St. Petersburg, FL Invasive Plant Rules: Front Yard Gardens (2026)
Key Facts
- Inside lot paving cap
- ≤45% of required front yard
- Corner lot paving cap
- ≤25% of front/street-side yard
- Remaining area
- Must be permeable vegetative green space
- ADA features
- Exempt from the paving calculation
- Grandfather date
- Yards nonconforming as of Aug. 25, 1977
- Ground cover requirement
- Sod or plant material, § 16.40.060.2.1.2(B)
Summary
St. Petersburg City Code § 16.40.060.2.1.2(A) requires every required front yard and street-side yard on one- and two-unit lots to stay permeable, landscaped, vegetative green space. Paving, driveways, walks, patios and porches combined, cannot exceed 45 percent of an inside lot's front yard or 25 percent of a corner lot's combined front and street-side yard area.
A. Required permeable green space for yards abutting streets. Required front yards and required side yards abutting streets shall be maintained as permeable landscaped vegetative green space with the exception of driveways, walks, patios, porches and similar paved areas, which areas combined shall not exceed 25 percent of the required front and street side yard areas for corner lots and 45 percent of the required front yard area for inside lots. Facilities constructed to achieve compliance with ADA requirements shall be exempt from this surface calculation. Yards abutting streets which do not conform to the provisions herein and which existed as of August 25, 1977, are grandfathered and exempt from this subsection.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 54).
Full Breakdown
The rule leaves most of a front yard open for planting rather than pavement: "Required front yards and required side yards abutting streets shall be maintained as permeable landscaped vegetative green space," with hardscape, driveways, walks, patios and porches, capped at 45 percent of the required front yard on an inside lot and 25 percent of the combined front and street-side yard on a corner lot. ADA-compliant ramps and similar accessibility features are carved out of that surface calculation entirely. Yards that already didn't conform when the rule took effect are grandfathered if they existed as of August 25, 1977.
2(B) requires the permeable portion to carry "an herbaceous layer of sod or ground cover plant material," and residents may fill that requirement with planting beds, shrubs, and ground cover instead of lawn, provided St. Augustine sod stays under the 50 percent cap on new construction. 7, which the City conditions on installing and maintaining the greatest amount of required landscaping reasonably possible.
Violations & Fines
Front-yard permeability is checked at permitting and certificate-of-occupancy issuance; exceeding the paving cap after the fact is a Code violation enforceable under the general penalty, § 1-7: a fine up to $500.00, up to 60 days imprisonment, or both, with continuing noncompliance treated as a separate daily offense and referable to the Code Enforcement Board.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I turn my whole front yard into a garden with no lawn?
Does a wheelchair ramp count against my paving limit?
My driveway has covered most of my front yard for decades: do I have to tear it out?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in St. Petersburg
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