St. Petersburg, FL

An above-ground pool taller than 12 inches above grade must sit at least 5 feet from side, street-side and rear property lines, and at least 8 feet from a waterfront property line or…

Hot tubs and spas in St. Petersburg are treated as pools under Florida law and require building permits, electrical inspections, and either an approved safety cover or compliant…

Home-based artist businesses in St. Petersburg's Artist Enclave Overlay District (AEOD) can post a window, wall, or projecting sign, but only one, only up to four square feet, and…

A St. Petersburg home-based business can only receive customers or clients by appointment, per City Code § 16.50.180.4.D, unless the operator gets a parking plan approved by the…

Cottage food operations in St. Petersburg are governed primarily by Florida Statute 500.80, which preempts most local rules but still requires compliance with Section 16.50.180…

St. Petersburg requires a home occupation to hold a City business tax receipt under Code § 16.50.180.3, and limits staffing to residents of the dwelling plus up to two non-resident…

Family day care homes in St. Petersburg follow Florida Statute 402.313 and Pinellas County licensing, plus the City's home-occupation rules under Section 16.50.180 for residential…

St. Petersburg limits when construction equipment can run near homes: weekdays 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays and holidays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., under City Code…

Loud exhausts, modified mufflers, and car stereos audible at 25 feet or more are prohibited under FL 316.272 (state law) and St. Petersburg Code Chapter 11. Cruising and street…

St. Petersburg cannot regulate how loud aircraft are, that field belongs to the FAA, so its code instead controls what gets built near the airport. New residential units and new…

St. Petersburg exempts power tools and lawn and garden equipment, including leaf blowers, from the citywide noise ordinance only between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Monday through…

Where amplified sound is the primary, permitted use of an outdoor property, a live-music venue, Section 11-53(4)c allows it to stay plainly audible up to 3,000 feet from the source…

St. Petersburg makes it unlawful to keep a dog that barks frequently between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., or barks continuously for ten minutes or more at any time, treating it as a dog…

St. Petersburg's catch-all noise table in Section 11-54 tightens the property-line audibility standard every night: sound from a residential zoning district cannot be plainly audible…

Unincorporated Pinellas County limits industrial noise to 72 dBA and commercial noise to 66 dBA at the property line, dropping to 66 and 60 dBA where the source adjoins a residential…

St. Petersburg treats RVs, campers, boats, trailers and other 'domestic equipment', including any self-propelled vehicle over 20 feet long or 7 feet tall, as banned from the…

St. Petersburg bans overnight parking on any street posted with 'no overnight parking' signage: under City Code § 26-138, no vehicle may sit on a marked street between 2:00 a.m. and…

St. Petersburg requires new commercial and multifamily projects with 20 or more parking spaces to include EV-ready electrical infrastructure, while statewide preemption limits how the…

St. Petersburg publishes no towing rate table of its own. City Code § 26-48 makes the City's wrecker contract, not an ordinance schedule and not a council resolution, the document that…

St. Petersburg confines residential parking to a 'legally recognized' driveway or permeable parking area under City Code Section 16.40.100.3. Asphalt and poured concrete surfaces must…

St. Petersburg reserves marked loading zones strictly for active loading and unloading, and caps even a legitimate delivery stop at 30 minutes. City Code § 26-145(b) makes any other…

St. Petersburg bans storing an abandoned, disabled or inoperative motor vehicle outside a fully enclosed structure on any private or public property. City Code § 8-201 lets the POD tow…

St. Petersburg lets residents of five designated Residential Permit Parking Areas, the downtown Core, Dome and a Northeast zone, buy a $15.00 annual sticker under City Code § 26-168…

St. Petersburg limits residential lots to two pieces of 'domestic equipment', RVs, boats, trailers, jet skis, parked outside a garage, capped at 35 feet long, eight feet wide and 12…

St. Petersburg requires drivers to leave at least ten feet of roadway clear for traffic when parking on a street or alley, per City Code § 26-136, and the City's parking-fine schedule…

In unincorporated Pinellas County, every accessible parking space must be outlined in blue paint and posted with an above-grade disabled-parking sign, kept repainted by the property…

St. Petersburg bars accessory dwelling units from operating as short-term rentals: City Code § 16.50.010.4 says an ADU "shall not be utilized as a transient accommodation use," defined…

