorporated Highlands County, a veterinary clinic isn't a use you can open anywhere zoned for business. The O office district allows treatment-only clinics as a special exception…

In unincorporated Highlands County, every dog must wear a collar and leash whenever it is on a public street, right-of-way or another person's property, kept under the control of a…

Highlands County does not require every pet owner to spay or neuter, but any dog or cat redeemed from Animal Control by someone other than the original owner must be surgically…

Highlands County does not restrict dogs by breed. Instead, under Code section 4.5-28, Animal Control investigates any dog reported as potentially dangerous and, after a hearing before…

Unincorporated Highlands County bars keeping non-domestic carnivores, poisonous arachnids and reptiles, crocodilians over 36 inches, large nonpoisonous snakes and state-classified…

Highlands County lets dog, cat and ferret owners skip the metal registration tag and collar if the animal carries an RFID microchip registered with Animal Control. Code § 4.5-3 ties…

Article IV of Highlands County's animal chapter lets any cat found roaming at large on public property or someone else's private property be impounded under Code § 4.5-41, held at…

Highlands County does not ban feeding wildlife generally, but Code § 4.5-5 bars anyone other than the property owner from feeding feral cats on public or private land without the…

Unincorporated Highlands County bans keeping hoofed animals, fowl or livestock of any number on land that isn't zoned for agriculture. Development Services enforces the restriction…

In unincorporated Highlands County's R-1A residential district, a house cannot rise above 35 feet, measured under the code's own definition of building height in section 12.02.104. The…

In unincorporated Highlands County's R-2 two-family district, all buildings on a lot together cannot cover more than 50 percent of the lot. The same 50 percent cap applies in the R-1A…

In unincorporated Highlands County's R-2 two-family district, a residence needs a 25-foot front yard, 25-foot rear yard, seven and one-half foot side yards, and 15 feet on the side…

Building or altering a dock or boathouse on a Highlands County waterway needs a building permit, and Development Services won't issue one until the applicant shows state and federal…

In unincorporated Highlands County, Division 4 of the Land Development Regulations governs every stormwater management system built with new development. Highlands County Code §…

Any development wholly or partly inside a mapped flood hazard area in unincorporated Highlands County, from subdividing land to installing a pool, falls under the county's Floodplain…

Every construction site in unincorporated Highlands County that needs a Florida Building Permit or a county clearing/grading permit must install erosion and sediment controls, no…

In unincorporated Highlands County's mapped flood hazard areas, new construction and substantially improved buildings must sit at least two feet above the base flood elevation…

In unincorporated Highlands County, a front-yard fence tops out at four feet, five feet for chain link or a spaced decorative fence, while a side or rear yard fence in a residential…

Highlands County treats fences, walls and hedges as regulated accessory structures under Sec. 12.05.306, capping residential front-yard fences at four feet (five for chain link or…

In unincorporated Highlands County, the Noise Control Ordinance bars any excessive, unnecessary or unreasonable noise that disturbs a neighborhood, and Table I of Section 5.6-106…

Unincorporated Highlands County bars radios, stereos, musical instruments and other sound equipment from creating a noise disturbance that is plainly audible across a residential…

Highlands County's Noise Control Ordinance makes it a violation for a dog's owner or custodian to let the dog bark, bay, cry or howl continuously for five minutes, or intermittently…

In unincorporated Highlands County, running construction, excavation, grading, pile-driving, demolition or building-alteration equipment loud enough to reach across a residential…

Unincorporated Highlands County bars landscape maintenance activity, which covers gas leaf blowers along with mowers and trimmers, from creating a noise disturbance plainly audible…

Unincorporated Highlands County requires every internal combustion engine, including a motor boat or motor vehicle engine, to run with a muffler or equally effective device that…

Highlands County caps ambient plus source sound at 65 dBA daytime and 60 dBA nighttime in residential and agricultural districts, and 75 dBA around the clock in commercial and…

In unincorporated Highlands County, the Airport Zoning Ordinance bars new incompatible uses within the noise contours around Sebring Regional and Avon Park Executive airports and…

Highlands County bans the commercial importation, sale, propagation and planting of eight invasive plant species in the unincorporated county, including Brazilian pepper, Australian…

Highlands County levies a five percent tourist development tax on rentals of six months or less at hotels, motels, apartments, mobile home parks, RV parks and condominiums throughout…

Loading or unloading a vehicle, or opening bales, boxes or crates, is a noise violation in unincorporated Highlands County if it happens between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. and the noise…

