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Short-Term Rental Rules & Regulations in Pinellas County, FL

Pinellas County, FL
Pinellas County, FL

Pinellas County is a compliance trap dressed as one jurisdiction. A Gulf-front condo on Clearwater Beach answers to the City of Clearwater's 31-day residential minimum and tourist-commercial zoning. A Pass-a-Grille cottage in St. Pete Beach answers to RM zoning with a three-stays-per-year cap. A canal home in unincorporated Seminole answers to Ordinance 25-15's Certificate of Use at $450 per year with a May 31 renewal. A Corey Avenue neighbor and an Indian Rocks Beach bungalow three miles north operate under entirely different municipal regimes — yet all share Florida DBPR licensing, Pinellas County tourist development tax at 13.0% combined, and the state's 2011 preemption framework that bars post-2011 duration bans but preserves grandfathered local rules. Hosts who assume "Pinellas County rules" cover their parcel list with the wrong registration, set the wrong minimum nights, and advertise compliance status that does not exist.


Florida's statewide layer sits underneath everything. Every property rented to transient guests for stays under 30 days more than three times per year must hold a Florida DBPR Division of Hotels and Restaurants vacation rental license — Vacation Rental Dwelling for single-family up to four units, Vacation Rental Condo for condo units. The license must be displayed. A state license does not override local zoning. Rentals of six months or less trigger 6% Florida state sales tax, Pinellas County's 1.0% discretionary sales surtax, and 6% tourist development tax, for a combined 13.0% on the guest bill. Airbnb collects state and TDT on many bookings; hosts using Vrbo, Booking.com, or direct channels must register and remit themselves. SB 280, which would have created a statewide STR registry, was vetoed by Governor DeSantis in June 2024 and not revived — the local patchwork governs your parcel through 2026.


This guide separates unincorporated Pinellas County from each incorporated beach city into a decision framework you can apply before you buy, before you list, and before you tell a guest your property is "county registered."


Step One: Unincorporated Pinellas or Incorporated City — and Why It Changes Everything

Before you research fees, open your Pinellas County Property Appraiser record and confirm municipal incorporation. If the address reads City of Clearwater, City of St. Pete Beach, City of Treasure Island, City of Madeira Beach, City of Indian Rocks Beach, City of St. Petersburg, or any other incorporated municipality, Ordinance 25-15 Certificate of Use does not apply to your parcel unless you are simultaneously in unincorporated territory, which beach addresses rarely are. Each incorporated city administers its own land-development code for short-term rentals, zoning permits, and registration.


The 2025 countywide change — Ordinance 25-15 — applies only to unincorporated Pinellas County. That includes many mainland parcels, some beach-adjacent areas outside city limits, and ADUs in owner-occupied homes in unincorporated zones. Renting a single bedroom in your primary residence is exempt. If your listing says "Pinellas County COU #[number]" on a Clearwater Beach condo, you are either misinformed or misrepresenting compliance — Clearwater Beach is inside the City of Clearwater.


Practical beach-host takeaway: among Pinellas beach cities, Indian Rocks Beach is the only municipality permitting short-term rentals in all residential zoning districts with registration. Clearwater, St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, and Madeira Beach confine legal nightly rental largely to tourist/commercial or specific overlay zones. This regulatory spectrum is the structural engine behind each city's inventory mix and ADR profile.


Ordinance 25-15: Certificate of Use, Fees, and the May 31 Renewal Cycle

Pinellas County Commission adopted Ordinance 25-15 in 2025, creating a Certificate of Use program for short-term rentals in unincorporated areas. A COU is required for any home or unit rented for fewer than 30 days more than three times per year — single-family homes, duplexes, condos, and ADUs in owner-occupied homes.


Fees are material and non-refundable. The Certificate of Use costs $450 per year, split into two payments in the first year. Initial safety inspection costs $150. Re-inspection after a failed inspection costs $100. Biennial re-inspection costs $100 every two years. Applications opened March 31, 2025, with staggered deadlines by ZIP code — May 31, June 30, or July 31, 2025, for the initial cohort. Annual renewal continues on a staggered schedule; hosts in the May 31 cohort renew each May 31. Verify your parcel's current renewal date on the Pinellas County STR portal at draft.