Converting a front-facing garage into an ADU or accessory living space is allowed, but City Code § 16.50.010.5.2 requires removing the garage door, building a matching architectural…

St. Petersburg allows one exempt storage shed per single-family lot: § 16.50.020.4.1 waives architectural-matching rules for sheds 100 sq ft/under 10 ft tall, or up to 200 sq ft/10 ft…

St. Petersburg permits accessory dwelling units in many residential districts under Land Development Regulations Sec. 16.50.010, with size, lot, parking, and design rules expanded by…

Unincorporated Pinellas has no general tiny-home ordinance. Tiny homes are permitted only inside a special-exception redevelopment of a legally nonconforming mobile home park in a…

Pinellas County requires that either the primary house or the accessory dwelling unit on a single-family lot be owner-occupied before an ADU can operate, per Code § 138-3210(c)(1)c…

St. Petersburg charges a building permit fee for masonry fences and walls under City Code § 12-6, $150.00 up to 300 linear feet, $250.00 beyond that, payable before the permit is…

St. Petersburg caps most retaining walls at 18 inches above grade under the zoning encroachment table, and requires a separate POD construction permit for any seawall, bulkhead…

St. Petersburg's Fence, Wall and Hedge Regulations flatly prohibit barbed wire on any residential use, any mixed-use with a residential component, any residentially-zoned property, DC…

When a fence, wall or hedge sits on a St. Petersburg property line, Section 16.40.040.5.F.2 makes the owner or occupant of that property responsible for maintaining both sides, but it…

St. Petersburg caps a residential side, street-side, or rear yard privacy fence or wall at six feet, ten feet for a hedge in that same yard, while front yards are held to four feet…

A veterinary office in St. Petersburg may board animals only incidentally, and City Code § 16.50.230.3 requires those boarding facilities be soundproof, air-conditioned, and fully…

St. Petersburg cannot restrict dogs based on breed under Florida Statute 767.14 as amended in 2023, but the city still enforces Chapter 4 dangerous and aggressive dog rules based on…

St. Petersburg caps household pets at five adult-dog-equivalents at a single-family residence and three at a multi-family residence, for animals kept on site more than 24 hours. Dogs…

St. Petersburg outlaws keeping any poisonous reptile, dangerous or carnivorous wild animal, or vicious domesticated animal within City limits. Anyone who does hold a State-required…

St. Petersburg allows up to ten chickens or other fowl per property in a securely fenced coop no taller than six feet or larger than 130 square feet, set back from the front yard and…

Feeding wildlife that creates a public nuisance is prohibited in St. Petersburg, and Florida FAC 68A-4.001 bans feeding pelicans, sandhill cranes, bears, raccoons, foxes, and coyotes…

St. Petersburg bans pet stores from selling dogs, cats or rabbits at retail, and bars anyone from selling them on streets, public property or commercial parking lots. Hobby breeders…

St. Petersburg bars dogs from running loose on another person's property without permission and caps park leashes at six feet under Sec. 4-55, while still allowing off-leash walking in…

St. Petersburg doesn't license cats, but § 4-5 makes it unlawful to own or keep a cat that becomes a nuisance: one that's noisy at odd hours, vicious toward people or animals, digs up…

Beekeeping in St. Petersburg is preempted by Florida Statute 586 and FDACS rules, allowing residential hives that follow state Best Management Requirements with FDACS registration.

Pinellas County doesn't mandate spay/neuter for every pet, but a dog impounded twice for running at-large within 24 months must be sterilized before its second redemption, and all…

Pinellas County has no general pet microchip law, but every registered guard dog used by a guard service in the county must be permanently identified by microchip implantation.

