Bay County

Operating rules

Primary residence

No

Min stay (nights)

—

Max nights / year

—

Max occupancy

Occupancy limit of one person per 150 sq. ft. of habitable space (excluding certain areas), per Ordinance 23-18 for unincorporated Bay County.

Zoning-restricted

No

Cap on licenses

—

Grandfathering: Under Fla. Stat. 509.032(7)(b), local vacation-rental ordinances adopted on or before June 1, 2011 are grandfathered/enforceable. Bay County's registration/inspection ordinance (23-18) was adopted Aug 1, 2023 and therefore may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate their duration or frequency; it is limited to registration, licensing, inspection, and life-safety requirements applied evenly.

Zoning: The county ordinance applies to 1-4 family dwellings, RVs, and mobile homes in unincorporated areas; high-rise condominium units and apartment complexes are currently exempt. Incorporated cities (Panama City Beach, Panama City, Mexico Beach, Lynn Haven, Callaway, Springfield, Parker) administer their own separate STR programs and zoning.

• State preemption (Fla. Stat. 509.032(7)(b)) bars the county from prohibiting vacation rentals or regulating rental duration/frequency; no minimum-stay or annual-night cap may be imposed. Evidence: "A local law, ordinance, or regulation may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate the duration or frequency of rental of vacation rentals. This paragraph does not apply to any local law, ordinance, or regulation adopted on or before June 1, 2011."
• SB 280 (2024) statewide vacation-rental registry was passed by the legislature but VETOED by Gov. DeSantis on 2024-06-27, so no statewide registry is in effect.
• Occupancy figure (1 person per 150 sq ft) is from unincorporated-county Ordinance 23-18, corroborated via WebSearch of the official baycountyfl.gov program page (direct fetch Akamai-blocked). Individual cities within Bay County set their own occupancy and permit rules.

Enforcement

Active enforcement

Bay County enforces its unincorporated-area STR ordinance (23-18) through the Fire and Life Safety Inspection Bureau and code enforcement. As of mid-2025 the county rolled out a new enforcement/communication approach and a property portal (Community Connect), starting outreach 'from ground zero' with postcards and offering leniency to owners making good-faith compliance efforts while pursuing fines against those deliberately avoiding registration/certification.

Fines

Non-compliance fines up to $1,000. A $35 fee applies when a property owner modifies their registration information (reduced from a proposed $100 'to avoid punishing compliant parties'). Late Tourist Development Tax filings lose the 2.5% collection allowance and incur a minimum $50 penalty plus interest.

Notes

Fine cap ($1,000) and the $35 registration-change fee are quote-confirmed from WJHG (2025-06-18) coverage of the Bay County Commission because baycountyfl.gov returned HTTP 403 (Akamai bot wall) on direct fetch. TDT penalty/collection-allowance terms were read firsthand from the Bay County Clerk TDT page. The prior draft's 'referral to a special magistrate' language was NOT found in any readable official/news source and has been removed. The county STR inspection-fee dollar amount could not be quote-confirmed (page Akamai-blocked); see requirements note. Treat ordinance-specific figures as needs_review.