The Florida Forest Service has statewide jurisdiction over wildfire prevention and suppression on non-municipal land under Chapter 590, Florida Statutes.
Section 590.02, Florida Statutes, gives the Florida Forest Service (within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services) the duty to prevent, detect, and suppress wildfires on all forest lands of the state. The FFS issues outdoor burning authorizations, declares burn bans during high fire-danger periods, and may enter any land to suppress fire. The Florida Fire Prevention Code (NFPA 1, adopted by reference in Chapter 633) governs wildland-urban interface defensible space requirements uniformly statewide.
Negligent or willful setting of wildfire is a felony under Section 590.28, with liability for full suppression costs and damage to public and private property.
Polk County, FL
Polk County Code of Ordinances Chapter 10.5, Article IV (Noise Disturbance), adopted via Ord. 14-030, restricts unreasonable noise. Construction noise is per...
Polk County, FL
Under the Polk County Land Development Code, residential fences up to eight feet are generally allowed without special review. Solid fences over eight feet r...
Polk County, FL
Polk County Animal Control Ordinance 18-068 (Code Chapter 4, Article II) prohibits dogs from running at large. Owners must keep dogs under direct control by ...
Polk County, FL
Polk County applies its standard residential parking standards to short-term rentals because Fla. Stat. 509.032(7)(b) preempts STR-specific parking rules. Gu...
Polk County, FL
Polk County does not impose its own occupancy cap on short-term rentals because Fla. Stat. 509.032(7)(b) preempts local STR-specific occupancy rules adopted ...
Polk County, FL
Polk County levies a 5% Tourist Development Tax on rentals of 6 months or less. Combined with Florida's 6% state sales tax and Polk's 1% discretionary surtax...
Side-by-side rule comparisons with other cities in Polk County.
See how Winter Haven's wildfire zones rules stack up against other locations.
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