Rain barrels and cisterns count as "ancillary equipment" under City Code § 16.50.020.4.2: allowed citywide but subject to the same setback, one-foot ground-height cap, and…

St. Petersburg City Code § 16.40.060.3.1(D) normally caps sod and turfgrass at ten inches and other ground cover at 24 inches, but property owners who convert to Florida-Friendly…

St. Petersburg caps grass and weeds at a maximum overall height of 10 inches under City Code § 16.40.060.3.1.D, with ground cover plant material allowed up to 24 inches. The Planning &…

St. Petersburg limits potable-water lawn and landscape irrigation to set hours and, further, to two fixed days a week tied to your street address. Tuesdays/Saturdays for even addresses…

City Code § 16.40.060.3.1.F requires branches over a public sidewalk to clear at least 8 feet, and branches over a street or alley to clear at least 14 feet, and bars trees or shrubs…

When removing a tree drops a St. Petersburg one- or two-unit lot below its minimum tree count, City Code § 16.40.060.5.3.F requires planting a replacement shade tree, or paying $500…

Smoke alarms are required in all St. Petersburg dwelling units under the Florida Building Code and FL §553.883. Rentals must have working alarms on every level, inside each bedroom…

St. Petersburg enforces Florida Chapter 791, which restricts consumer fireworks to designated holidays such as July 4th, December 31st, and January 1st, and otherwise limits residents…

Open burning is illegal anywhere in Pinellas County, incorporated or unincorporated, unless the fire fits a narrow permitted category. Recreational campfires must sit in a fire ring at…

A backyard fire pit in unincorporated Pinellas County needs a cleared burn area at least 15 feet from any structure and at least five feet across, and only clean fuel can go in it.

The Florida Forest Service has statewide jurisdiction over wildfire prevention and suppression on non-municipal land under Chapter 590, Florida Statutes.

St. Petersburg generally limits short-term rental occupancy to two persons per bedroom plus two in a common area, capped at ten persons total per dwelling unit, whichever is less.

St. Petersburg requires off-street parking for short-term rentals, generally one space per three occupants, and prohibits parking on front lawns or unimproved surfaces in residential…

St. Petersburg short-term rental operators must collect 7% Florida sales tax plus 6% Pinellas County Tourist Development Tax on stays of six months or less, in addition to paying for…

Any Pinellas County short term rental, a dwelling rented more than three times a year for stays under 30 days, needs a valid short term rental certificate of use before it can be…

Pinellas County requires every unincorporated short term rental to designate one responsible party under Code § 138-3232(g)(5), reachable by phone 24 hours a day to handle inspections…

Short term rentals in unincorporated Pinellas County must observe quiet hours from 10:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. daily under Code § 138-3232(g)(3), or a stricter hour if the county's general…

St. Petersburg lets developers build extra dwelling units, or gain an exemption from floor-area-ratio limits, in exchange for setting aside workforce housing, under City Code §…

New construction and additions in St. Petersburg's Downtown Center (DC) zoning districts must follow mandatory building-design standards under City Code § 16.20.120.8: an identifiable…

Building or maintaining a structure that reaches into a St. Petersburg public right-of-way or easement, a dock, entry feature, or similar minor accessory structure, requires a minor…

St. Petersburg puts the cost and duty of sidewalk repair on the abutting property owner, not the City. City Code § 25-191 requires the owner to keep the sidewalk next to their property…

St. Petersburg Code § 20-28 bars anyone from standing, sitting, lying, congregating or leaving objects on a sidewalk, walkway or right-of-way so as to block pedestrian movement or a…

Commercial dumpsters and roll-off containers in St. Petersburg must sit where collection trucks can reach and dump them without the driver leaving the cab, and any enclosure built…

Garden trash and tree trimmings must go into the City's bulk garbage container under § 27-500, with trimmings cut to no more than 3 inches in diameter and 4 feet long; stumps, trunks…

Dumping garbage, recyclables, garden trash, or rubbish on someone else's property, in streets, parks, or in any canal, waterway or lake within St. Petersburg is unlawful under §…

St. Petersburg is the exclusive provider of residential garbage and single-stream recycling collection inside city limits: private haulers cannot compete for that business. Bulk…

St. Petersburg residents may set garbage and recycling carts at the curb or alley no earlier than 7 p.m. the evening before collection, must have them out by 7 a.m. on collection day…

St. Petersburg runs the only legal recycling collection in the city. Under City Code § 27-497, only the City may collect single-stream recyclables from single-family homes and…

Residents who pay sanitation charges can self-haul brush, grass clippings, and mixed metals to a City brush disposal site under § 27-505 with no volume limit, but construction debris…

St. Petersburg limits when and where bulk garbage and recycling containers can sit at the curb: out no earlier than 7:00 p.m. the night before collection, back off the curb by 7:00…

Residents of single-family homes and multifamily properties of four units or less who participate in St. Petersburg's single-stream recycling program must use the City-furnished bulk…

