St. Lucie County, FL Ordinances (2026)

In St. Lucie County an above-ground pool holding water over 24 inches deep is regulated exactly like an in-ground pool. Its own wall can serve as the barrier if it meets FS 515.29, and…

Florida law folds hot tubs and nonportable spas into the definition of a swimming pool. In St. Lucie County a hot tub holding water over 24 inches deep must meet the same permit…

Anyone going door-to-door in unincorporated St. Lucie County to sell goods or take subscriptions for goods or services must first get a hawker/peddler permit from the Sheriff's Office…

St. Lucie County levies a 5% tourist development tax on rentals of six months or less in hotels, motels, apartments, condominiums, mobile home parks and RV parks countywide under Code…

St. Lucie County caps what tow truck companies can charge for nonconsensual tows and requires a signed property-owner contract before hooking a car off private land. County Code §…

St. Lucie County pawnbrokers must hold a county business tax receipt and file every pawn transaction electronically with the sheriff's office same-day. State holding periods…

St. Lucie County secondhand and junk dealers must hold a county business tax receipt, hold acquired goods 30 days before resale, verify seller ID, and stay closed to transactions…

St. Lucie County bans nudity, simulated sex acts and straddle dances inside any bar, restaurant or club where alcohol is sold or available for consumption. The county enforces the rule…

St. Lucie County's code lets the county administrator declare a local state of emergency and, under that declaration, order the collection and removal of storm debris from public and…

St. Lucie County makes it a civil infraction to proceed on any job, or perform any work for which a building or environmental permit is required, without first obtaining that permit…

St. Lucie County's animal nuisance code excludes agricultural properties from its noise-based public nuisance definition. Animals on land zoned AG-1, AG-2.5, AG-5, or AR-1 with an…

St. Lucie County regulates what can enter its municipal separate storm sewer system under Article VI of the county code. The county prohibits illicit discharges and connections to the…

St. Lucie County requires an approved erosion and sediment control plan before any construction activity begins, under Article VI, Division 2 of the county code. Sites must stabilize…

Any work in a St. Lucie County right-of-way, from a utility line to a driveway apron, needs a permit or license agreement first under Code § 36-4. The public works director reviews and…

St. Lucie County prohibits regularly camping or sleeping overnight on any public property under county jurisdiction, from parks and preserves to other county-owned land, under Code §…

St. Lucie County's landscape irrigation ordinance exempts reclaimed water users entirely from its two-day-a-week watering schedule and daytime irrigation ban. Reclaimed water use…

St. Lucie County's lot-cleanup ordinance bars property owners from keeping fill in a way that creates a habitat for rodents, vermin, reptiles or other wild animals. Code Section…

St. Lucie County bans possessing or drinking alcoholic beverages on any property regulated by chapter 32's public-conduct article, meaning county parks, preserves, playgrounds…

St. Lucie County caps grass, weeds, brush and other overgrowth at 12 inches on any improved or unimproved lot in the unincorporated county. Code § 38-28(d) makes every owner, agent…

Unincorporated St. Lucie County bans landscape irrigation from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. year-round and limits watering to two assigned days a week: even addresses water Thursday and/or…

Artificial turf is not banned outright, but Port St. Lucie's landscape code prohibits using synthetic or artificial material, including artificial turf, in place of required landscape…

Port St. Lucie requires a tree removal permit before cutting down, moving, or destroying a protected tree, with replacement often required. Florida Statute 163.045 exempts homeowners…

St. Lucie County lets residents water any plant material with rain barrels, cisterns, or similar rain-harvesting devices on any day and at any time, with no exposure to the…

Florida law protects your right to plant native, drought-tolerant, Florida-Friendly landscaping: a local ordinance may not prohibit any owner from implementing it. Port St. Lucie's…

You may prune your own trees, but in Port St. Lucie substantially altering or damaging a protected tree requires a permit. Florida law also lets homeowners trim or remove a residential…

St. Lucie County limits residential composting under Code § 38-28(c)(2): a property may keep nonliving plant material in compost bins, but never more than two of them. Section 38-23…

St. Lucie County requires every residential property in the urban unincorporated area to use a county-regulated hauler for trash pickup. Code § 38-157(a) makes owners responsible for…

In Port St. Lucie, garbage and recycling carts may not be set curbside before 6:00 p.m. the day before pickup, and empty carts may not be left at the curb after midnight of collection…

In Port St. Lucie, bulk items may only be placed curbside on the scheduled collection day or 24 hours before, capped at two cubic yards; appliances must have doors removed and yard…

Dumping garbage, trash, junk or debris on private or public property in unincorporated St. Lucie County is prohibited, and Florida's Litter Law adds fines from $150 up to third-degree…

