Putnam County, FL Ordinances (2026)

In unincorporated Putnam County, Putnam County Code Sec. 34-1 defines horticultural trash to include lawn, shrub, and small-branch cuttings up to four feet long and four inches in…

Putnam County Code Sec. 34-4 bans throwing, placing, or depositing solid waste on streets, alleys, canals, vacant lots, or anyone else's property in the unincorporated county, and bars…

Putnam County Code Sec. 34-34 has required mandatory residential solid waste collection service for all residential improved property in unincorporated Putnam County since October 1…

In unincorporated Putnam County, Sec. 34-6(a)(7) of the county code confines solid waste collection to between 7:00 a.m. and sunset, bars collection on Sundays and named holidays…

In unincorporated Putnam County, any new subdivision built around a golf course must install lines for reclaimed water or on-site surface water and use that supply as the course's…

Non-residential, multifamily, and planned unit, commercial and industrial developments in unincorporated Putnam County must design under Code § 45-516's xeriscape standards, which…

New landscaping and screening irrigation in unincorporated Putnam County needs an approved irrigation plan, and every automatic system must run moisture sensors or rain gauges and…

In unincorporated Putnam County, letting grass, weeds or underbrush grow to where the county fire marshal calls it a fire danger makes the property a substandard premises under Sec…

Putnam County's landscape code protects native plant communities and requires new landscaping to use species that are native or adapted to the area. Sec. 45-511 states the intent to…

Unincorporated Putnam County does not require a permit to remove a tree from private property outside a development site, and the Land Development Code even lists tree removal as a de…

Fences in unincorporated Putnam County must use conventional materials such as concrete block, brick, wood, decorative aluminum, iron, steel, chain link or purpose-built composite…

Any fence over 36 inches tall in unincorporated Putnam County needs a building permit under Code § 45-532(a), unless the fence serves a bona fide agricultural use. Fences at or below…

Front-yard fences in unincorporated Putnam County residential districts top out at three feet, or four feet for open picket-style screening that does not block traffic visibility…

In unincorporated Putnam County, a retaining wall taller than two feet needs a building permit, a zoning permit and inspections from Planning and Development Services before you build…

Retail stores, warehouses, restaurants, factories and similar commercial or industrial uses in unincorporated Putnam County must provide off-street loading space under Code § 45-564…

In unincorporated Putnam County, commercial vehicles weighing more than 7,000 pounds empty cannot use any residential road the board of county commissioners has posted with a…

Unincorporated Putnam County bars parking in any public right-of-way except briefly to load or unload merchandise or passengers, under section 42-31. Government vehicles…

Under Putnam County's Nonresidential Property Maintenance Code, an abandoned or disabled motor vehicle sitting on any premises, including in a truck bed or trailer, is a…

Every driveway connecting to a paved county road in unincorporated Putnam County must be permanent pavement, Portland cement concrete or asphaltic concrete, under Code § 45-635(d)(2)…

In unincorporated Putnam County, a sexually oriented business or adult entertainment establishment cannot open within 2,500 feet of another such establishment, a church or a school…

In unincorporated Putnam County, a wrecker company may not tow a vehicle from private property without the owner's consent except under the state's trespass-towing law, must notify the…

Putnam County's Land Development Code singles out tattoo parlors for exclusion from two commercial zoning districts. Sections 45-80 and 45-81 allow the broader "Services" use category…

Unincorporated Putnam County flatly bans mechanical, paint and body repair or detailing of vehicles and trailers as a home occupation, no matter how small the operation or how the…

In unincorporated Putnam County, installing or altering a drainage structure, creating a new drainage channel or changing a drainage basin's characteristics requires a permit from the…

In unincorporated Putnam County, any drainage ditch graded two percent or steeper, with sidewall slopes steeper than 3:1, or where it meets a deeper ditch, must get erosion control…

Putnam County's Land Development Code lets docks and boathouses sit in the waterfront setback but caps boathouses at 600 square feet, bars enclosure as habitable space, and requires…

Any development wholly or partly inside a Putnam County flood hazard area needs a floodplain development permit before work starts, on top of any Florida Building Code permit, under…

Putnam County's Amplified Sound Ordinance applies throughout the unincorporated county and requires a temporary use permit from the Planning and Development Services Director for…

Rather than cap decibels, unincorporated Putnam County manages aircraft noise around Palatka Municipal Airport by zoning: new residential uses and educational facilities are barred…