St. Petersburg requires any towing service that tows a vehicle parked in the City to accept cash, debit card, or any major credit card from the owner at any point in the tow, before…

St. Petersburg classifies pawnbroking as its own taxed business category under City Code § 17-135, item (104): 'Lending money on personal property, when such property is delivered to…

St. Petersburg requires a City-issued adult use license before operating any adult cabaret, arcade, theater, bookstore, or similar establishment, and separately bars any adult use from…

St. Petersburg taxes secondhand merchants and junk dealers as separate business classifications under the Chapter 17 tax schedule, City Code § 17-135. 'Junk dealers' covers buying or…

St. Petersburg City Code § 20-125 bans self-service merchandising of e-cigarettes and liquid nicotine, requires retailers to check ID before selling to anyone appearing under 27, and…

St. Petersburg treats tattoo parlors and body piercing studios as a distinct land use under the Chapter 16 zoning matrix, City Code § 16.10.020.1, separate from ordinary…

St. Petersburg classifies motor vehicle repair at a residence as a hobby, not a home business, under City Code § 16.50.170.2. The repaired vehicle must belong to the resident or a…

Unincorporated Pinellas County does not license or regulate massage establishments locally. The county code defers entirely to Florida's Board of Massage Therapy and Chapter 480 of the…

St. Petersburg's local amendment to the Florida Building Code Residential requires new and substantially improved homes in flood hazard areas, including Coastal A Zones, to elevate…

St. Petersburg requires a permit before building, expanding or reconstructing a residential or commercial dock under City Code § 16.50.130. Docks must qualify as an accessory use to…

Every development and redevelopment project in St. Petersburg must prepare a drainage and surface water management plan and get it approved by the Planning & Development Services (POD)…

Any development wholly or partly inside a St. Petersburg flood hazard area, new construction, additions, fill, pools, manufactured homes, even tank installation, needs a floodplain…

Lots created through St. Petersburg subdivision platting must be graded so all surface drainage complies with the City's stormwater rules, with a grading plan submitted to the…

Florida regulates construction seaward of the Coastal Construction Control Line through state permits, with uniform standards administered by the Department of Environmental Protection.

St. Petersburg outlaws "aggressive panhandling" anywhere in the City at any time: defined in section 20-79 as soliciting in a way that threatens bodily injury or a crime, persisting…

St. Petersburg bans drinking or carrying an open container of alcohol anywhere in the public right-of-way, streets, sidewalks and alleys, citywide, plus within 500 feet of any bar or…

St. Petersburg bans smoking, vaping and burning any lighted tobacco product on public beaches it owns or controls under Sec. 7-68, with a narrow carve-out for City-approved events…

St. Petersburg bans skateboarding on City streets except to cross at a crosswalk, in public parking garages and their ramps, on disability access ramps, on any property posted with a…

St. Petersburg City Code § 20-123 makes it unlawful to urinate or defecate in any public place, including streets, parks, sidewalks, and beaches. The ban also reaches residential…

Pinellas County bans loitering in or around restrooms, dressing rooms, locker rooms, shower facilities, and parking lots on any county-owned or managed park land.

St. Petersburg exempts film-production street closures from its standard temporary street-closing process. City Code § 16.70.050.1.5 lets the Planning & Development Services Department…

Commercial filming and events facilitated by the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Convention & Visitors Bureau on county property require a permit issued by the county administrator or…

St. Petersburg water customers who report and repair an involuntary leak can get relief on the resulting bill: City Code § 27-6(a) lets a customer apply for an adjustment on usage…

St. Petersburg's Mayor can order reclaimed-water irrigation cut to three days a week for up to 90 days when the reclaimed system needs relief, with hours and a day schedule split by…

St. Petersburg City Code § 16.40.060.1.3 pays builders to skip water-hungry St. Augustine sod: new one- and two-unit homes get a $150.00 refund of their permit fee, and non-residential…

St. Petersburg can designate a building, structure, object, or archaeological site a local landmark if it's at least 50 years old and, among other tests, its value is 'a significant…

St. Petersburg requires a permit from the POD before anyone constructs, adds to, alters, repairs, moves or demolishes any building or structure, including interior renovations. City…

St. Petersburg refunds part of the building permit fee to owners who certify new construction as a green structure under City Code § 12-1: $300.00 for a Florida Green Building…

