Plant City, FL Short-Term Rentals: Short-Term Rental Permits (2026)

F.S. 509.032 Duties. — (1) GENERAL. — The division shall carry out all of the provisions of this chapter and all other applicable laws and rules relating to the inspection or regulation of public lodging establishments and public food service establishments for the purpose of safeguarding the public health, safety, and welfare. The division shall be responsible for ascertaining that an operator licensed under this chapter does not engage in any misleading advertising or unethical practices. (2)(a) The division has jurisdiction and is responsible for all inspections required by this chapter. The division shall inspect each licensed public lodging establishment at least biannually, except for transient and nontransient apartments, which shall be inspected at least annually. Public lodging units classified as vacation rentals or timeshare projects are not subject to this requirement but shall be made available to the division upon request. (e)1. Relating to facility plan approvals, the division may establish, by rule, fees for conducting plan reviews and may grant variances from construction standards in hardship cases, which variances may be less restrictive than the provisions specified in this section or the rules adopted under this section. A variance may not be granted pursuant to this section until the division is satisfied that: a. The variance shall not adversely affect the health of the public. b. No reasonable alternative to the required construction exists. c. The hardship was not caused intentionally by the action of the applicant. 3. The division shall establish, by rule, a fee for the cost of the variance process. Such fee shall not exceed $150 for routine variance requests and $300 for emergency variance requests.