Unincorporated Manatee County has no adopted STR occupancy cap yet. Florida FS 509.032(7)(a) does permit counties to set an occupancy limit based on square footage or bedrooms. A proposed 2026 county ordinance would cap overnight guests at 12 per property.
Under FS 509.032(7)(a), a local law may limit the maximum overnight occupancy of a vacation rental to no more than two persons per bedroom plus two additional persons per property, or one person per 50 square feet of heated living space — whichever is greater. Manatee County has not adopted such a limit for the unincorporated area. The June 2026 draft ordinance proposes a maximum of 12 overnight occupants per property regardless of size, but it has not been adopted. Until then, the state DBPR license terms and Florida Building/Fire Code egress standards govern occupancy.
No county occupancy fine exists yet. If the draft is adopted, exceeding the cap would be a code violation subject to the ordinance's penalties. State fire-code occupancy limits still apply.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Manatee County, FL
Backyard composting is allowed and encouraged in Manatee County for residents' own yard and food waste. No county permit is needed. Piles must be maintained ...
Manatee County, FL
Manatee County has no countywide ban on residential artificial turf; the Land Development Code governs landscaping in development. Synthetic turf typically c...
Manatee County, FL
Manatee County's Land Development Code (Chapter 7) requires native and drought-tolerant plantings in development landscaping. Florida law (FS 373.185) also p...
Manatee County, FL
Rain barrels and cisterns for landscape irrigation are legal and encouraged in Manatee County; SWFWMD and county utilities promote them for conservation. No ...
Manatee County, FL
Manatee County follows Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) restrictions. Under the current Modified Phase III shortage, lawn watering is lim...
Manatee County, FL
Weeds, grass, and undergrowth over 16 inches are a nuisance in unincorporated Manatee County under the Community Improvement / abandoned property provisions....
See how Manatee County's occupancy limits rules stack up against other locations.
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