St. Petersburg requires every convenience store, defined in section 20-60 as a business primarily selling groceries or groceries and gasoline, to install an automatic door lock or…

City Code § 8-166(7) requires a qualified, licensed contractor working under proper permits and final inspections whenever the Development Services Department (POD) finds a building's…

A St. Petersburg child care facility, serving more than five unrelated children under Code § 16.50.070, must screen its playground with a solid fence or wall at least six feet high…

City Code § 8-169(d)(7) makes property owners responsible for keeping the private sewer lateral connecting their building to the city sewer system in good working order, and requires…

St. Petersburg's local amendment to the Florida Building Code, Sec. 8-36, requires the Building Official to inspect permitted work on notification from the permit holder, culminating…

Every Pinellas County short term rental must meet the smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector requirements of the Florida Building Code and the manufacturer's specifications before it…

A bar or restaurant's outdoor deck, where amplified sound is not the primary use of the property, may stay plainly audible up to 1,000 feet under Section 11-53(4)b between 8:00 a.m…

Emergency generators are exempt from the noise article during an actual emergency, and testing is exempt only between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., using minimum test time, no more than…

St. Petersburg bars operating pool, air conditioning or air-handling equipment that isn't in good working condition and is plainly audible 100 feet or more from the equipment, at any…

Unincorporated Pinellas County caps low-frequency bass noise at 65 dB in the 31.5 to 500 Hertz octave bands whenever it's detectable on a neighboring parcel.

St. Petersburg City Code § 16.40.060.2.1.2(A) requires every required front yard and street-side yard on one- and two-unit lots to stay permeable, landscaped, vegetative green space…

St. Petersburg City Code § 16.40.060.2.1.6(D) makes it unlawful to plant, cause to be planted, or sell or offer for sale nine listed exotic and nuisance tree species citywide…

St. Petersburg forces every digital billboard to run a light-sensing dimmer that caps brightness against ambient light, bans glare that blinds drivers, and requires the sign to fail…

Where a multi-family or nonresidential property abuts a home or residential zone, City Code § 16.40.070.4.A.2 requires outdoor light fixtures to either sit back the minimum distance…

St. Petersburg requires new outdoor light fixtures to be full cut-off and shielded so they don't spill glare onto neighboring homes. City Code Section 16.40.070 sets setback and…

St. Petersburg's Land Development Code treats lawn ornaments, fountains and other yard décor as a minor encroachment: they may sit anywhere on the lot except within three feet of a…

St. Petersburg requires every business, profession, or occupation operating in the City to pay a business tax before opening, under City Code § 17-124. A business is taxed separately…

St. Petersburg requires every convenience store to run a security camera system able to record and retrieve images for identifying and catching offenders, with at least one camera…

St. Petersburg's housing minimum standards require rental buildings to be screened against mosquitoes, flies and other pests, and put extermination duty on the owner. City Code §…

Pinellas County authorizes a contracted, single-operator sterile needle and syringe exchange program under F.S. § 381.0038(4). The operator exchanges used needles one-for-one at fixed…

St. Petersburg bans sleeping, lying or reclining during daylight hours, sunrise to sunset, within two large downtown/waterfront zones and the municipal pier district. Section 20-73…

St. Petersburg bans sleeping or camping in the right-of-way, including sidewalks, and public camping as defined by Florida Statutes § 125.0231, citywide. Before citing anyone, an…

St. Petersburg's land development code sorts regulated trees into size classes at City Code § 16.90.020.3: a Protected tree is any shade tree 4+ inches dbh or understory tree 8+ inches…

Trees rated "Excellent" under the county's grading system, including those with historical significance or rare species, get the strictest removal limits: only for lot access, utility…

Any block party, parade or other outdoor public assembly on a St. Petersburg street or sidewalk needs an outdoor public assembly permit from the Chief of Police, filed at least 30 days…

St. Petersburg City Code § 21-31 requires a park permit from the POD before selling goods, posting signs or banners, using a loudspeaker or generator, or holding any gathering…

Anyone wanting to hold a parade, rally, concert or other outdoor public assembly on a St. Petersburg street or sidewalk must file a permit application with the Chief of Police under…