Unincorporated Putnam County has no ordinance naming barking specifically, but Section 6-19 defines a "nuisance" animal as one whose conduct causes an unreasonable disturbance to the…

In unincorporated Putnam County, holiday lights, decorations and signs skip the sign permit process entirely under Sec. 45-761(3) of the Land Development Code, as long as the display…

Window signs and merchandise displays behind storefront glass in unincorporated Putnam County are exempt from the sign permit process altogether under Sec. 45-761(4) of the Land…

Putnam County allows electronic message displays on signs, including billboards, only as lighted changeable copy capped at 15 square feet, with messages that must hold for at least ten…

Billboards in unincorporated Putnam County can only go up within 660 feet of a federal, state, or county road classified as a collector or arterial in the comprehensive plan, and only…

Political campaign signs in unincorporated Putnam County need no permit, can go up 50 days before the first primary once the candidate or issue has qualified for the ballot, and must…

Unincorporated Putnam County allows one on-site garage or yard sale sign up to six square feet, posted no more than a day before the sale and removed the day it ends. Section…

In unincorporated Putnam County, the building official or a designee performs every required inspection under locally amended Section 104 of the Florida Building Code, adopted at…

In unincorporated Putnam County, a family day care home caring for six or fewer children is allowed by right in any residential or agricultural district, but a facility caring for more…

In unincorporated Putnam County, Section 8-20 adopts the Florida Building Code for all construction and maintenance of structures, enforced by the county building official under…

Unincorporated Putnam County splits veterinary facilities into two zoning tracks: small-animal clinics fall under the 'Services' use category and follow standard commercial district…

Running a pet-grooming or breeding operation on agriculture-zoned land in unincorporated Putnam County takes a special use permit. Section 45-72(e)(9) lists "raising, breeding and/or…

In unincorporated Putnam County, dog owners must keep animals under control by leash, chain, secure fence or other confinement whenever off the owner's property; letting a dog run…

Unincorporated Putnam County allows limited backyard chicken flocks in R-1, R-2 and RE districts on lots with a single-family home, capped at 20 hens per acre with no roosters, plus…

Putnam County has no breed-specific dog ban. Instead, Section 6-19 defines a "dangerous dog" by conduct: biting or attacking a person, killing or repeatedly injuring another animal off…

Unincorporated Putnam County does not require pet owners generally to spay or neuter their animals. The only mandatory spay/neuter rule in the code applies at the animal shelter…

Putnam County has no general microchipping requirement for pet dogs or cats. Microchipping only becomes mandatory for a dog that has been formally declared dangerous: Section 6-32(d)…

Cats in unincorporated Putnam County are exempt from the general at-large ban, except a diseased cat may not be allowed to roam, per Section 6-29(a). Section 6-35 still requires every…

Feeding or petting wild animals is flatly unlawful in any Putnam County park, listed among the chapter's prohibited park activities in Sec. 29-3(a)(7). The same subsection also bans…

Unincorporated Putnam County requires every building light installed for security or looks to be a fully cut-off fixture, so no beam ever shines upward into the sky, and caps fixture…

Unincorporated Putnam County bars any lighting installation whose glare crosses onto a neighbor's land or interferes with their use and enjoyment of it. Section 45-602 forces…

Every sign in unincorporated Putnam County, billboards included, must avoid intensity that causes glare or impairs a driver's, cyclist's or pedestrian's vision, and most illuminated…

In unincorporated Putnam County an accessory dwelling unit may only house guests or family members on a non-fee basis; it cannot be rented out or sold apart from the main house without…

Unincorporated Putnam County allows one accessory dwelling unit by right on a single-family residential or agricultural lot, but caps its size, bedroom count and lot size, and it…

A shed in unincorporated Putnam County needs a building permit, and if it is 150 square feet or smaller it can sit as close as three feet from the side or rear line and three feet from…

Unincorporated Putnam County charges countywide impact fees on new development, but Sec. 24-9(a)(2) exempts accessory structures to a residential building, a garage, workshop or…

Unincorporated Putnam County allows a residential yard sale without a temporary use permit, but caps it at two sales per property in any 12-month period and 72 hours per sale under…

A vendor selling goods at a sporting event, parade, festival or similar special event in unincorporated Putnam County needs a temporary use permit under § 45-135, capped at the same…

Putnam County has no ordinance labeled a 'parade permit,' but any open-air musical or entertainment festival held in unincorporated Putnam County needs a 'special entertainment permit'…

