Sarasota County, FL Ordinances (2026)

Backyard smokers are allowed in Sarasota County as cooking fires using approved fuel, but any outdoor smoke-producing process must avoid creating a nuisance. Officials weigh wind, air…

An outdoor kitchen built in a Sarasota County Special Flood Hazard Area is regulated as an accessory structure: it must be anchored against flotation and built of flood-resistant…

Backyard recreational and cooking fires are allowed in unincorporated Sarasota County without a permit, using only approved fuel, kept at least 25 feet from any structure, attended by…

Sarasota County's Burn Ban Ordinance automatically prohibits all open fires whenever the Florida Forest Service's Keetch-Byram Drought Index for the county meets or exceeds 500. Fire…

Sarasota County bans selling, exposing for sale, or exploding fireworks outside narrow state-law exceptions, and requires anyone selling fireworks to hold a permit from the Sarasota…

Burning yard waste, household trash, and debris from routine property maintenance is prohibited in Sarasota County. Only recreational fires and cooking fires are allowed without a…

Florida Statutes § 553.883, applied in Sarasota County through the Florida Building Code adopted at County Code § 22-33, lets owners of one- and two-family dwellings and townhomes…

Within the 220-foot Myakka River Protection Zone along the Myakka's main stem (river miles 7.5 to 41.5), Sarasota County Code carves out a defensible fire protection zone around…

Sarasota County's Marine Turtle Protection Code bans any light fixture visible from the Beach on Casey Key, Lido Key, Manasota Key, Siesta Key, and unincorporated Venice Island. New…

Sarasota County's outdoor-lighting standards cap light spilling onto neighbors: illumination at the property line may not exceed 0.2 footcandles on adjacent residential uses and 0.5…

Sarasota County lets political signs go up on private property without a sign permit starting 60 days before an election's qualifying date, bars any commercial advertising on them, and…

Sarasota County allows only one digital Electronic Message Center per lot, limits it to half the area of the property's ground sign, requires an 8-second minimum hold between messages…

Sarasota County allows a window sign without any Sign Permit, but caps its coverage at 10 percent of the window area on the building frontage where it's installed, on top of a separate…

Sarasota County bans off-site advertising signs, the billboard type that advertises something other than the business on-site, within 660 feet of the right-of-way of any portion of the…

Florida preempts special home-occupation permits: FS 559.955 lets a compliant home-based business operate without a use-specific license, though a local business tax receipt under…

Florida law lets counties license family day care homes locally, and Sarasota County does: F.S. 402.313(1) authorizes a county licensing ordinance, and Sarasota County Code Chapter 62…

Florida's cottage food law (FS 500.80) lets residents make and sell certain non-hazardous foods from their home kitchen without a permit or inspection, as long as annual gross sales…

Florida Statute 559.955 caps how far Sarasota County can go in regulating a home-based business's sign: exterior changes, including signage, must stay consistent with the surrounding…

Every cat four months or older in Sarasota County must be vaccinated against rabies, annually or every three years with a USDA-approved triennial vaccine, under Sec. 14-37. Only a…

Sarasota County declares a dog or other animal Vicious based on its conduct, not its breed: aggressive bites, repeated attacks on other animals, dog-fighting use, menacing behavior, or…

Sarasota County's Unified Development Code caps outdoor animal boarding, including a veterinary clinic's outdoor dog runs, at 50 dogs on land designated Rural or Semi-Rural, requires a…

Sarasota County has banned the retail sale of dogs and cats from pet stores, flea markets and public thoroughfares since January 27, 2016. Sec. 14-53 exempts animal shelters, nonprofit…

In unincorporated Sarasota County, dogs and cats cannot run loose on public streets, other people's property, or condominium and mobile-home-park common areas without a leash, per Sec…

Sarasota County has banned possessing any wild animal, for sale or otherwise, unless it was born and raised in captivity, under Sec. 14-81, on the books since a 1973 ordinance. Zoos…

In unincorporated Sarasota County RSF districts, the maximum building coverage for a single-family structure is 35 percent of the lot area. Structures, including accessory buildings…

Sarasota County's four single-family zoning districts each carry required yards under UDC Sec. 124-76(a)(2)i: a 20-foot street yard in every RSF district, side yards of 8 feet…

In unincorporated Sarasota County RSF districts, a single-family structure may not exceed 35 feet, measured from the established minimum floor elevation and including in-structure…

Backyard composting is allowed and encouraged in Sarasota County. County code prohibits letting grass clippings, vegetative material, or debris wash, sweep, or blow into stormwater…