St. Lucie County requires yard trash to be separated from other solid waste, and recyclable materials to go to authorized recycling. Port St. Lucie provides curbside recycling carts…

St. Lucie County bans mobile food vending and unlicensed sales in county parks, preserves and other public-conduct areas under Code § 32-95, permitting only the county government…

Any group event or function on St. Lucie County property needs a permit under Code § 32-97, issued by the parks and recreation director under § 32-98. Applications go on a county form…

Throwing a block party that closes any part of a St. Lucie County road requires a roadway closure permit under Code § 36-10(a)(3), the same permit the county requires for special…

Any cat or dog adopted from a county-funded shelter or authorized adoption agency in St. Lucie County must be sterilized before release, or the adopter must sign a written agreement…

St. Lucie County requires an adoption-based model for every retail sale of a dog or cat: sellers may only source animals from an animal shelter or rescue organization, never directly…

Florida law, not a separate county ordinance, sets the penalty for feeding wildlife or freshwater fish in St. Lucie County: a first offense is a $100 noncriminal infraction under state…

Every cat four months or older kept in unincorporated St. Lucie County must carry a county registration tag, renewed yearly unless the cat is sterilized. Community cats, sterilized…

St. Lucie County makes it unlawful for any owner to let an animal off the owner's private property unless it is under restraint, defined as secured by a leash or lead no longer than…

Florida's Right to Farm Act bars St. Lucie County from adopting any ordinance that restricts a bona fide farm operation, including keeping chickens, cattle or other livestock, on land…

St. Lucie County adopts Florida's dangerous-dog law by reference and runs its own classification, hearing and registration process on top of it. A dog can be declared dangerous for a…

St. Lucie County cannot ban or zone honeybee colonies. Florida preempts beekeeping regulation to the state; hobbyist and commercial beekeepers register with the Department of…

St. Lucie County's noise chapter has no dog-specific decibel figure, but a barking dog is a 'sound source' subject to the § 28-110 limits (60/55 dBA residential) and the § 28-108…

Leaf blowers and other lawn equipment are exempt from St. Lucie County noise limits during normal landscape maintenance from sunrise to sunset (Code § 28-111(12)). Port St. Lucie…

Unincorporated St. Lucie County caps residential sound at 60 dBA from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 55 dBA from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. at the receiving property line (Code § 28-110). Port St. Lucie…

St. Lucie County Sec. 28-110 sets receiving-property dBA limits: residential 60 (day) / 55 (night), commercial 65 at all times, industrial 70 at all times, measured at the property…

Port St. Lucie's Sec. 94.06(b)(4) bans a vehicle sound system 'plainly audible at a distance of 25 feet,' and Sec. 94.06(a) bars honking over 30 seconds except as a warning. Roadway…

In unincorporated St. Lucie County, permitted construction noise is exempt only from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday (permits issued on/after Dec. 6, 2006)…

St. Lucie County exempts noise from any type of aircraft, except scale model aircraft, from its noise limits (Sec. 28-111(4)); Port St. Lucie does the same, excluding powered model…

Port St. Lucie's Sec. 94.06(c) prohibits loudspeakers and sound amplifiers within or adjacent to residential areas from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays and 10 p.m. to 10 a.m…

In unincorporated St. Lucie County, maximum lot coverage is set by zoning district in LDC Table 7-10 (LDC 7.04.01.A). Accessory structures in a residential district may not occupy more…

In unincorporated St. Lucie County, minimum front, side and rear yard setbacks are set by zoning district in LDC Table 7-10 (LDC 7.04.01.B). Setbacks are measured from the base…

In unincorporated St. Lucie County, maximum building height is set by zoning district in LDC Table 7-10 (LDC 7.04.01.A). Detached residential garages, carports and storage buildings…

Any St. Lucie County vacation rental must hold a Florida DBPR vacation-rental license before advertising or renting. Local governments cannot ban rentals, but every operator needs the…

St. Lucie County and its cities cannot set minimum-night stays or cap how many nights per year you rent. Florida Statute 509.032(7)(b) preempts any local rule regulating the duration…

St. Lucie County and its cities cannot restrict vacation rentals to a host's primary residence. Florida Statute 509.032(7)(b) bars local rules that prohibit rentals or regulate their…

St. Lucie County and Port St. Lucie set no special STR occupancy cap; Florida bars localities from regulating rental duration or frequency. Fort Pierce's local ordinance imposes an…

St. Lucie County and Port St. Lucie have no ordinance banning home EV chargers; installing one at a house needs an electrical permit. Florida Statute 718.113(8) bars a condominium…

In Port St. Lucie, parking is prohibited in the front yard except on a surface specifically designed and built for it, and blocking a public or private driveway is barred. You also may…

In Port St. Lucie, RVs, boats, and boat trailers may not sit in a residential area unless stored in a garage, on a paved driveway, or beside or behind the home with a ten-foot rear…

