Forest City, FL

You may burn yard debris on residential property only when no county burn ban is active and you follow Florida Forest Service setbacks. Piles over 8 feet across need a state burn…

Under Florida Statutes Section 553.883, a repair or Florida Building Code "Level 1" alteration to a one- or two-family home or townhome in unincorporated Seminole County lets the owner…

Florida law, not a separate Seminole County ordinance, controls fireworks in the unincorporated area. Fla. Stat. § 791.08 lets residents use fireworks 'solely and exclusively' on New…

Seminole County has no ordinance mandating a fixed cleared width, but the county strongly recommends a defensible space of at least 30 feet around each home in this wildfire-prone…

Seminole County bans all open burning countywide once the Keetch-Byram Drought Index reaches 500 or higher. The Board of County Commissioners Chairman activates the ban by Executive…

The Responsible Party registers each unincorporated-county vacation rental online through Avenu Insights & Analytics, self-certifying compliance. Registration is valid one year and…

No on-site host is required, but every vacation rental must name a Responsible Party who can be reached at any hour, any day, while the rental is occupied. Their 24/7 phone number must…

Vacation rentals must comply with Seminole County Code Chapter 165 (Noise), which prohibits excessive noise between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. The registration self-certifies this, and…

No. Seminole County does not require a vacation rental to be the owner's primary residence, and Florida law would preempt such a rule. Full-time owner-occupied homes renting bedrooms…

Overnight occupancy is capped at two people per sleeping room, plus up to four children under 13 who are not counted. Non-overnight daytime guests may not exceed twice the maximum…

A single-family, duplex, or multi-family vacation rental needs at least two off-street parking spaces, plus one more for each sleeping room beyond four. Spaces must be on legal paved…

No. Seminole County does not impose minimum-night or maximum-night limits, and Florida law forbids it: FS 509.032(7)(b) bars local governments from regulating the duration or frequency…

An Arbor Permit is required before removing protected trees in unincorporated Seminole County under Land Development Code Chapter 60. Developed single-family lots of 3 acres or less…

Seminole County's Water Conservation Ordinance limits residential irrigation to two days a week by address, cuts to one day during Eastern Standard Time, and caps every zone at…

Routine trimming and pruning of your own trees is generally allowed, but removal (and some heavy trimming) of protected trees in unincorporated Seminole County requires an Arbor Permit…

Florida law protects your right to use native and Florida-friendly landscaping. Under FS 373.185, a deed restriction or covenant may not prohibit a property owner from installing…

Seminole County Code Section 95.26(c) lists artificial turf or sod as acceptable landscaping for foreclosed and abandoned properties registered under the County's Vacant Property…

Seminole County Code Section 95.3(b) declares "uncultivated vegetation" a nuisance, and Section 95.2 sets the trigger at growth exceeding 12 inches in height, or vegetation that is…

LDC Sec. 30.14.19(k)-(n) requires fences to be uniform in construction, design, material, color and pattern, kept in their original upright condition, restored promptly if defaced, and…

LDC Sec. 30.14.19(i),(k) prohibits barbed-wire fences in residential districts (except for public-utility security) and bars non-traditional materials such as tires, mufflers and…

Seminole County has no separate retaining-wall ordinance; walls are regulated under the same fence-and-wall provision, LDC Sec. 30.14.19. A building permit is required, height is…

Seminole County sets no boundary-fence cost-sharing rule; that is a private matter under Florida law. LDC 30.14.19(j) bars any fence or wall from projecting beyond the property line or…

Seminole County LDC Sec. 30.14.19(a) requires a building permit to erect, replace, or make major repairs to any fence or wall. A 'major repair' is more than 10% of the total length…

Seminole County bans intentionally or unintentionally feeding bears anywhere in the county, public or private property alike. Leaving trash, pet food or other attractants where they…

Seminole County requires every dog to be on a leash whenever it leaves the owner's property, and Section 20.17(b) presumes a dog is not under control if its leash runs longer than…

Seminole County cannot regulate registered honeybee colonies. Florida Statute 586.10 preempts beekeeping regulation to the state Department of Agriculture, so you register hives with…

Seminole County limits how long a dog or cat may be tied to a fixed-point restraining device: never between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. except one supervised hour, never under six months old…

Seminole County bans commercial puppy mill sourcing: Section 20.182 requires every pet shop selling dogs or cats to source them only from an animal shelter or animal rescue…

Seminole County defines dangerous animals as non-domesticated species that pose a hazard by nature, training or size, from bears and big cats to venomous reptiles and alligators, and…

Seminole County has no breed-specific ban: Section 20.01 defines a dangerous dog by what an individual animal has done, tracking Florida Statutes Section 767.11, not by breed. Once the…

