Upper Grand Lagoon, FL

Bay County makes it a citable nuisance for an owner or caretaker to let a dog, cat or other animal bark, howl or make continuous noise for 30 minutes or longer without an enclosure…

Bay County caps sound levels measured at a neighboring property line by zoning district and time of day: 60 dBA daytime and 55 dBA nighttime in residential and conservation zones…

Bay County has no leaf-blower ban. Blowers count as domestic power tools, allowed 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. in every zoning district under the noise ordinance (Sec. 17-72(i)(3)). Running one…

Unincorporated Bay County drops its outdoor sound limit from 60 dBA to 55 dBA at neighboring property lines in residential and conservation areas once the clock hits 10:00 p.m., under…

Bay County exempts construction, repair, demolition and pile-driving noise from its general noise-nuisance rules only during set hours: 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. in residential and…

Bay County bars sound production devices - speakers, instruments, amplifiers - audible 200 feet from their source (Sec. 17-72(f)). Seasonal-resort zones allow amplified music until 11…

Bay County caps short-term vacation rental occupancy at one person per 150 square feet of gross floor area, based on the state fire marshal's formula. The limit must be posted inside…

A Bay County vacation rental owes about 12%: Florida's 6% state sales tax, a 1% county surtax, and Bay County's 5% Tourist Development Tax. Unlike most counties, Airbnb and Vrbo do NOT…

Vacation-rental guests follow the same noise rules as residents. In unincorporated Bay County that means the property-line decibel caps and 200-foot audibility limit of Sec. 17-72…

Florida preempts local vacation-rental bans under Fla. Stat. 509.032(7)(b), so Bay County can't prohibit STRs or cap their length. Unincorporated Bay County (Ord. 23-18) and Panama…

Every dog or cat adopted from Bay County animal services must be microchipped, vaccinated and sterilized before release to its new owner. If a health issue delays surgery, the adopter…

Bay County prohibits animals from running at large off the owner's property. Under Section 4-43, an owner must restrain any animal from being at-large, and dogs are barred from public…

Florida bars keeping captive wildlife without a state permit. Section 379.3762 makes it unlawful to possess any wildlife, native or not, until the owner holds a permit from the Fish…

Beekeeping is lawful throughout Bay County, and Florida preempts local hive bans. Section 586.10 gives the state exclusive authority to regulate and permit managed honeybee colonies…

Breed-specific dog bans are prohibited in Florida, so Bay County cannot outlaw any breed. Section 767.14 lets local governments regulate dangerous dogs but bars any rule specific to…

Bay County requires a permit, a fee set by the county commission, and compliance with the Florida Fire Protection Code before anyone can light a bonfire on the sand beach. Fires must…

Before Bay County will issue a permit for a mobile or manufactured home more than ten years old, the home must pass a pre-inspection confirming, among other things, that listed smoke…

Bay County bans open burning countywide the moment the county manager declares a ban, triggered by drought index readings of 500 or higher, a Red Flag Warning, or the Florida Forest…

Consumer fireworks are legal in Bay County only on July 4, December 31, and January 1 under Fla. Stat. §791.08. The county can set hours and locations the rest of the year but cannot…

Bay County treats more than one unregistered, disabled or inoperable vehicle or watercraft kept on a lot or right-of-way as a public nuisance. Sec. 17-1 defines the term and Sec. 17-2…

Florida's Uniform Traffic Control Law, enforced on every street in unincorporated Bay County, bars parking in front of a driveway, within 15 feet of a fire hydrant, within 20 feet of a…

In unincorporated Bay County, a county permit is required only to remove a protected oak (30-inch trunk) in the Urban or Suburban Service Area. Pines are unprotected at any size, and…

Bay County lists "any excessive accumulation of overgrowth upon any developed or improved property" as a code nuisance under Sec. 17-1(5). There's no numeric height cap in the…

Bay County encourages Florida-Friendly, native, drought-tolerant landscaping. State law protects your right to replace turf with native plantings, and an HOA cannot prohibit it. Native…

Bay County lies in the Northwest Florida Water Management District, the only Florida district with no mandatory two-day-per-week watering schedule. Watering is largely unrestricted…

Florida's Home-Based Business Act, Fla. Stat. §559.955, bars Bay County, Panama City, and Panama City Beach from banning or singling out home-based businesses. A home occupation is…

A family day care home is a valid residential use in Bay County under Fla. Stat. §125.0109, and providers register or license with the Florida Department of Children and Families. No…

Fla. Stat. §500.80 lets Bay County residents sell homemade, shelf-stable foods direct to consumers, and ship them, earning up to $250,000 a year with no state food permit. Local…

Every residential pool in Bay County must have a barrier at least four feet high with gates that open outward, self-close, and self-latch. Florida's Residential Swimming Pool Safety…

Bay County requires a building permit for every in-ground pool and spa, and for above-ground pools deeper than 24 inches. Building Services reviews setbacks, electrical, drainage, and…

Bay County does not require a permit to build a fence in the unincorporated county, though the Section 1305 restrictions on height, hedges, and corner visibility still apply…

Tow operators working unincorporated Bay County cannot charge more than the maximum rates the county commission sets by resolution. Whether a vehicle is pulled from private property…

Bay County requires anyone selling and applying temporary tattoos in the unincorporated area to post a specific health-warning sign, at least 18 by 24 inches, near the tattoo customer…

Bay County requires every employee of a sexually oriented business, bookstores, adult clubs, adult theaters and massage establishments as defined at § 3.5-63, to hold a sheriff-issued…