Port St. Lucie's property maintenance code bars keeping any inoperative motor vehicle on a property unless inside an enclosed structure, and prohibits vehicles in major disassembly…

In Port St. Lucie, freight curb loading zones may be used only for expeditious loading and unloading of materials, and no such stop may exceed 30 minutes. Passenger curb loading zones…

Port St. Lucie, tracking Florida law, prohibits stopping or parking on sidewalks, in intersections and crosswalks, in front of any public or private driveway, and within 15 feet of a…

Neither Port St. Lucie nor unincorporated St. Lucie County imposes a blanket overnight on-street parking ban. However, Port St. Lucie prohibits parking on any public right-of-way for…

Port St. Lucie makes it unlawful to park any commercial vehicle, bus, or heavy equipment in a residential zone or on abutting streets. A commercial vehicle means one with a gross…

Residents may not paint public curbs or create their own parking restrictions in St. Lucie County. In Port St. Lucie, the city manager is the designated authority for establishing…

Florida law requires working smoke alarms in dwellings. In St. Lucie County, a newly installed or replacement battery-powered smoke alarm must use a nonremovable, nonreplaceable…

St. Lucie County bans fireworks manufacture outright and makes it unlawful to sell fireworks except through a state- and county-registered wholesaler operating from a permanent…

Burning yard trash in unincorporated St. Lucie County is governed by Florida Forest Service Rule 5I-2. Piles must be no larger than 8 feet across, set back from buildings and roads…

Backyard recreational fires are legal in St. Lucie County when burning untreated wood or vegetative debris in a contained device, kept attended, and fully extinguished before you…

St. Lucie County's Environmental Control Act, Code § 4-58(c), exempts noncommercial barbecue equipment and outdoor fireplaces from the pollution-control permitting scheme the county's…

Yes, a permit is required before building a fence in unincorporated St. Lucie County and in Port St. Lucie. County LDC 8.00.04.A requires proper permits and Florida Building Code…

In Port St. Lucie all fences must be erected inside the property line as shown on the recorded plat, and the owner is responsible for maintaining both sides of the fence. In the…

Port St. Lucie Code 158.216(A) bans chicken wire and barbed wire fences in residential districts. Masonry or stone walls are prohibited in utility and drainage easements on…

St. Lucie County regulates walls alongside fences under LDC 8.00.04: walls must be built of conventional materials such as concrete, stone or brick, in a workmanlike, sound manner…

St. Lucie County LDC 8.00.04.A sets the baseline: fences must be permitted, meet the Florida Building Code, be built in a workmanlike and sturdy manner, and stay maintained in a safe…

A St. Lucie County resident may care for children in their home as a licensed family day care home. Florida law caps a family day care home at a maximum of 10 children, including the…

Florida's Cottage Food Law lets St. Lucie County residents sell certain non-hazardous homemade foods from their home kitchen without a Department of Agriculture permit, as long as…

St. Lucie County sets no countywide garage-sale rule, but Port St. Lucie requires a free permit and limits each residence to three garage sales per calendar year, each lasting no more…

St. Lucie County has no tiny-home ordinance. A site-built tiny house on a foundation is a dwelling under the Florida Building Code and zoning; a tiny house on wheels is recreational…

In unincorporated St. Lucie County, a storage shed is an accessory structure. Under LDC 8.00.02(B) all accessory structures together may not cover more than 35% of the lot's permitted…

Converting a garage to living space in unincorporated St. Lucie County is a Florida Building Code change-of-use needing a permit. The new area must meet zoning, and required off-street…

The St. Lucie County Land Development Code has no separate ADU or guest-house use; a second living unit is treated as an accessory structure and is capped in size. Florida law (F.S…

In unincorporated St. Lucie County, campaign signs are content-neutral non-commercial temporary signs. They must sit wholly on private property, and in single-family districts may not…

In unincorporated St. Lucie County, garage or yard sale signs are exempt from a permit under LDC 9.04.00 as long as they are removed by sunset of the last day of the sale and are kept…

In unincorporated St. Lucie County, accumulated trash, junk, debris, stagnant water, overgrowth, and unsanitary conditions are declared a nuisance under the lot-cleanup ordinance and…

When a lender files foreclosure on a St. Lucie County property, County Code § 38-27 requires the mortgagee to register the site with code enforcement within ten days of finding it…

Along St. Lucie County's coast, the sea-turtle ordinance (LDC 6.04.02) is the strongest light-trespass rule: exterior lights visible from the beach or illuminating seaward of the dune…

St. Lucie County's Treasure Coast beaches are protected by a sea-turtle lighting ordinance (LDC 6.04.02). Between the coastal control line and the Atlantic, no artificial light may…