Seminole County bars trucks over 14,000 pounds GVWR from parking in residentially zoned areas of the unincorporated county, except briefly to load or unload merchandise. Any truck with…

Seminole County defines overnight parking as parking between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. and bars it, along with overtime parking, on property owned or controlled by the County. A vehicle…

Seminole County requires drivers to leave at least twelve feet of roadway open when parking on a street or in an alley, and separately bans parking that blocks a mailbox, fire hydrant…

Seminole County Code Section 120.2 makes it unlawful to abandon or keep a junk vehicle on any property in the unincorporated area, unless it sits in an enclosed garage, under a proper…

Unincorporated Seminole County has no local decibel limit for aircraft. Section 165.51(b) exempts 'Aircraft and airport activity conducted in accordance with federal laws and…

Seminole County's noise code treats a defective muffler, a modified engine, and tire screeching as a Noise Disturbance under Sections 165.28-165.29, banning repair, rebuilding, or…

Seminole County bans any sound-producing or amplification device, indoor or outdoor, that creates a Noise Disturbance under Sections 165.41-165.42, and Section 165.43(b) adds a flat…

Seminole County's noise ordinance does not set fixed construction start/stop times. Instead, Sec. 165.51(h) exempts 'construction activities proceeding under a valid governmental…

Unincorporated Seminole County bars lawn mowers, edgers, trimmers, and power hedge shears within 500 feet of a home between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. under Code Sec. 165.24. Leaf…

Seminole County's Land Development Code (Sec. 30.1302) sets maximum sound levels measured at the property line, using octave-band decibel limits that fall from 68 dB at 31.5 Hz to 17…

Unincorporated Seminole County bans any Noise Disturbance under Code Sec. 165.21, and Sec. 165.22's Table 1 cuts the residential sound ceiling from 60 dB(A)/65 dB(C) by day to 55…

Seminole County makes it unlawful for a dog or other animal to bark, howl, screech or make other objectionable noise continuously or repeatedly for more than fifteen minutes if it…

Florida's FS 515 Pool Safety Act requires a residential pool barrier at least 4 feet high on the outside with no gaps a child could crawl under, squeeze through, or climb over…

Above-ground residential pools in Seminole County still need a Florida Building Code permit and must meet the FS 515 safety-barrier rules. The pool's own structure may serve as the…

Florida's Cottage Food law (FS 500.80) lets you make and sell certain non-hazardous foods from your home kitchen without a state permit, up to $250,000 in annual gross sales. It…

Unincorporated Seminole County allows accessory dwelling units under Land Development Code Sec. 30.6.1.3, but the owner must live in either the ADU or the primary home, the ADU can't…

In unincorporated Seminole County, a small shed under 200 square feet and under 12 feet tall keeps your zoning district's side-yard setback and needs a minimum 10-foot rear setback…

Seminole County's Dimensional Standards Table (Sec. 30.7.3) controls building bulk through minimum lot area, yards, and an open-space requirement rather than a fixed maximum…

The Seminole County LDC Dimensional Standards Table (Sec. 30.7.3) limits maximum building height to 35 feet in every single-family, two-family, and most multiple-family residential…

The Seminole County LDC Dimensional Standards Table (Sec. 30.7.3) sets minimum yards by district. The common R-1 single-family district requires a 25-foot front yard, 7.5-foot side…

Before anyone builds, enlarges, alters, repairs, moves, demolishes or changes the occupancy of a building or structure in unincorporated Seminole County, Section 105.1 requires filing…

Plumbing installation, alteration, repair and replacement in unincorporated Seminole County must comply with the Florida Building Code, Plumbing volume, under Building and Construction…

Electrical work in unincorporated Seminole County is governed by Building Code Appendix A Section 101.4.1, which adopts the Florida Building Code 2023, 8th edition, the National…

Before issuing a residential building permit, the Seminole County building official reviews plans for smoke and carbon monoxide alarm and detector locations under Section 107.3.5's…

Seminole County's outdoor lighting code caps light spilling onto neighboring property at one-half (0.5) foot-candle. Motion-triggered lights may return to full brightness for no more…

Seminole County's Land Development Code Part 15 requires outdoor lighting to be shielded so no light is emitted above the horizontal plane, cutting glare and sky-glow. Display lots and…

Under Sec. 250.60, no parade, procession or special event such as a block party or road race may occupy or proceed along a Seminole County street without a permit from the Board of…

Holding an organized gathering, tournament, or private event in a Seminole County park or Natural Lands site requires a Special Authorization Permit from the Leisure Services…

Seminole County requires every secondhand precious metals dealer, pawn shop, jeweler or itinerant buyer of gold, silver or platinum in the unincorporated county to keep a…

