Highlands County, FL Noise Ordinances: Aircraft Noise (2026)

1 of the Code of Ordinances, governs land use around Sebring Regional Airport and Avon Park Executive Airport in unincorporated Highlands County. 1-5 restricts new incompatible uses, including residential construction and non-aviation educational facilities, within the approach, transitional, horizontal and conical surfaces mapped for each runway. R. Part 150 or an equivalent FAA-approved study has established noise contours, those incompatible uses are prohibited inside the contour unless the study itself contemplates the use with mitigation. Sebring Regional Airport's noise exposure map, tied to the Runway 1/19 Extension Environmental Assessment, sets the operative contour there.

Separately, the ordinance protects buyers: no one may sell, lease, or offer to sell or lease land inside the airport noise surface, defined as the 65 DNL contour on the airport zoning regulation map series, without first giving the buyer or lessee a written noise warning stating that the land lies beneath the approach and departure routes and is subject to objectionable noise. 1, and the Highlands County Planning and Zoning Commission and Board of County Commissioners review permit applications inside the mapped surfaces. Any land use decision inside these surfaces is coordinated with the Florida Department of Transportation Aviation and Spaceports Office, which the county must copy on permit applications and adopted zoning changes within 30 days of adoption. Landowners aggrieved by an administrator's decision may appeal to the Board of Adjustment and, beyond that, to the circuit court.