Mount Carmel, FL

Converting a detached garage or accessory building into living space in the unincorporated county turns it into a guest cottage/ADU once it has a stove or oven, triggering LDC 5.02.06…

A carport is an accessory structure in the Santa Rosa County LDC. On subdivision lots a detached carport more than 10 feet from the home must be at least 5 feet from side/rear lot…

The Santa Rosa County LDC defines a tiny home as a single-family residential structure under 400 sq ft on a permanent foundation. A tiny home on wheels is treated as a recreational…

Unincorporated Santa Rosa County allows a guest cottage (accessory dwelling / ADU) in every residential district. It may not exceed 50% of the main dwelling's floor area, needs a…

In residential districts, a car, RV, or trailer must be titled/plated, operable, and intact, or be garaged or hidden completely from public view, capped at two screened per parcel…

Oversized vehicles like RVs, boats, and semi-trucks are covered by the county Land Development Code: an unoccupied, licensed RV or boat may be stored beside your home, while…

Commercial and industrial buildings in unincorporated Santa Rosa County must provide off-street loading spaces: one per 10,000 sq ft of floor area, each at least 12 ft wide, 35 ft…

The county Land Development Code lets you store an unoccupied, fully-licensed, highway-ready RV, boat, or utility trailer on a residential lot beside your home. Living in an RV is…

Rural unincorporated Santa Rosa County has no residential on-street parking permit system. The Land Development Code requires developments to provide off-street parking and says…

STR guests must obey the county's noise ordinance, which caps sound at the property line: roughly 60 dB overnight (9 p.m.–7 a.m.) for residential areas and 70–85 dB by day depending on…

Florida preempts vacation-rental licensing to the state, so you obtain a DBPR vacation-rental license, not a county permit. Santa Rosa County has no separate STR operating permit for…

Santa Rosa County imposes no minimum-night stay and no cap on how many nights or times per year a property may be rented. Florida law (FS 509.032(7)) expressly forbids counties from…

Santa Rosa County's Tourist Development Tax is 5% of gross rent for stays of six months or less, collected on top of state sales tax. Owners remit it monthly to the Clerk of Courts…

Santa Rosa County's LDC 5.02.07 sets performance standards rather than a standalone permit: no more than two non-family employees, no more than four customer vehicles per day, only one…

Santa Rosa County prohibits any exterior sign, display, or device that would indicate from the outside that a dwelling or accessory building is being used as a home occupation (LDC…

Florida's cottage food law (FS 500.80) lets residents make and sell certain non-hazardous foods from a home kitchen without a state permit or inspection, as long as annual gross sales…

In-home child care in Florida is governed by state law (FS 402.302), not county zoning. A family day care home may care for a maximum of six children, and most Santa Rosa County…

Common materials such as wood, vinyl, aluminum and 14-gauge galvanized chain-link are allowed in Santa Rosa County. Barbed wire is banned in residential subdivisions. Screening fences…

The county's LDC sets fence height and placement but does not decide who owns or pays for a shared boundary fence. Rear and side fences may reach 8 feet, and nothing may block the…

No fence permit is required in the unincorporated areas of Santa Rosa County. Fences must still comply with the Land Development Code height, location and material limits. The cities…

Unincorporated Santa Rosa County allows fences in RR-1, R-1, R-1A and R-1M districts: up to 8 feet on rear/side lines, 4 feet in the front setback (5 for chain-link/metal), no barbed…

In Santa Rosa County, a retaining wall that holds back more than 48 inches of unbalanced fill, or one over 24 inches that resists lateral loads beyond soil, must be engineered to…

No county tree-removal permit is needed on an existing single-family or duplex home site. Development parcels must permit removal of protected, Heritage, and Champion trees. Florida…

Routine trimming of trees on your own residential lot needs no county permit. Under Florida law, a homeowner may even remove a tree without any county notice or fee when a certified…

Santa Rosa County lies in the Northwest Florida Water Management District, which imposes NO day-of-week landscape-irrigation limits. Everyday lawn watering is allowed, subject to any…

Santa Rosa County Code Enforcement does not investigate vegetative overgrowth, grass, limbs, or woods, on private property. There is no active county weed-height citation program in…

New development in Santa Rosa County must use native, Florida-Friendly species and may not plant invasive exotics. Existing single-family and duplex homes are exempt from the landscape…

Santa Rosa County has no dedicated barking-dog decibel limit. Persistent barking is handled as excessive noise under the general noise ordinance (Ch. 14, Art. VI), 60 dB(A) at night…

