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Hillsborough County

Hillsborough County Development Services (Zoning, Building, Land Use Hearing Officer)

In short

Hillsborough County Development Services (Zoning, Building, Land Use Hearing Officer) issues 6 permits we publish for Hillsborough County, last verified 2026-09-28. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.

What this agency issues

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Mobile Food Safety Permit — State Preemption under Fla. Stat. §509.102 (Hillsborough County)only if it applies to youHillsborough County Development Services (Zoning, Building, Land Use Hearing Officer)No feenot applicable2026-09-28
Certificate of Occupancy (via building permit process)Hillsborough County Development Services (Zoning, Building, Land Use Hearing Officer)No feepermanent once issued, tied to the building's certificate rather than renewed annually2026-09-28
Sign PermitHillsborough County Development Services (Zoning, Building, Land Use Hearing Officer)The Land Development Code's Article VII (Signs) requires a permit, reviewed through HillsGovHub, before installing most commercial exterior signage (wall, monument, digital), and the application must include the site's zoning designation and tax folio number. Hillsborough's available fee materials do not include a standalone dollar figure for this permit.30-day administrative review/decision period; issued per project, not renewed annually2026-09-28
Zoning Verification / Sign-Offonly if it applies to youHillsborough County Development Services (Zoning, Building, Land Use Hearing Officer)$250.92 one-time, per zoning verification requestone-time; the verification confirms the zoning designation and permitted use as of the request date and is not renewed2026-09-28
Mobile Food Vendor / Temporary Vendor Zoning Rulesonly if it applies to youHillsborough County Development Services (Zoning, Building, Land Use Hearing Officer)No feenot applicable — siting and operating rules under the Land Development Code, rather than a single priced permit with its own term2026-09-28
Alcoholic Beverage Development Permit (zoning)only if it applies to youHillsborough County Development Services (Zoning, Building, Land Use Hearing Officer)Alcoholic Beverage Permit (Wet Zoning), no separation waiver required: $397.70 (administrative approval). With a separation waiver, decided at a Special Use hearing before the Land Use Hearing Officer: $3,017.21 for a new application, $70.00 to resubmit a revised application. A related Alcoholic Beverage License Sign-off is priced at $250.92 — the same figure as a standard Zoning Verification — with no charge for the first sign-off submitted together with a Special Use - Alcoholic Beverage application. A general Special Use hearing application, the same hearing track a separation waiver uses, is priced at $3,758.21.permanent once issued, subject to continued compliance with its classification's conditions (e.g., a restaurant classification's food-sales percentage, verified biannually)2026-09-28

Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.

About each permit

Mobile Food Safety Permit — State Preemption under Fla. Stat. §509.102 (Hillsborough County)

Under the preemption in Fla. Stat. §509.102, no fee applies and Hillsborough County issues no food-safety permit of its own for a mobile food unit. Fla. Stat. §509.102 states directly that regulation of mobile food dispensing vehicles and temporary commercial kitchens 'involving licenses, registrations, permits, and fees is preempted to the state,' and that a county 'may not require a separate license, registration, or permit other than the license required under s. 509.241, or require the payment of any license, registration, or permit fee other than the fee required under s. 509.251,' nor prohibit a mobile unit from operating anywhere in the jurisdiction. A food truck's food-safety credential is therefore the state DBPR mobile-food-unit license, recorded at the Florida state layer, not a Hillsborough County permit. The county's retained authority over a food truck is limited to non-food-safety regulation: zoning siting rules (recorded above), Fire Marshal review, the Local Business Tax Receipt, and right-of-way/encroachment rules.

Certificate of Occupancy (via building permit process)

This record applies only in unincorporated Hillsborough County for a physical buildout or new tenant space; Tampa, Plant City and Temple Terrace each issue their own certificates through their own building departments. A Certificate of Occupancy is issued once all required building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and fire inspections for the space have been approved. There is no separate fee for the certificate itself — its cost is bundled into the underlying building-permit fee structure rather than itemized as its own charge, which is why this record carries no independent fee. Food-service, childcare and assembly-type occupancies additionally trigger the Fire Marshal plan-review and inspection requirement, recorded separately, before a certificate can issue.

Sign Permit

This record applies only in unincorporated Hillsborough County — the same Development Services/Zoning office that handles Zoning Verification administers this permit, and Tampa, Plant City and Temple Terrace each run their own separate sign-permitting process. Most commercial signs need a permit before installation, reviewed within a 30-day administrative window through the county's HillsGovHub (Accela) portal, and the application must state the property's zoning designation and tax folio number. Hillsborough's zoning fee list and Land Development Code text describe the requirement without printing a sign-permit price; confirm the current fee directly with Development Services before budgeting for a sign installation.

