Highlands County, FL Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)
Key Facts
- Density cap
- Up to max density under future land use designation
- Affordability condition
- Above 9 units/acre must be low/very-low-income housing
- Sending land rate
- 1 dwelling per 5 acres, agricultural sending land
- Minimum sending parcel
- 10 acres for agricultural sending sites
- BCC approval threshold
- Density transfers over 20 units need BCC approval
Summary
A parcel in unincorporated Highlands County can build beyond its comprehensive-plan starting density by becoming a designated Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) receiving area and buying rights off protected sending land. Highlands County Code § 12.13.305(B) caps that residential density bonus at the maximum density allowed by the future land use designation, with a low/very-low-income housing condition above nine units per acre.
B.Residential density bonus. Approved flexible unit development receiving areas may receive a density up to the maximum density allowed by the future land use designation. Residential development at a density greater that nine dwelling units per acre shall be for low/very low income housing as defined by the comprehensive plan.
Full Breakdown
Division 3 of article 13 creates the county's TDR program to protect environmentally sensitive sending lands, such as wetlands, cutthroatgrass seeps and xeric uplands, while letting other parcels absorb the resulting density. 304 sets the sending side: residential rights transfer from agricultural land at one dwelling per five acres, with a minimum ten-acre parcel for agricultural sending sites, and a conservation or agriculture easement is recorded against the sending parcel once rights are sold. 305(A) sets the receiving-area test: the parcel must sit within a residential urban land use designation on the comprehensive plan and zoning atlas, be compatible with surrounding uses, and meet all concurrency requirements.
305(B) lets an approved flexible unit development receiving area build up to the maximum density the future land use designation allows, but any residential development pushed above nine dwelling units per acre by the transfer must be reserved for low or very-low-income housing as defined in the comprehensive plan. 308 walk the applicant through sending-parcel administrative determinations, development rights certificates for donated conservation land, and a receiving-area review that requires Planning & Zoning Commission review and Board of County Commissioners approval for any density transfer of more than 20 units.
Violations & Fines
Because the density bonus flows through a recorded deed and TDR easement rather than a code-enforcement penalty, the enforcement point is procedural: section 12.13.307(C)(4) blocks any development approval or permit for the receiving area until the entire sending-area easement is recorded, and section 12.13.308(C) requires Board of County Commissioners findings that the transfer deed is recorded, the sending and receiving parcels meet all program requirements, and the proposed density is compatible with the surrounding area before final site plan approval issues.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can a parcel in unincorporated Highlands County get more density than the comprehensive plan allows by right?
Is there a catch to using the density bonus above nine units per acre?
Who has to approve a large TDR density transfer?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Highlands County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Highlands County to another location·View the Florida zoning overlays & bonuses overview
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