Sarasota County, FL Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)

29 dwelling units per acre of Developed Area. Beyond transferring development rights from sending zones, a builder can add density through the Residential Dwelling Unit Incentive at Sec. 0 incentive unit for every unit at or below 120 percent AMI. The underlying Village Affordable Housing Incentives program (Sec. 5) requires two-thirds of the affordable units in a Village to serve households at or below 80 percent AMI, one-sixth at or below 100 percent AMI, and one-sixth at or below 120 percent AMI, and a home only counts as affordable if total housing costs stay at or below 30 percent of the household's gross income (the Board can raise that to 40 percent if 30-year mortgage rates hit 9 percent).

External design cannot be relaxed for the affordable units, they must be dispersed throughout the Village rather than clustered, and every development phase must include some. Rental units must stay at an affordable rate for five years from the certificate of occupancy, with increases capped to the Consumer Price Index during that window. The applicant must submit an affordable housing administration plan as part of its Master Land Use Plan review and file an annual monitoring report on sale/rental prices and income verification, which the County can fold into a Development of Regional Impact annual report where one applies.