Setting up to sell goods or solicit business on a St. Petersburg street, sidewalk or other City property requires a written permit from the Planning and Economic Development Department…

St. Petersburg requires a permit before anyone operates a sidewalk café or places café furniture on a public sidewalk or right-of-way, under City Code § 16.50.370.4. Permits go only to…

St. Petersburg limits right-of-way pushcart vending to a defined downtown corridor between Bayshore Drive and 8th Street and between 5th Avenue North and 5th Avenue South. Carts need a…

Every mobile food truck in St. Petersburg needs a City business tax receipt and a vehicle built specifically for vending under City Code § 16.50.440.3.2, plus insurance the Planning &…

St. Petersburg allows class I mobile food trucks on public rights-of-way citywide except in the downtown center zoning districts, where curbside vending is banned unless covered by a…

HOA assessments under FL 720.3085 create a priority lien on the property. Unpaid assessments accrue interest at 18% or the rate set in declarations, and the HOA can foreclose after…

Under Fla. Stat. § 720.303(2), Florida HOA board meetings must be open to members with notice posted at least 48 hours ahead. Section 720.306 governs member meetings and elections, §…

Under Fla. Stat. §§ 720.303 and 720.3035, a Florida HOA enforces its recorded covenants and architectural standards, but only where authority is stated or reasonably inferred in the…

Florida Statute 163.04 bars homeowner association deed restrictions and local ordinances from prohibiting clotheslines, solar collectors, or other renewable-resource energy devices in…

Florida law bars HOA declarations, articles, and bylaws from prohibiting Florida-friendly landscaping, defined by statute as drought-tolerant, water-conserving design. Section…

Florida law bars homeowners associations from stopping owners from flying up to two flags, each no larger than 4 1/2 by 6 feet, including the U.S. flag, Florida's state flag, military…

Under Fla. Stat. § 720.305, a Florida HOA may fine up to $100 per violation and $1,000 in the aggregate unless the governing documents allow more. The association must give at least 14…

A Florida association can foreclose an assessment lien in the same manner a mortgage is foreclosed, but only after two separate 45-day notices, and fines are largely off limits: a…

Florida limits how homeowners' associations can restrict renting out a home, but only in communities governed by Chapter 720, not condos or co-ops. Under Fla. Stat. § 720.306(1)(h), a…

City Code § 8-203 bars a St. Petersburg landlord from letting or re-letting a rental unit once a Codes Investigator, Fire Official, or POD designee has served notice of a code…

St. Petersburg has no rent control ordinance. Florida preempts all local rent control under Fla. Stat. Sec. 125.0103, and the 2023 Live Local Act (SB 102) eliminated the…

Fla. Stat. § 83.56 requires a 3-day notice to pay rent or vacate for nonpayment, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays from the count. For lease violations, the landlord…

Florida's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Chapter 83 Part II, exclusively defines lawful eviction grounds and procedures statewide, preempting cities from adding just-cause…

Under Fla. Stat. § 83.53, a Florida landlord must give at least 24 hours' notice to enter for repairs and may enter only at reasonable times, defined as between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m…

For a month-to-month tenancy, Fla. Stat. § 83.57 now requires 30 days' written notice (raised from 15 days by 2023's HB 1417). Breaking a fixed-term lease triggers landlord remedies…

Florida has no rent control and no statute setting a maximum rent increase or a dedicated advance-notice period. On a month-to-month tenancy, a new rent takes effect only through the…

Florida Statute 509.032(7) preempts local regulation of vacation rental bans, duration, and frequency, while FS 83.425 (2023) preempts local regulation of residential tenancies…

Florida places no dollar limit on residential security deposits, but it enforces tight deadlines. If the landlord makes no claim, the deposit must be returned within 15 days of…

Adverse possession in Florida requires 7 years of actual, continued, exclusive possession plus paying all taxes within a year and filing a return with the property appraiser (Fla…

St. Petersburg can order an unfit or unsafe structure repaired, secured, demolished or removed. City Code § 8-265(a) authorizes the POD to order that action when inadequate…

City Code § 8-205 makes it unlawful to place, leave, dump, or let garbage, rubbish, or trash accumulate on any vacant or unimproved land in St. Petersburg if it could feed or shelter…

St. Petersburg allows garage, patio, driveway, porch and yard sales as an accessory use in any zoning district that permits single- or multifamily dwellings, under City Code §…