Removing a protected tree anywhere in unincorporated Sarasota County requires a Tree Permit under § 54-584, but § 54-585(1)(a) exempts Category I invasive species and six named exotic…

In unincorporated Sarasota County, grass and weeds over 12 inches are "Excessive Growth" and a public nuisance under the Property Standards Ordinance (Sec. 54-473, 54-475). Owners must…

Unincorporated Sarasota County enforces its irrigation-day and irrigation-hour limits by adopting the Southwest Florida Water Management District's year-round watering schedule and…

Seaward of Sarasota County's Gulf Beach Setback Line and waterward of the Barrier Island Pass Twenty-Year Hazard Line, the county bans installing nonnative plants in beach, dune or…

Pruning a tree inside a Sarasota County Canopy Road Protection Zone or a public right-of-way requires a Tree Permit under § 54-584(1)(e), and trimming there is capped at Clear Zone…

Sarasota County treats overgrown vegetation as a public nuisance, but it carves out real relief for vacant and rural land. Unplatted parcels designated Rural or Semi-Rural are exempt…

Sarasota County declares four specific conditions to be public nuisances on private property: Excessive Growth, Improper Outdoor Storage, Graffiti, and Mosquito Breeding Areas. Section…

It is unlawful to dump solid waste or recyclables on any public or private property in unincorporated Sarasota County except at approved sites (Sec. 106-54). Florida's Litter Law (FS…

Sarasota County's franchised waste hauler is not required to run curbside collection on New Year's Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other holiday the Solid…

Commercial dumpsters in unincorporated Sarasota County must sit on a paved, level surface, preferably a 6-inch concrete pad, strong enough to hold the collection truck's weight. An…

Yard trash in unincorporated Sarasota County must go in a separate curbside container from regular garbage, be no longer than four feet and stick no more than 12 inches above the…

Once you set your recycling bin out at the curb, Sarasota County Code Sec. 106-51 makes the contents the sole property of the county or its Franchisee, not yours anymore. Sec. 106-52…

Every residential and commercial property owner in unincorporated Sarasota County's Solid Waste Service District must use the county Franchisee for garbage collection; opting out for a…

Sarasota County requires curbside customers to keep Program Recyclables out of the trash. Code Sec. 106-55 makes it unlawful to knowingly combine recyclables with other solid waste…

Curbside carts in unincorporated Sarasota County must be out by 6:00 a.m. on collection day and cannot go to the curb earlier than 5:00 p.m. the day before. Empty carts must be back in…

Sarasota County's Franchisee will haul away large household items like furniture, mirrors and fence panels, but only up to 20 cubic yards per household four times a year, and only…

Class I curbside customers in unincorporated Sarasota County get once-a-week garbage collection, while Class II dumpster customers get at least once a week, always on the same weekday…

In unincorporated Sarasota County, detached accessory structures such as sheds may not exceed 20 feet in height (or the height of the principal structure if taller) and may not sit in…

Sarasota County allows one accessory dwelling unit (ADU) per lot in its RSF and RE residential districts, but caps it at 750 square feet unless the lot is double the district's minimum…

Sarasota County Code Sec. 22-34, adopting Florida Building Code Sec. 104.1.1, requires anyone who builds, alters, demolishes, or changes a structure, or installs electrical, gas…

Contractors and property owners doing permitted work in unincorporated Sarasota County must call for inspection within five business days of finishing the job. Building Code § 105.1…

Before touching a plumbing system in unincorporated Sarasota County, an owner, agent, or contractor must apply to the Building Official and obtain a permit under County Code § 22-34…

Sarasota County licenses every child care facility caring for five or more unrelated children and holds the building to specific safety standards: approved fire-prevention and…

Sarasota County regulates parking on every county road, street, bridge and right-of-way once the Department of Transportation posts a sign. Ordinary violations draw a $25 civil fine…

Florida law, not a Sarasota County ordinance, governs how an abandoned or unauthorized vehicle gets towed from private property. Section 715.07 lets an owner or lessee have it removed…

Sarasota County bars parking in required street yards, the area between a home and the street, for every use except single-family homes, two-family homes, and property in the Tourist…

Sarasota County requires off-street loading spaces at least 10 feet wide and 40 feet long for retail, industrial, and self-storage uses, reviewed by the County Engineer with every site…

Boats, boats on trailers, travel trailers, motor homes, and other recreational vehicles can be parked in Sarasota County's residential yards only if they carry current license tags…

Sarasota County bans storing or parking semi-trucks, dump trucks, wreckers, box trucks, and other listed commercial vehicles, plus any commercial vehicle over 7,500 pounds empty…

Sarasota County lets developers install electric-vehicle charging stations and reserve dedicated EV parking spaces without those spaces counting against a site's minimum or maximum…