Occupancy cap: 2 guests per bedroom plus up to 2 additional guests in one common area, maximum 10 total. Parking: at least 1 off-street space per 3 occupants, rounded up; lawn parking does not count; spaces must accommodate an 8-foot-by-18-foot vehicle. Quiet hours: 10:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. daily. Each property needs its own non-transferable COU. Sheds, RVs, campers, tents, and unmodified shipping containers may not be used as STRs.

Required in-unit posting: rules, responsible-party contact, occupancy limits, parking rules, quiet hours, trash schedule, nearest hospital, and the STR hotline (727-353-2436). The responsible party must be reachable and able to respond to complaints. Fines escalate for violations.


Prerequisites before COU application: active Florida DBPR vacation rental license, Pinellas County Tourist Development Tax account, and compliance with all operational requirements above. The COU is an additional county layer on top of state licensing and TDT — not a substitute.


Incorporated Beach Cities: Clearwater, St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, Madeira Beach, and Indian Rocks Beach

Each incorporated Pinellas beach city operates independently of the county COU. Cite the city that governs your parcel.


City of Clearwater (including Clearwater Beach): Residential use on residentially zoned property may not be rented for less than 31 days or one calendar month per Community Development Code §1-104.B and §3-919. True nightly STR is effectively barred in residential zones; legal nightly rental is confined to tourist and commercial zoning on the beach. This is among the most restrictive postures in Florida and explains Clearwater Beach's resort-condo inventory concentration.


City of St. Pete Beach: Transient occupancy under 30 days is allowed only in RM zoning and the Pass-a-Grille Overlay District, capped at 3 times per 12-month period. Prohibited in RU-1, RU-2, RLM-1, RLM-2, ROR, and RFM residential zones. Permanent transient lodging in the tourist-commercial corridor (Don CeSar/TradeWinds strip) requires business tax license plus Zoning and Fire Marshal review. Thirty-day-plus rentals are allowed citywide in many zones without the same licensing burden.


City of Treasure Island: STRs prohibited in RU-75 and RM-15 residential districts. Permitted in CG, RFM-30, RFH-50, PR-MU Core, and PR-MU Gulf Boulevard zones. Residential districts cap turnover: RU-75 allows maximum 2 changes of occupancy per 12 months; RM-15 allows maximum 6 changes per 12 months.


City of Madeira Beach: STR defined as rental under 6 months prohibited in R-1; minimum stay 6 months in R-1 and 3 months in R-2. Nightly STR is confined to commercial and Town Center districts — which is why John's Pass Village anchors the rentable inventory.


City of Indian Rocks Beach: The most permissive Pinellas beach city. STRs permitted in all residential zoning districts with registration requiring Florida DOR certificate, DBPR license, and city business tax receipt. Twenty-four-hour responsible-party contact required. No per-city minimum-stay floor on approved rentals. This openness correlates with Indian Rocks Beach's highest per-listing revenue among Pinellas beaches on AirROI — directional market figure, not a legal guarantee of revenue.


City of St. Petersburg (mainland, for contrast): Transient accommodation in residential neighborhoods is prohibited beyond 3 short stays per 365 days. Most legal nightly mainland supply clusters in permitted non-residential zones near the Dalí Museum and downtown arts district.


Tax Stack, TDT Registration, and the Practical Compliance Checklist

Every Pinellas jurisdiction shares the same tax foundation with different local fee overlays. State sales tax at 6% applies to rentals of six months or less. Pinellas County discretionary sales surtax at 1.0% stacks on top. Pinellas County tourist development tax at 6% applies to the same transactions. Combined guest tax: 13.0%. Register with the Pinellas County Tax Collector for TDT unless Airbnb-only booking covers your remittance obligation — confirm per channel.


Register in this order for a typical unincorporated whole-home rental: obtain Florida DBPR vacation rental license, register for Florida Department of Revenue sales tax, apply for Pinellas County business tax receipt where required, open Pinellas County TDT account, complete Ordinance 25-15 COU application with $450 annual fee and $150 initial inspection, pass safety inspection, display COU and in-unit required notices, display DBPR license in advertising. Renew COU annually on your cohort deadline — May 31 for the first application wave.


Clearwater Beach operators skip county COU and instead verify tourist/commercial zoning with City of Clearwater. St. Pete Beach operators verify RM, Pass-a-Grille Overlay, or tourist-commercial status. Indian Rocks Beach operators complete city registration plus DBPR and TDT without county COU. Treasure Island and Madeira Beach operators verify zoning district permission before any listing goes live.