St. Petersburg limits garage-sale advertising to one sign of no more than four square feet per property under City Code § 16.50.160.4, and that sign can only be displayed during…

St. Petersburg caps non-illuminated window signs at 50 percent of a window's total pane area under City Code Section 16.40.120.10, and a sign within that limit is exempt from sign…

St. Petersburg only allows new digital billboards along the interstate, and only under a City agreement that removes at least ten static billboards for every converted digital face…

Unincorporated Pinellas County only allows off-premises billboards on industrial-zoned land fronting I-275 or other federal-aid highways, capped at 50 feet tall and spaced at least…

Unincorporated Pinellas County treats yard political signs as temporary signs: event-related signs must come down within three days, and all others within 30 days of being erected.

St. Petersburg runs an Intersection Public Safety Program under City Code §§ 26-301–26-310: traffic infraction detectors supplement police enforcement of signal violations, and a…

Shared scooter and e-bike operators need a City micromobility license, plus $5 million in general liability coverage, before deploying any devices in St. Petersburg, and every trip…

St. Petersburg requires micromobility devices and motorized scooters, shared and privately owned, to stay off sidewalks and use bike lanes wherever they exist under City Code §…

Pinellas County treats Class 1, 2, and 3 electric bicycles as ordinary bicycles on county-owned parks and trails, restricting them to designated bike trails and banning boardwalks…

Florida flips the usual assumption: a golf cart is barred from public roads unless a county, a municipality, or a water control district has affirmatively designated that road for cart…

St. Petersburg no longer runs a citywide rental housing inspection program. An editor's note in the City Code confirms that Ordinance No. 362-H, § 1, adopted March 7, 2019, repealed…

St. Petersburg protects tenants who let City inspectors into a rental unit. City Code § 8-203(a)(1) bars owners from evicting, refusing to renew or otherwise retaliating against a…

St. Petersburg City Code § 21-40 closes most City parks from 30 minutes after sunset until 30 minutes before sunrise, while a listed group of parks and boat ramps, including Vinoy…

Pinellas County minors are subject to Florida Statute Sec. 877.22, restricting under-18 presence in public places overnight and during school suspension hours, with warnings then civil…

St. Petersburg's Land Development Code sets a specific setback for permanently installed outdoor barbecues, grills and kitchens up to ten feet tall: at least five feet from the side or…

In St. Petersburg's Corridor Residential Traditional districts, City Code § 16.20.060.6 caps building height, measured to the top of the roof peak, at 36 feet in CRT-1 and 48 feet in…

St. Petersburg's traditional single-family (NT) zoning districts set minimum yard setbacks that scale with building height under City Code § 16.20.010.6. NT-1 and NT-2 lots require a…

In unincorporated Pinellas County's R-1 Single-Family Residential District, Code § 138-368.1 caps the impervious surface ratio at 0.75 of net lot area for residential development. That…

Commercial drone pilots operating in St. Petersburg must hold an FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate, register their aircraft, and obtain park-system permits before takeoff or…

Recreational drones over Pinellas County are governed primarily by FAA rules and Florida Statute 330.41, with county authority limited to take-off, landing, and nuisance enforcement.

On county-owned or managed parks and preserves in unincorporated Pinellas County, no drone may take off or land without written permission from the Parks and Conservation Resources…

Home cultivation of cannabis is illegal in St. Petersburg under Florida Statute 381.986 and FS 893.13, with no city exception for medical patients or recreational users.

Pinellas County treats medical marijuana dispensing facilities as pharmacies under Florida Statute 381.986, applying the state 500-foot school setback while otherwise allowing them in…

Florida Statute 163.04 (Solar Rights Act) preempts St. Petersburg HOAs from banning solar panels, allowing only limited placement guidance that does not impair operation.

Solar energy systems are an allowed accessory use throughout unincorporated Pinellas County, but they must meet district lot-size and setback rules, plus extra height and glare…

Door-to-door solicitors in St. Petersburg generally need a Pinellas County Home Solicitation Permit and must comply with Florida Statute 501.022 and city soliciting ordinances.