Secondhand dealers in unincorporated Sarasota County must register each location with the Florida Department of Revenue and obtain a local occupational license before transacting in…

Operating an adult bookstore, cabaret, motel, theater, model studio, sexual device shop, or encounter center in unincorporated Sarasota County requires a sexually oriented business…

Sarasota County's nonconsensual towing ordinance controls every non-consent tow off private property in the unincorporated county. A tow company must notify the Sheriff's Office…

Sarasota County Parks close outside their posted hours under Code of Ordinances § 90-34. The Code Administrator sets those hours for every County Park, and anyone in a park after hours…

Owners renting a house, condo or room in unincorporated Sarasota County for six months or less must collect and remit a six percent Tourist Development Tax through the Sarasota County…

Sarasota County does not cap the number of rental nights or bookings per year. Florida law bars local governments from regulating the frequency or duration of vacation rentals, except…

When a short-term room rental unit in the RMF-1 zoning district inside the Siesta Key Overlay District is rebuilt after being destroyed by a hurricane or other catastrophe, Sarasota…

Sarasota County treats a dog that barks, howls or whines enough to unreasonably annoy neighbors as a Public Nuisance Animal under Sec. 14-39. The owner is liable regardless of intent…

Buildings built or substantially improved inside the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport's noise contours face sound-isolation standards tougher than the Florida Building Code, under Code §…

In unincorporated Sarasota County, an Amplification System, any device that boosts the human voice, music, or other sound, cannot push noise above 65 dBA (70 dBC) at a residential…

Unincorporated Sarasota County's quiet hours run from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., when Sec. 54-118 drops the residential noise ceiling from 65 dBA (70 dBC) to 55 dBA (60 dBC) at the property…

Construction and demolition noise in unincorporated Sarasota County is exempt from Sec. 54-118's decibel limits only from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Work between 8:01…

A car, truck, or boat in unincorporated Sarasota County is exempt from Sec. 54-118's decibel limits only while its manufacturer muffler and sound-reduction equipment are installed and…

Sarasota County Code Sec. 54-118 sets hard decibel ceilings by land use and time of day for the unincorporated county: residential parcels top out at 65 dBA (70 dBC) by day and 55 dBA…

Sarasota County's Building Official can force rodent extermination before an unsafe structure comes down. Under Building Code § 103.5.7, once the County Health Officer confirms rodent…

A car alarm, burglar alarm, or other emergency signaling device in unincorporated Sarasota County is exempt from the county's decibel limits, but only if it shuts off within 15 minutes…

A generator or pump run during a power outage, flood, or other emergency in unincorporated Sarasota County is exempt from Sec. 54-118's decibel limits, but only while its manufacturer…

Sarasota County's decibel-based Sound Control ordinance caps how loud a property can be at the property line, but Section 54-118(d)(5) carves out residential heating and cooling…

Sarasota County designates exceptional trees as "Grand Trees" using a point system tied to species, trunk diameter, height and canopy spread, and new development must be designed to…

Sarasota County lets residents plant Street Trees in the road right-of-way fronting their lots, but a canopy tree must sit 8 to 15 feet back from the right-of-way, at least 3 feet from…

Sarasota County only runs storm debris collection once the Board, the Governor or the President has declared a state of emergency and the County determines removal serves the public…

New construction and substantial improvements in Sarasota County's Special Flood Hazard Areas must elevate the lowest floor at least 1.0 foot above the Base Flood Elevation, the…

Sarasota County doesn't publish a separate technical standard for hurricane shutters; it licenses who can install them. Code § 22-122(13)(k) creates a Hurricane Shutter Installer…

Owners and occupants of land abutting a Local Road in Sarasota County's Urban Service Area must keep the sidewalk area free of Excessive Growth and control weeds along both sides of…

Any private work inside a Sarasota County road right-of-way, from a driveway culvert to a bus bench or a sign that hangs over a sidewalk, needs a Right-of-Way Use Permit under Unified…

It is unlawful in unincorporated Sarasota County to act on a Road in any manner that results in Obstruction of Traffic, defined at County Code § 98-11(b)(2) to include placing or using…

Reserving a Sarasota County park pavilion, beach area, or holding an organized program or event on County Parks and Beaches requires a written Permit from the Code Administrator…

Anyone staging an outdoor music festival with paid admission in Sarasota County's unincorporated area needs a county license under Code of Ordinances § 86-52. The fee runs $5,000 per…

Sarasota County requires every community water system whose service area overlaps a reclaimed water system to run a cross-connection control program with backflow preventers isolating…