Zoning Verification / Sign-Off

This record applies only in unincorporated Hillsborough County — Tampa, Plant City and Temple Terrace each run independent zoning and planning departments with their own processes. Before signing a lease or opening at a new or changed-use address, a business can request a formal Zoning Verification confirming the site's zoning designation allows the intended use; the county's own current zoning fee list prices this at $250.92, independently re-confirmed during this build. Hillsborough does not appear to run a separate 'Certificate of Use' document or process the way Miami-Dade does; compliance in the unincorporated area is instead confirmed through this Zoning Verification/Sign-Off product together with, for any physical buildout, the building-permit-to-Certificate-of-Occupancy pathway recorded next. A related Alcoholic Beverage License Sign-off, priced at the same $250.92 figure, is a separate line item used specifically in the alcohol permitting process (see that record).

Mobile Food Vendor / Temporary Vendor Zoning Rules

This zoning rule applies only in unincorporated Hillsborough County; Tampa, Plant City and Temple Terrace each set their own mobile-vendor zoning rules. A food truck is allowed in Commercial or Office zoning (excluding O-R) and, if sponsored by a nonprofit, in residential or agricultural zones, plus certain designated 'Flexible Market Space' areas within some Planned Village/Neighborhood districts. The vendor needs a valid lease or written property-owner consent and must stay on-site during business hours, observe a 10-foot setback from all property lines, avoid obstructing driveways, remove trash nightly, and keep employee and patron parking on the host parcel rather than in the public right-of-way (which instead requires a separate county encroachment permit); a tent or canopy needs its own Fire Marshal tent permit. No commissary requirement appears in this zoning section — that comes from the state DBPR mobile-food-unit license instead. This zoning review itself carries no fee; the Tax Collector's schedule separately references a 'retail sales peddler' classification as a possible prerequisite, but whether that is a distinct license or a sub-category of the standard Local Business Tax rate schedule is not detailed in the published rate table.

Alcoholic Beverage Development Permit (zoning)

This record applies only in unincorporated Hillsborough County — Tampa, Plant City and Temple Terrace each set their own rules — and Land Development Code §6.11.11 casts the county's instrument as an Alcoholic Beverage Development Permit fixing a land-use designation, intended to be no less restrictive than the State alcoholic beverage licenses, so it is separate from and in addition to the state ABT license issued by the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco and is not a general 'liquor license' of the county's own. Classifications include package-only (1-APS/2-APS beer/wine, 3-PS beer/wine/liquor), on-and-off-premises (2-COP/4-COP), and restaurant-specific classes (2-COP-R/4-COP-RX) that require at least 51% of gross sales from food and non-alcoholic beverages, verified from sales records kept three years and subject to county audit and revocation. Distance rules from the proposed structure vary by classification: package-only classes need 500 feet from churches, schools, childcare centers, libraries and parks, and 50/20 feet from residential side/rear yards; restaurant classes need 500 feet from community uses and 150 feet from residential; the broader on/off-premises and club classes need 500 feet from community uses, 250 feet from residential, and no more than three approved establishments within 1,000 feet — all waivable through the Special Use hearing priced above. Under LDC §6.11.11's own hours provision for this permit, sales/service run Monday-Saturday 7:00am to 3:00am the next day and Sunday 11:00am to 3:00am the next day, with bottle clubs excepted.

Contact

Jurisdiction
Hillsborough County
Phone
Not verified — use the website

Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.

Sources

Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.

  1. Fla. Stat. §509.102 — state preemption of mobile food dispensing vehicle and temporary commercial kitchen licensing/registration/permitting/feesThe Florida Senate · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
  2. Hillsborough County Code of Ordinances (elaws.us mirror) — Ch. 46, Art. III (Business Tax, incl. §46-158 countywide requirement, §46-183/184/199/201 fee schedule, §46-186 dance hall Fire Marshal clearance); Ch. 28, Art. VI §§28-196-28-203 as amended by Ord. No. 19-6 (Family Child Care Homes) and Art. VII §§28-211-28-223 (Child Care Facilities Ordinance)Hillsborough County (codified, via elaws.us) · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
  3. Hillsborough County Land Development Code — Article VI, Pt. 6.11.00 (§6.11.11 Alcoholic Beverage Use; §6.11.101.02 Temporary Vendors); Article VII (Signs)Hillsborough County, via Municode Library · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
  4. List of Zoning Fees — 'Zoning Verifications $250.92'; also prices the Alcoholic Beverage License Sign-off ($250.92), Alcoholic Beverage Permit (Wet Zoning) with no separation waiver ($397.70), and with a separation waiver ($3,017.21 new / $70.00 revised resubmission); independently re-fetched and confirmed during this buildHillsborough County Development Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
  5. Zoning Verifications, Sign-Offs and Interpretations (no-hearing administrative zoning applications)Hillsborough County Development Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28

Other offices serving Hillsborough County

The full permit list for this jurisdiction

Industry permit lists that include this agency

Florida jurisdictions

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