In unincorporated Putnam County, Putnam County Code Sec. 29-4(7) requires a special parks and recreation permit from the department director for any park event that draws more than 99…

In unincorporated Putnam County, a private swimming pool counts as an accessory use only if it is built and enclosed to the standards of the building code the county has adopted…

Building a private pool in unincorporated Putnam County requires a building permit before work starts, and the pool only qualifies as an accessory use if it serves the household and…

Unincorporated Putnam County allows a mobile food dispensing vehicle by right in any zoning district under § 45-136, with no county temporary use permit required, so long as it holds a…

A family day care home caring for six or fewer children is allowed by right in any residential or agricultural zoning district in unincorporated Putnam County under LDC § 45-171(a)…

A home occupation in unincorporated Putnam County can display only one sign, and it cannot be illuminated, cannot exceed two square feet, and must be mounted flat against the wall near…

A home occupation in unincorporated Putnam County cannot generate parking or traffic beyond what a residence without a business would normally produce, and any parking it does need…

Unincorporated Putnam County allows a home occupation by right on residential or agricultural property only if the business stays clearly secondary to the home's residential use and…

Putnam County's tourist development tax reaches short-term rentals, not just hotels: section 40-166 defines a taxable transient accommodation to include any single-family dwelling…

In unincorporated Putnam County, a propane tank at a home must sit at least five feet from any lot line and out of the required front setback. Once total propane storage on the…

Putnam County bans fireworks and explosives on any park property or the roadways next to it. Sec. 29-3(d) prohibits possessing, exploding, discharging or burning firecrackers, rockets…

Putnam County levies a local business tax on every business, profession or occupation operating in the unincorporated county. The tax collector issues receipts based on reasonable…

Unincorporated Putnam County imposes a four percent tourist development tax on hotels, motels and other transient accommodations rented for six months or less. The county tax collector…

Putnam County protects farming through its own zoning tool rather than a right-to-farm statute: the agriculture (AG) district under section 45-72 exists to implement the county's…

Putnam County's local amendment to the Florida Building Code, Residential, raises the minimum elevation for new construction in flood hazard areas outside Coastal A Zones to the base…

Putnam County's code enforcement division most often cites the same handful of premises conditions: unaddressed health hazards, buildings left open at a door or window, and any…

In unincorporated Putnam County, a nuisance-abatement code violation, drug, prostitution, criminal street gang or stolen-property activity at a property, is filed with the sheriff's…

A building in unincorporated Putnam County that is determined substandard, meaning it has structural hazards, hazardous wiring, faulty weather protection or similar listed defects, is…

An unimproved or vacant lot in unincorporated Putnam County that accumulates junk, debris, dead organic matter, garbage or rat harborage is declared a substandard premises under Sec…

Unincorporated Putnam County protects historically and culturally significant sites through a local register of historic places: once a property or district is listed, exterior work…

Unincorporated Putnam County trades density for conservation: developers who protect endangered-species habitat or dedicate perpetual open space can earn density bonuses under Sec…

Where Putnam County requires street trees, in the planting strip between the sidewalk and the street, Sec. 45-511(c)(5) of the Land Development Code says those trees must be canopy…

Unincorporated Putnam County caps impervious surface and floor area ratio by comprehensive plan future land use category, not just zoning district, with residential coverage running…

Unincorporated Putnam County sets minimum yard setbacks by zoning district in Table 7.02A of the Land Development Code. The rural estate (RE) district requires a 40-foot front setback…

Putnam County caps building height by zoning district in Table 7.02A of the Land Development Code. Most residential districts, including RE, R-1, R-1A, R-2 and R-3, top out at 35 feet…

Putnam County's Land Development Code bars five invasive species from required landscaping. Sec. 45-511(c)(4) prohibits plants the county calls obnoxious, invasive and environmentally…

In unincorporated Putnam County, amplified sound is capped under two decibel scales at once: A-weighted for general loudness and C-weighted, which registers bass-heavy low-frequency…

Putnam County's Amplified Sound Ordinance lets a bar or club run louder on weekend nights: property other than a noise-sensitive use may reach 75 dB(A-weighted)/80 dB(C-weighted) from…

In unincorporated Putnam County parks, buying, possessing or drinking alcohol is banned outright unless the activity happens during an event that holds a county alcoholic beverage…

In unincorporated Putnam County, Putnam County Code Sec. 29-4(1) closes any park or section of a park not lighted or designated for night use to the public from sundown to sunrise…