Sarasota County residents report suspected Unified Development Code violations, zoning breaches or nonconforming uses to the Planning and Development Services Department under Section…

New construction and substantial improvements anywhere in Sarasota County's mapped flood hazard areas must be built above the flood line, not just up to it. Section 54-516(a)(1)…

Unincorporated Sarasota County requires new construction and substantial improvements in Special Flood Hazard Areas to elevate the lowest floor at least one foot above the Base Flood…

Sarasota County's Earthmoving ordinance requires anyone excavating, filling, or stockpiling dirt on a permitted site to keep sediment out of wetlands, watercourses, and neighboring…

Sarasota County's Water Pollution Control Code bans dumping anything but stormwater into the county's storm sewer system. Section 54-187(f) prohibits illicit discharges and…

The Sarasota County Water and Navigation Control Authority permits every dock, pier or boat lift in county waters, capping structures at 25 percent of a waterway's width and 300 feet…

Sarasota County's Unified Development Code requires every off-street loading area serving retail, warehouse, industrial or similar commercial uses to be posted with signs telling…

Sarasota County's locally amended Building Code makes any unfit or unsafe structure a public nuisance. Section 22-34 (Fla. Building Code Sec. 103.5) lets the Building Official order…

Sarasota County allows Medical Marijuana Dispensaries as a standards-based permitted use across its Unified Development Code rather than banning them outright, but UDC Sec…

Sarasota County keeps medical marijuana dispensaries away from places children and worshippers gather. UDC Sec. 124-150(a)(5) bars co-locating a dispensary with any medical office…

Sarasota County's Unified Development Code carves out a specific exception for agriculture: while every other accessory structure countywide needs an existing principal use on the lot…

Sarasota County lets a resident hold a garage or yard sale on their own property without any permit, but only once every four months at that address and only for up to three…

Section 124-157 of the Unified Development Code sets the operating standards every mobile food dispensing vehicle must meet in unincorporated Sarasota County: no alcohol sales, no…

Sarasota County confines mobile food dispensing vehicles to ten nonresidential zoning districts, including CG, ILW, PID, CN, OPI, PCD, CHI, CI, CM, and GU, and requires them to sit at…

Sarasota County's mobile food dispensing rules keep vendors off the sidewalk: Section 124-157 lets the county relocate any truck found on a sidewalk or public right-of-way for any…

In unincorporated Sarasota County, fences and walls facing a side or rear lot line may be up to 8 feet. In a street (front) yard, a fence set back under 4 feet from the line is capped…

In unincorporated Sarasota County, chain-link, wood, or vinyl residential fences meeting the Zoning Regulations may be built without a building permit. All other fences and walls, plus…

Sarasota County Zoning Regulations Sec. 7.8 prohibits barbed wire and similar materials except where required by other ordinances or used by lawful agricultural uses. Chain-link is…

A retaining wall taller than four feet built alongside a Sarasota County swimming pool needs engineered drawings, not just a homeowner's sketch. Swimming Pool Code § 105.3.4(8)(e)…

Sarasota County's Invasive Plant Species Ordinance bans importing, transporting, selling, propagating or planting Melaleuca, Australian Pine, Brazilian Pepper, Carrotwood, Chinese…

No swimming pool installation, alteration, or repair work can start in unincorporated Sarasota County without a permit from the Construction and Property Standards Department. Under…

Before a new residential pool passes final inspection in Sarasota County, it needs at least one of five safety features under Florida Statutes § 515.27(1): a compliant perimeter…

Sarasota County makes it unlawful to camp anywhere in the unincorporated county outside a designated area or permit, under Code of Ordinances § 90-97. Before citing anyone, officers…

Sarasota County still runs its Chapter 122 red light camera program in the unincorporated county, fining the registered owner of any vehicle a camera catches entering an intersection…

Sarasota County's only stand-alone bicycle ordinance requires a working headlight and taillight, or rear reflector, any time a bicycle is ridden on a county roadway or dedicated bike…

Sarasota County levies a six percent Tourist Development Tax on hotels, motels, resort motels, apartments, roominghouses, mobile home parks, RV parks and condominiums rented for six…

In Sarasota County's Village Planned Development (VPD) district, part of the Sarasota 2050 plan, developers can build above the base 0.29 dwelling units per acre by providing…

Sarasota County bans smoking in every County Park under Code of Ordinances § 90-33(a)(21). The ban covers cigarettes, pipe tobacco, and other lighted tobacco products but not…

In unincorporated Sarasota County, it is illegal to possess an open container of alcohol or drink in public on any street, sidewalk, parking lot or road shoulder. Sheriff's deputies…