Seminole County requires anyone operating an adult bookstore, adult theater, adult motel, adult performance establishment, escort service or commercial bodily contact establishment in…

Seminole County caps what any towing service can charge for a non-consensual or trespass tow that originates in the county. A standard car tow runs $150 plus $6 a mile, storage is…

Seminole County requires customers to disconnect their irrigation from the potable water system within six months once reclaimed water becomes available within 150 feet of their…

Seminole County prohibits skateboards, roller skates, coasters and similar toy vehicles from any roadway under Sec. 250.51 of the county Traffic Code. Riders may only cross a street on…

Seminole County makes it a violation to possess an open or unsealed alcohol container, or to drink, on public and semi-public highways, parking lots, beaches and parks in the…

Unincorporated Seminole County makes aggressive panhandling a criminal offense under Chapter 232. The ordinance bans blocking pedestrians or vehicles, soliciting inside private…

Seminole County imposes a countywide 5% Tourist Development Tax on every hotel, motel, apartment hotel, rooming house, mobile home park, RV park, condominium or apartment rented for…

Seminole County requires residents to set garbage, recycling and yard waste out at their usual accessible pick-up location on the scheduled collection day, and requires franchise…

Seminole County requires every commercial dumpster and roll-off container used in the unincorporated county to be leak-free, odor-sealed, made of nonabsorbent waterproof material, and…

Seminole County Code Section 235.72 requires all solid waste in the unincorporated area to go to a County-designated disposal facility and makes it unlawful to burn or bury waste…

Seminole County collects large items like furniture and appliances by request via a Bulk Item Pickup form. Yard waste must be bagged, canned, or bundled under 4 feet and 50 pounds…

Seminole County restricts trash and recycling pickup to 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday for residential customers and Monday through Sunday for commercial customers, and it…

Seminole County requires every household with residential collection service to keep recyclables separate from trash under Chapter 235, and requires franchised haulers to collect at…

Unincorporated Seminole County splits yard debris into two categories under Chapter 235: Yard Trash-Regular, which residents bundle or bag like household garbage, and Yard Trash-Bulk…

Seminole County assigns every unincorporated neighborhood to one exclusive franchised hauler under Chapter 235, and requires that hauler to collect residential and commercial waste at…

Before approving repairs, additions or alterations to an existing building in a Seminole County flood hazard area, the building official must decide whether the work counts as…

Seminole County requires any construction disturbing more than one acre to control stormwater on site under a permitted pollution prevention plan before it reaches the County's storm…

In Seminole County flood hazard areas, builders must submit an elevation certificate the moment the lowest floor, including any basement, is placed and before any further vertical…

Seminole County bans discharging anything but stormwater into its municipal storm sewer system (MS4) and prohibits illicit connections to it entirely. Violations can draw a Class V…

Seminole County declares any unoccupied, dilapidated, or unsafe building in the unincorporated area a public nuisance under Code Sec. 168.1, and Sections 168.2-168.8 give the…

Seminole County Code Section 95.2 treats vacant, unimproved land differently from developed property for one nuisance category: overgrown vegetation only has to be cut within 75 feet…

Under Code Sec. 175.3, adopted per Florida's 2024 camping law (F.S. 125.0231), no one may camp or sleep overnight on any Seminole County property, building, or right-of-way. The…

At single-family homes you can use charcoal and propane grills in your yard year-round, even during burn bans. In apartments and condos, Florida's fire code bans charcoal and propane…

In unincorporated Seminole County, campaign signs are allowed after a candidate qualifies, but never in the public right-of-way or on public property. Limits are 32 sq ft on commercial…

Seminole County's natural lands and greenway trails are open dawn to dusk, and park camping quiet hours run 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Park visitors who aren't registered campers must leave by…

In unincorporated Seminole County, residential garage or yard sales may be held in residential and agricultural districts no more than twice a year per parcel, each lasting no more…

Seminole County Code Section 95.3(f) declares stagnant or foul water a public nuisance on any lot in the unincorporated area. Section 95.2 defines the term to include water that is not…

Large, high-value site-built single-family homes in Seminole County's wind-borne debris region must include hurricane opening protection under Section 105.15 whenever a building permit…

After a declared disaster, Seminole County can clear debris from private roads and private property only when it poses an immediate threat to health, safety or welfare, and the County…

Seminole County's Sec. 250.52 keeps motor vehicles and mopeds off every private and public bicycle trail or footpath in the unincorporated area, with a narrow exception for a permanent…

Unincorporated Seminole County adopts the 1991 Standard Housing Code to police the maintenance and habitability of existing housing. The county's Housing Official enforces sanitation…

Seminole County makes it unlawful to plant or maintain trees, shrubs or plants in the right-of-way that damage or hazard a sidewalk, street, curb or utility line, or that block traffic…