St. Petersburg bans door-to-door peddlers, canvassers, and solicitors from knocking or ringing a bell at any home displaying a 'No Peddlers or Solicitors' sign, and bans all such…

Pinellas County levies a 6 percent tourist development tax on rentals of 6 months or less at hotels, motels, condos, timeshares, RV parks and mobile home parks, countywide including…

Pinellas County's Land Development Code treats commercial farming, raising crops, livestock, poultry or dairy for sale, as its own zoning use under § 138-3330, separate from backyard…

Florida Statute 823.14, the Florida Right to Farm Act, protects established bona fide farm operations from nuisance suits and local ordinances that would inhibit standard agricultural…

Florida Statute 218.077 prohibits local governments from establishing a minimum wage other than the state or federal rate, preempting city and county living-wage ordinances except for…

Florida Statute 509.032(7) and broader employment preemption framework prevent local governments from requiring private employers to follow predictive or fair-scheduling rules beyond…

Florida allows permitless concealed carry of firearms by law-abiding adults under FS 790.01 and continues to issue concealed weapon licenses through FS 790.06, with both regimes…

Florida Statute 790.33 expressly preempts the entire field of firearm and ammunition regulation to the state, voiding all local ordinances and imposing personal civil penalties on…

Florida's open carry ban (FS 790.053) was struck down by the First District Court of Appeal in McDaniels v. State on September 10, 2025. The Florida Attorney General issued guidance on…

Florida Statute 790.25(5) allows any law-abiding person 18 or older to possess a concealed firearm in a private vehicle for self-defense, provided the firearm is securely encased or…

Florida cardrooms operate only inside licensed pari-mutuel facilities, dog tracks, horse tracks, and jai alai frontons, under a license from the Florida Gaming Control Commission. Fla…

Florida lets charitable, nonprofit, and veterans' organizations run bingo without applying for any state gaming license: the statute itself sets the eligibility bar and the limits. A…

Florida law exempts small-stakes card and tile games from gambling crimes under Fla. Stat. § 849.085, but only under strict conditions: winnings per hand can't exceed $10, the game…

Sports wagering is legal in Florida only through the Seminole Tribe's Hard Rock Bet platform, authorized under the state's gaming compact codified at Fla. Stat. § 285.710(13)(b)7…

Florida allows sobriety checkpoints, and the discretion of the individual trooper is what gets constrained. Fla. Stat. § 321.05(1) gives Florida Highway Patrol officers the power to…

Florida is an all-party consent state, but that rule reaches less far than it sounds. Fla. Stat. § 934.03(2)(d) makes interception lawful only when every party consents, while §…

Florida has no general stop-and-identify statute. The Florida Stop and Frisk Law, Fla. Stat. § 901.151(2), lets an officer temporarily detain you to ascertain your identity when…

Florida wrote the automobile exception into its statutes in 1927. Fla. Stat. § 933.19 adopts the United States Supreme Court's decision of March 2, 1925 in the Carroll case, reported…

Florida Statute 403.7033 preempts the regulation of disposable plastic bags by local governments, prohibiting cities and counties from enacting bans or fees on retailers pending a…

Florida Statute 500.90 preempts the regulation of polystyrene products by local governments, blocking cities and counties from banning expanded polystyrene foam food containers, cups…

Florida Statute 569.101 prohibits the sale or delivery of tobacco and nicotine products to persons under 21, aligning with federal law and applying uniformly statewide under the…

Florida is one of the states that says yes to underbody lighting in so many words. Fla. Stat. § 316.235(3) provides that any motor vehicle may be equipped with one or more lamps or…

Florida does not give dash cameras a windshield carve-out. Fla. Stat. § 316.2952(2) is written as a closed list of exactly four things that may be attached to, or located in or upon, a…

Florida bans lane splitting in so many words. Fla. Stat. section 316.209(3) states that no person shall operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows…

Florida treats an obscured plate as a crime, not a ticket. Fla. Stat. section 320.061(1) makes it unlawful to apply or attach any substance, reflective matter, illuminated device…

A driver of a private passenger vehicle may use a radar detector in Florida. No section of the Florida Statutes prohibits owning, carrying or operating one, and chapter 316, which…

Florida does not ban studded tires and does not restrict them to a winter season. The one wheel-surface provision in the traffic code, Fla. Stat. section 316.299, prohibits driving on…

Florida sets a separate light transmittance floor for each piece of glass rather than one statewide number. Side wings and side windows forward of or next to the driver must pass at…