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.
Lee County, FL
Backyard composting is allowed in Lee County; no ordinance prohibits a residential compost pile. Yard waste (grass, leaves, brush) is collected separately th...
Lee County, FL
Lee County's Land Development Code does not authorize synthetic turf as a substitute for required living landscaping, so it generally does not count toward d...
Lee County, FL
Lee County's development landscape standards require a large share of native Florida trees and shrubs from Appendix E, and Florida law (FS 373.185) bars HOAs...
Lee County, FL
Lee County does not restrict residential rainwater harvesting. Under water Ordinance No. 24-01, rain barrels, cisterns, and other rain-harvesting devices may...
Lee County, FL
Unincorporated Lee County limits landscape irrigation to set days by address and bans watering from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. year-round under Ordinance No. 24-01, su...
Lee County, FL
The Lee County Lot Mowing Ordinance (No. 14-08) declares grasses and weeds over 12 inches on lots a nuisance in unincorporated areas. The County notices owne...
See how Lee County's primary-residence-only rule rules stack up against other locations.
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