Florida law (FS 559.955) lets home-based businesses operate in any residentially zoned property in unincorporated Sarasota County, and the county cannot treat them differently from other businesses, subject to limited neighborhood-impact conditions.
Since 2021, FS 559.955 preempts most local home-business bans in Florida. A home-based business may operate in a residential zone and may not be prohibited, restricted, or licensed differently from other businesses, except for the conditions the statute allows: employees who work at the home must reside there (plus up to two nonresident workers), parking must match a normal residence, the property's exterior must stay consistent with the neighborhood, and the business must be secondary to residential use. Sarasota County's Unified Development Code still applies these state-permitted limits and enforces noise, nuisance, and hazardous-material standards. Local business tax receipts under Chapter 205 still apply.
Sarasota County may enforce the FS 559.955 conditions and its noise/nuisance rules through code enforcement, but may not ban a compliant home-based business or license it differently from other businesses.
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