Construction that exceeds the county decibel limits is prohibited between 9:01 p.m. and 5:59 a.m. within unincorporated Santa Rosa County. Outside those hours, construction may proceed…

Santa Rosa County sets A-weighted decibel limits at the receiving property line by zoning and time: residential 70/60 dB(A) day/night, non-industrial-non-residential 80/75, industrial…

In unincorporated Santa Rosa County, nighttime runs 9:01 p.m. to 6:59 a.m., when noise measured at a residential receiving property may not exceed 60 dB(A). Daytime (7 a.m.–9 p.m.) the…

Noise from motor vehicles operating on a public right-of-way is exempt from the county ordinance and is governed by Florida law (F.S. § 316.293). Vehicle horns and warning devices…

Power tools and landscaping/yard-maintenance equipment (leaf blowers, mowers) may not be used above the county decibel limits on or within 250 feet of a residential property between…

Amplified music and other sound must stay under the county's receiving-property decibel limits: 70 dB(A) day / 60 dB(A) night on residential property, measured at the neighbor's…

Aircraft and airport noise is exempt from the Santa Rosa County noise ordinance. Noise from aircraft or airport activity conducted in accordance with federal law is not subject to the…

Under Florida law, consumer fireworks are legal statewide on New Year's Day, July 4, and New Year's Eve. Santa Rosa County cannot ban them on those three days. On all other days, only…

The Florida Forest Service governs outdoor burning. You may burn yard waste like leaves and limbs without authorization if setbacks are met, but piles over 8 feet across need a Forest…

Above-ground pools are allowed in unincorporated Santa Rosa County under the same LDC 5.02.05 setback and barrier rules. The pool structure can serve as the barrier, but ladders and…

Residential pools must be enclosed by a barrier at least 4 feet high with no gaps a child could crawl under or climb, under Florida's Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act (FS 515.29)…

In designated direct-control areas of unincorporated Santa Rosa County, dogs off their owner's premises must be under immediate, continuous physical control by fence, leash, cord, or…

In unincorporated Santa Rosa County, poultry and livestock are permitted agricultural uses allowed in agriculturally zoned districts, not residential ones. Bona fide farm operations…

Santa Rosa County cannot regulate registered honeybee colonies. Florida law (FS 586.10) preempts beekeeping regulation to the state Department of Agriculture (FDACS). Register your…

Cats four months or older must be vaccinated against rabies. Santa Rosa County recognizes managed 'community cats': sterilized, ear-tipped, rabies-vaccinated free-roaming cats are…

Santa Rosa County defers to Florida law. The state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) classifies captive wildlife as Class I, II, or III and requires permits to possess…

Santa Rosa County has no breed-specific dog ban. Florida law (SB 942, effective Oct. 1, 2023) prohibits local governments from regulating dogs by breed. The county regulates individual…

Santa Rosa County has no separate hoarding ordinance, but animals kept in such numbers or manner as to create offensive odors or endanger public health are declared an animal nuisance…

The county's strongest light-trespass rule is on Navarre Beach: existing beach-visible outdoor lights must be turned off after 9:00 p.m. between May 1 and October 31, or…

On Navarre Beach the county's Marine Turtle Protection Lighting Ordinance (LDC 3.05.07) requires all beach-visible outdoor lighting to be shielded so it is not visible from the beach…

Santa Rosa County parks close areas to the public after posted closing hours (Sec. 15-37), ban overnight parking (Sec. 15-29), and allow camping only at designated sites by permit…

In Santa Rosa County's R-1, R-1M and RR-1 districts, the front setback is 25 feet (20 feet in R-1A), the rear setback is 15 feet, and side setbacks equal 10% of lot width (7 feet…

Santa Rosa County's single-family and rural residential districts (AG-RR through R-1A) cap building height at 35 feet. Multifamily R-2/R-2M allow 45 feet and R-3 up to 50 feet…

Santa Rosa County limits how much of a site can be covered by impervious surfaces. Within the Shoreline Protection Zone, total impervious surface, buildings, driveways, pools…

The county sign code is content-neutral: no separate political-sign permit. A single-family home in the unincorporated county may display up to 2 freestanding signs per dwelling unit…

Garage and yard sale signs are exempt from a county sign permit as temporary decorations customarily associated with a short-term event (LDC 4.10.04.D.6). They count within a…

Santa Rosa County Code Enforcement does NOT investigate vegetative overgrowth (grass, limbs, woods) on private lots: the county sets no general mow-your-lot standard in the…

Illegal dumping is enforced under Florida's litter law (FS 403.413) and by county Code Enforcement. Dumping up to 15 lbs / 27 cubic feet for non-commercial purposes is a $150 civil…