A bar, nightclub or other public entertainment establishment in unincorporated Highlands County violates the noise ordinance if it plays a radio, sound amplifier or other device so the…

Section 5.6-105(13) of the Highlands County noise ordinance makes it a violation to run an air conditioner, compressor, power fan, blower or fixed motor that causes a noise disturbance…

Highlands County exempts alarms from its noise ordinance only while they're doing their job. Section 5.6-107(1) carves emergency and burglar alarms out of the noise rules, but the same…

Highlands County Code Section 7-20 adopts the Southwest Florida and South Florida Water Management Districts' rules by reference, so lawn and landscape irrigation in the unincorporated…

Unincorporated Highlands County residents who compost or recycle all their own solid waste on-site can apply under section 8.5-30 for an exemption from mandatory franchise trash…

Highlands County Code § 12.11.103 directs new development landscaping toward conserving native plants and trees, but exempts single-family, duplex and manufactured homes on individual…

On improved property in unincorporated Highlands County, weeds and other vegetation, aside from trees, ornamental bushes, flowers or other ornamental plants, cannot exceed 18 inches in…

Trees growing in county road rights-of-way in unincorporated Highlands County cannot be cut or damaged except for utility maintenance, and even then only through a county permit and…

Clearing trees and vegetation on development sites in unincorporated Highlands County requires a county land clearing permit whenever natural, archaeological or historical resources…

Highlands County Code bars door-to-door solicitors and peddlers from private homes posted 'No Soliciting,' requires them to leave once asked, and confines all residential solicitation…

In unincorporated Highlands County the franchised hauler must pick up bundled yard trash for recycling at least twice a month, separate from household garbage. Section 8.5-24 caps each…

Commercial properties in unincorporated Highlands County must use containers supplied by their franchised solid waste hauler, kept clean, operable and clearly marked against hazardous…

Every residential property in unincorporated Highlands County must subscribe to its area's franchised trash hauler under Section 8.5-22, absent a county-granted exemption. Section…

Every residential and commercial property in unincorporated Highlands County must use the franchised hauler assigned to its service area for trash pickup. The Board of County…

In unincorporated Highlands County, the franchised hauler skips collection on Sundays and on holidays the county landfill is closed. Section 8.5-24 pushes the missed pickup to the next…

Unincorporated Highlands County residents must set garbage containers at curbside, or within 75 feet of the road for rear-door service, clear of fences, garages and hedges. Section…

Unincorporated Highlands County residents get free bulk-item pickup twice a month under section 8.5-24: white goods anytime, plus items under six feet, 100 pounds and two cubic yards…

Before Highlands County issues a building permit for unincorporated construction or renovation, section 8.5-28 requires the applicant to pick a licensed collector or an approved…

It is unlawful in unincorporated Highlands County to dump, place or let accumulate grass, solid waste, white goods, wrecked vessels or vehicles, or other obnoxious material on any…

Highlands County Code Article VIII, adopted in 2024, makes it unlawful to camp on any public property or to store tents, sleeping bags and other camp paraphernalia there with intent to…

Any outdoor event open to the public in unincorporated Highlands County needs a special event permit under chapter 8.7. A general permit is required on county property or when county…

Within the Sun 'n Lake of Sebring Improvement District, a special-benefit district in unincorporated Highlands County, Code § 9-102 bans parking an operational vehicle on the front…

Commercial and industrial development in unincorporated Highlands County must provide off-street loading spaces sized to the delivery trucks they serve under Highlands County Code §…

Unincorporated Highlands County bars parking a recreational vehicle, travel trailer or boat in the front yard under Highlands County Code § 12.10.218, and keeps them at least seven and…

In unincorporated Highlands County, a resident may keep only a one-ton or lighter commercial vehicle parked in the open on a residential lot; anything up to two tons must sit inside an…

In unincorporated Highlands County, no partially dismantled, wrecked, junked or unlicensed vehicle or vessel may sit on a street for any time, or on any property, public or private…

In unincorporated Highlands County, Sec. 11-52 bars parking on the roadway side of a curbed vehicle, on sidewalks, within intersections, or on private lawns without the owner's…

Section 7-4(k) of the Highlands County Code closes county parks from sunset to sunrise unless the Board of County Commissioners posts different hours. Only park personnel, law…

Section 7-4(j) of the Highlands County Code bans smoking, cigarettes, vaping and vaping products, as defined by Florida Statutes chapter 386, in any county park. The ban applies to…