Operational requirements across jurisdictions include maintaining a designated responsible party, posting required safety and rule information, adhering to occupancy and parking caps, following quiet hours, complying with HOA restrictions where applicable, and using only legally permitted structures as rental units. HOA minimum-stay rules and rental caps may override municipal permissiveness — diligence the association before county or city registration.


Display accurate compliance status in listing materials. Guests and AI assistants increasingly ask whether Pinellas Airbnbs are legal. "Pinellas County COU #[number]" on an unincorporated listing is correct. "DBPR licensed, Pinellas TDT registered, Clearwater tourist-zone rental" on a Clearwater Beach listing is correct. "Indian Rocks Beach registered" on an IRB listing is correct. "County registered" on any incorporated beach city listing is likely wrong.


Work with Crest & Cove Creative

Marketing a Tampa Bay beach rental and want listing copy that sells Clearwater, St. Pete Beach, or barrier-island identity?

We help Tampa Bay hosts with sub-market listing titles, spring-break and snowbird calendar pricing, guest guidebooks with named pier and waterfront anchors, and direct-booking pages built for repeat Gulf guests. If you want hands-on help implementing any of that on your property, our team takes a limited number of new engagements per quarter. Reach out at crestcove.co — we'll take an honest look at where your listing stands and tell you plainly whether we can help.


Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Pinellas County Certificate of Use apply to Clearwater Beach? No. Clearwater Beach is inside the incorporated City of Clearwater. Ordinance 25-15 COU applies to unincorporated Pinellas County only. Clearwater residential zones prohibit rentals under 31 days; tourist/commercial zones permit nightly STR with DBPR license and Pinellas TDT.


What is the Pinellas County COU fee? $450 per year, non-refundable, plus $150 initial safety inspection and $100 biennial re-inspection. First-year fee may be split into two payments. Annual renewal deadline is staggered by ZIP — May 31 for the first cohort.


What is the occupancy cap under Ordinance 25-15? 2 guests per bedroom plus up to 2 additional in one common area, maximum 10 total. Quiet hours 10:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. Parking: at least 1 off-street space per 3 occupants, rounded up.


Which Pinellas beach city is most STR-friendly? Indian Rocks Beach permits STRs in all residential zones with city registration, DBPR license, and business tax receipt. Clearwater, St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, and Madeira Beach restrict nightly rentals to specific commercial and overlay zones.


What is the combined lodging tax in Pinellas County? 13.0%: 6% Florida state sales tax + 1.0% Pinellas discretionary surtax + 6% tourist development tax. Verify against Florida DOR DR-15DSS and DR-15TDT at draft.


Can I rent my St. Pete Beach home nightly? Only in RM zoning, Pass-a-Grille Overlay, or tourist-commercial corridor — with RM and overlay districts capped at 3 transient stays per 12-month period. Most residential zones prohibit rentals under 30 days.


Did SB 280 change Pinellas STR rules? No. Governor DeSantis vetoed SB 280 in June 2024. No statewide STR registry is in force. Ordinance 25-15 and each city's land-development code remain the operative local layers alongside state DBPR licensing.


What documents are required before applying for a Pinellas County COU? Active Florida DBPR vacation rental license, active Pinellas County Tourist Development Tax account, completed COU application with $450 fee, and passing initial $150 safety inspection. In-unit posting of all required notices before operation.


About the Authors

Crest & Cove Creative is a Southeast-focused short-term rental marketing agency founded by Thomas Garner and Jacob Mishalanie. We build direct-booking brands, listing-optimization systems, and market-specific content strategies for independent STR operators across the Gulf Coast, Appalachian Mountains, Coastal Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and the Southeast lake country.


Related Reading

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Sources

Pinellas County STR portal — pinellas.gov/str/. State-filed Ordinance 25-15. Pinellas County Tax Collector — tourist development taxes. Avalara — Pinellas Ordinance 25-15 summary. Pinellas REALTOR Organization — city-by-city STR restrictions. City of St. Pete Beach — Short-Term Rental Rules. Florida DBPR — vacation rental licensing guide. Florida DOR DR-15DSS and DR-15TDT. BNBCalc — Pinellas County guide. The Gabber and WFLA — ordinance adoption coverage. Florida Senate SB 280 veto documentation.

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