Lee County cannot require a vacation rental to be the owner's primary residence. Florida preempts local rules restricting vacation rentals based on use or occupancy (FS 509.032(7)(b)), so non-owner-occupied, whole-home, and investor rentals are all lawful in the unincorporated area, subject only to the state license and bed tax.
A primary-residence-only mandate is a use-based restriction on vacation rentals, exactly what FS 509.032(7)(b) preempts for any local rule adopted after June 1, 2011. Lee County therefore does not, and legally cannot, require that a short-term rental be the host's homestead or primary dwelling. Whole-home, non-owner-occupied, and investor-owned vacation rentals are permitted in the unincorporated area on the same footing as owner-occupied ones, provided the operator holds the state DBPR vacation-rental license, collects the 5% Tourist Development Tax, and complies with generally-applicable noise, parking, and property codes. Note that individual incorporated cities within Lee County, or pre-2011 grandfathered local rules, could differ; this describes unincorporated Lee County.
There is no primary-residence violation to enforce because no such county requirement exists; enforcement instead flows from the state license and generally-applicable county codes.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Cape Coral, FL
Cape Coral §12-22 (Noise Control Ordinance, amended Dec 2019) prohibits noise plainly audible at 50 feet between 11 PM and 7 AM from any radio, TV, musical i...
Cape Coral, FL
Cape Coral Land Development Code Section 5.2.7 limits residential fences in the front setback, allows up to 6 feet in side and rear yards, and requires open ...
Cape Coral, FL
Dogs in Cape Coral must be under direct control on a leash not exceeding 8 feet in length under Lee County Animal Control Ordinance. Cape Coral Code Chapter ...
Cape Coral, FL
Cape Coral generally allows lawn ornaments, statues, flamingos, garden gnomes, and similar decorative items without a permit. Cape Coral Code Section 5.5.13 ...
Cape Coral, FL
Inflatable holiday displays (giant snowmen, Halloween figures, Easter bunnies) are not specifically regulated by Cape Coral's Code of Ordinances and are gene...
Cape Coral, FL
Cape Coral does not have a dedicated holiday-light ordinance and treats seasonal lighting as a normal residential accessory use, generally allowed without a ...
Side-by-side rule comparisons with other cities in Lee County.
See how Cape Coral's primary-residence-only rule rules stack up against other locations.
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