Highlands County has no general public loitering law; its only loitering rule targets sexually oriented businesses. Code § 4-251 makes it unlawful for an employee of an adult arcade…

Unincorporated Highlands County bans drinking or carrying an open container of alcohol on county property under Code § 3-5, with exceptions for board-approved events and eight named…

Highlands County Code Section 7-161 makes it unlawful for any pedestrian, panhandler or other 'vulnerable road user' to act on a public roadway or its median in a way that impedes…

Highlands County Code § 5.6-2(4) declares any building or structure so dilapidated it is unfit for human habitation, unsanitary enough to menace neighbors' health, or an unusual fire…

Highlands County's nuisance chapter does not require you to mow a truly unimproved lot. Code § 5.6-2(6) exempts unimproved land covered by natural Florida grasses and weeds…

Section 7-4(c) of the Highlands County Code bans discharging fireworks or explosives in any county park unless the Board of County Commissioners has issued a specific permit. Without…

Every dwelling unit in unincorporated Highlands County must have an approved, listed smoke detector installed under the manufacturer's instructions, sounding an audible alarm when…

In unincorporated Highlands County, residential garage and yard sales are capped at two per calendar year under Highlands County Code § 12.08.110. Each sale can run no more than three…

Unincorporated Highlands County does not require street trees on ordinary residential streets, but any project built under the county's Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND)…

Unincorporated Highlands County requires an Environmental Clearance Report before any land clearing on a site that supports state or federally listed endangered or threatened plant…

Highlands County's Floodplain Management Ordinance, part of the Land Development Regulations, names 'installation of swimming pools' outright as regulated development under Section…

Article III of the Highlands County traffic code sets a wrecker rotation system for nonconsensual towing, requiring a business office and storage lot in the county, a 30-minute…

Highlands County does not run its own massage establishment license. Code § 4-109 states the Board of County Commissioners does not intend to legislate on massage establishments…

Highlands County requires a sexually oriented business license from the county administrator before any adult arcade, cabaret, bookstore, motel, theater, escort agency, or nude model…

In unincorporated Highlands County, anyone displaying used or secondhand merchandise outdoors, other than running motor vehicles, farm machinery, boats, mobile homes or travel…

Unincorporated Highlands County's traffic code defines a bicycle path as a way physically separated from motor traffic and, under Sec. 11-52, makes it unlawful to stop, stand or park…

The AU Agricultural District under Sec. 12.05.200 is reserved for land presently and primarily used for agriculture, permitting groves, dairy farms, cattle grazing and up to nine hogs…

Highlands County's Land Development Regulations incorporate the Florida Building Code's Plumbing volume by reference and, under Sec. 12.16.304, require any contractor installing or…

Highlands County requires a building permit from the Building Department before any building or other structure in the unincorporated area is erected, moved, added to or structurally…

In unincorporated Highlands County, any contractor installing or repairing electrical systems must hold a permit and comply with the county's licensing rules. The Building Official…

In unincorporated Highlands County, construction work goes through staged inspections tied to the building permit: building, electrical, mechanical, gas and fire-suppression trades…

Unincorporated Highlands County allows illumination on any permitted sign, including the off-site signs and billboards permitted under Article 7, but bans neon-type signs in the…

Unincorporated Highlands County allows home occupations as a secondary use in every zoning district, provided the business keeps a business tax receipt where required and follows…

Unincorporated Highlands County lets homeowners place a propane tank in a required side or rear yard only if it's fully underground, or otherwise no closer than five feet to the side…

Within the Lake Placid Regional Plan Overlay District portion of unincorporated Highlands County, on-premise digital changeable-copy signs are capped at one per site, limited to…

Unincorporated Highlands County bars political signs, along with advertisements, handbills, snipe signs and billboards, from any property owned or used by the county or another…

Where FEMA's flood maps mark a Highlands County property as an approximate Zone A but give no base flood elevation, the floodplain administrator must still pin down a design elevation…

A parcel in unincorporated Highlands County can build beyond its comprehensive-plan starting density by becoming a designated Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) receiving area and…

In unincorporated Highlands County, every rental dwelling unit must have a working kitchen sink, lavatory, tub or shower and toilet connected to an approved water and wastewater…

In unincorporated Highlands County, tenants or any member of the public can ask the housing official to inspect a residential building's condition. Highlands County Code § 12.19.109…