Urban Farming in St. Petersburg, Florida

St. Petersburg sets no limits on residential food gardens that are kept up and watered within city rules, and raised beds under 24 inches may sit anywhere on private property 4 feet back from the curb (St. Pete Gardening and Yard Animals guide).

Gardening structures follow placement rules in the St. Petersburg Good Neighbor Guide. Greenhouses, vertical vegetable structures, hoop houses and cold frames under 100 square feet and up to 10 feet tall may not sit within 5 feet of a side or rear property line, may not go in a front yard or a waterfront yard, and all other accessory structures must meet principal structure setbacks and design requirements (Gardening and Yard Animals guide).

Edible landscaping can also go in the St. Petersburg public right-of-way when it does not block visibility, no approved streetscape plan covers the spot, and the frontage is not on a major street or state roadway; vegetation that is a hazard to public safety is prohibited (Gardening and Yard Animals guide). Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the City of St. Petersburg website.

Yes: a St. Petersburg residence may keep up to 10 fowl, including chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese and guinea fowl, in a securely fenced area, and registered beekeepers may place apiaries on any private property in the city (Gardening and Yard Animals guide).

Noisy fowl such as crowing roosters are not allowed in St. Petersburg, and every coop must be kept 50 feet from neighboring residences unless the neighbor gives written consent (Gardening and Yard Animals guide).

The St. Pete bee rule points to Florida Statutes chapter 586, and the state side is handled by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Every beekeeper with honey bee colonies in Florida must register with FDACS, an inspector completes the registration, and the annual fee is $10 for 1 to 5 colonies, $20 for 6 to 40 and $40 for 41 to 200 (FDACS Beekeeper Registration). Each hive must be permanently imprinted with the registration number, apiaries on land not classified as agricultural must follow the Beekeeper Compliance Agreement best management requirements, and all hives must have movable frames; FDACS answers at 1-888-397-1517.

Community gardens are allowed in every St. Petersburg zoning district as a principal use with administrative approval, and a garden on vacant property needs a permit that costs $50 at first and $10 a year to renew (City of St. Petersburg Urban Agriculture).

A St. Petersburg community garden may grow, harvest and sell edible fruits and vegetables and other products meant for neighboring residents and community members, and questions go to the Development Review Services team at [email protected] (Urban Agriculture, Gardening and Yard Animals guide). Every community garden permit in St. Pete expires on September 30 of each year (Gardening and Yard Animals guide).

Larger growers have their own path in St. Petersburg. Commercial gardens and greenhouses are allowed in Industrial zoning districts, subject to development and maintenance standards, with site and building plans reviewed administratively and no public hearing required (Gardening and Yard Animals guide). The city's Office of Sustainability and Resilience is also developing a Community Urban Agriculture Program to support new food forests and existing permitted community gardens, and it has held informational sessions to gather public input (Urban Agriculture).

St. Petersburg allows value-added products such as pickles, jams and honeybee products from a registered beekeeper to be sold on residential property Friday through Sunday in daylight, up to 36 days per calendar year (Gardening and Yard Animals guide).

Off-site sales in St. Petersburg are allowed at farmers markets and on vacant commercial property with a Roadside Vending Permit, applied for through the city business applications page (Gardening and Yard Animals guide). St. Petersburg City Council approved related ordinance amendments to expand opportunities for the production and sale of locally grown produce (Urban Agriculture).

St. Petersburg keeps seed libraries at three branch libraries and gives single-family residential customers a free compost bin after a required in-person workshop (Urban Agriculture, Composting).

The St. Petersburg composting program is open only to residents of incorporated St. Pete living in single-family homes; workshop sign-up runs through a Parks and Recreation account and locks 5 business days before each class, and the bin is about 33 inches wide and 33 inches tall (Composting). The city does not collect compost, so the finished material stays on the property for the lawn or garden. More workshop dates are posted into 2027, including January 20, 2027 at Willis S. Johns Recreation Center.

For technical help, the City of St. Petersburg points growers to UF/IFAS Extension, whose Pinellas County office at 12520 Ulmerton Rd. in Largo, (727) 582-2100, keeps urban agriculture resources on aquaponics, backyard chickens, beekeeping and gardening (Urban Agriculture, UF/IFAS Extension Pinellas County).

The St. Pete Youth Farm is a City of St. Petersburg Parks and Recreation farm on 12th Street South where young participants start as workers and move up to mentors, managers and food systems leaders (St. Pete Youth Farm, Urban Agriculture).

The farm sits at 1664 12th St. S. in St. Petersburg. The St. Pete Youth Farm lists hours of 3:30 to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, is closed Friday through Sunday, and closes whenever Pinellas County Schools are closed, including federal holidays (St. Pete Youth Farm). The farm posts notices of produce availability on its site and asks people to check there or call 727-565-3930 before coming. A WEDU PBS mini-documentary about the farm won an Emmy at the Suncoast Emmy Awards in 2024, according to the farm.

On October 15, 2026, the St. Petersburg watering page still shows a once-a-week irrigation order, while hand watering of garden beds stays allowed any day in the early morning or evening (City of St. Petersburg Watering Restrictions).

The order is a Modified Phase 3 Water Shortage Order from the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Under it, hand watering of non-lawn landscape such as garden beds is allowed any day before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m., micro-irrigation of plants other than lawns in St. Petersburg follows the same window, and any hose needs an automatic shutoff device (Watering Restrictions). A citation for a Class II Municipal Ordinance Offense carries a $193 fine plus court costs, and later violations face higher fines set by the court. The same page says the order runs until October 1, 2026 unless extended, modified or rescinded by the water management district, yet two weeks after that date the notice remains posted, so St. Pete gardeners should confirm the current schedule with the city before changing their routine.