Unincorporated Bay County requires new buildings, structures and manufactured homes in flood hazard areas to sit at or above the base flood elevation plus one foot of freeboard. The…

Bay County's Floodplain Management Ordinance requires a floodplain development permit for any construction, fill, grading or utility work wholly or partly within a mapped flood hazard…

Building or altering a stormwater system in Bay County requires an Environmental Resource Permit. Under Fla. Stat. §373.413, the Northwest Florida Water Management District permits…

Erosion and sediment control in Bay County runs through the Environmental Resource Permit. Under Fla. Stat. §373.413, land clearing and construction that alters a stormwater system…

Panama City Beach and Mexico Beach front the Gulf of Mexico. Under Fla. Stat. §161.053, an FDEP permit is required to build, excavate, or alter ground seaward of the coastal…

Bay County levies a five percent tourist development tax on hotels, motels and any rental of living quarters for six months or less within the special tax district. The tax stacks the…

Bay County bans drinking or holding an open alcoholic beverage in street rights-of-way, public parking lots and unpermitted commercial parking lots inside the Beaches Area Special…

Bay County bans unlawful assembly, defined as three or more people loitering, prowling, standing or gathering, on the Porter Bridge and State Road 20 Bridge over Econfina Creek. Sec…

Bay County makes it unlawful to host a "nuisance party," defined as any gathering involving disorderly conduct, underage drinking, illegal drugs, unlawful noise, property damage or…

Bay County Fire Services can inspect any certified short-term vacation rental's interior at its discretion. Owners who fail three inspection attempts or are denied entry face…

Bay County bans window signs entirely at adult oriented businesses, adult novelty stores, tattoo shops and body piercing parlors, inside its Hathaway Bridge-to-Buchanan Bridge tourism…

Bay County enforces electrical work through the 'Bay County Electrical Code,' which adopts the current National Electrical Code as incorporated into the Florida Building Code. An…

Bay County has adopted the Florida Building Code in toto as the Bay County Building Code, so any construction, alteration or repair covered by that code needs a permit from the county…

Bay County requires a special event permit before anyone stages a qualifying assembly in the unincorporated area, but a parade on a public street lasting two hours or less is not…

Anyone granted a Bay County special event permit must post the name, address and phone number of every vendor, artist or entertainer on site, on a form supplied by the county manager…

Dumping, leaving or burying solid waste on public or private land without the owner's written consent is banned outright in Bay County under Code Sec. 22-91, and so is letting trash…

Dumpsters, garbage cans and other refuse containers can't be visible to ground-level pedestrians within 115 feet of the centerline of Thomas Drive, Front Beach Road, or the Hathaway…

Every property owner in unincorporated Bay County must funnel their solid waste through the county's own disposal and resource recovery system, Code Sec. 22-85 makes that exclusive…

Bulk pickup depends on your private hauler in unincorporated Bay County. Otherwise self-haul furniture, appliances, and debris to the Steelfield Road Landfill or the Bayline Drive…

Florida sets counties a 75% recycling goal, not a homeowner mandate, so no Bay County resident is fined for skipping recycling. It comes as a hauler add-on or county drop-off, not a…

Posting a sign reading "No Peddlers Allowed" or "No Solicitations Allowed" makes it unlawful for any peddler to step onto that property under Bay County Code Sec. 19-30. The same…

Anyone peddling goods door-to-door in unincorporated Bay County must get a permit under Code Sec. 19-51 first, pay a $50.00 application fee, and clear a Florida Department of Law…

Bay County makes it unlawful to camp overnight on Gulf beaches, in public parks, or in any other public area of the unincorporated county. Sec. 15-47 defines camping broadly, covering…

Bay County treats blighted property and any "unfit or unsafe structure" as a code nuisance. Sec. 17-1 defines both terms broadly, and Sec. 17-2.1 requires owners of vacant buildings to…

Bay County protects historic, specimen, champion, and heritage trees, all oaks of 30-inch trunk diameter. Historic and specimen trees are designated by the County Commission at public…

Florida preempts local drone regulation to the state under Fla. Stat. section 330.41, so Bay County cannot restrict flight. Recreational flyers follow FAA rules: register over 250…

Florida law makes home cultivation of medical marijuana a crime everywhere in Bay County, including the unincorporated county, Panama City and Panama City Beach. Fla. Stat. §…

Only medical marijuana dispensaries are allowed. Under Fla. Stat. §381.986(11), Bay County and its cities may ban dispensaries or apply pharmacy-equivalent location rules, but may not…

Bay County's Gulf beaches are sea-turtle nesting habitat, so beachfront lighting is regulated to protect hatchlings. Under Florida's coastal-lighting law and Panama City Beach's…

Rooftop solar is protected across Bay County. Under Fla. Stat. §163.04, no local ordinance may prohibit installing solar collectors. A homeowner still needs building and electrical…

Florida Statute 163.04 strips Bay County homeowners associations of the power to ban solar collectors, clotheslines, or other renewable-energy devices. Any deed restriction, covenant…

Bay County cannot cap or freeze rents on private rental housing. Fla. Stat. § 125.0103(2) (2023) bars every Florida county, municipality, and local government entity from adopting a…

Bay County landlords do not need a just cause to end a residential tenancy. Fla. Stat. § 83.425 (2023) strips every Florida county, municipality and local entity of authority over…

Florida preempts food-truck licensing to the state. Under Fla. Stat. §509.102, Bay County and its cities cannot require a separate local license or ban trucks jurisdiction-wide…

Florida lets counties and cities adopt a juvenile curfew by incorporating Fla. Stat. sections 877.20-877.25, under which a minor (under 16) may not be in a public place after 11 p.m…