City Watch
Short-term rental rules in Amelia Island, FL
How Amelia Island regulates short-term rentals: the rules that apply, their sources, and pending changes.
Short-term rentals here are subject to registration, a lodging tax, or a small number of operating rules.
- SCOPE: this city_id assesses the UNINCORPORATED Amelia Island market (governed by Nassau County); the incorporated City of Fernandina Beach is a separate jurisdiction/city_id
- Unincorporated Nassau County (the market this city is assessed as): no STR-specific supply device and no STR-specific process anywhere in the county LDC (Ord. 97-19); residential zoning permits single-family dwellings with no transient or minimum-stay exclusion
- GOVERNING-JURISDICTION LODGING TAX (2026-09-14 correction): the governing jurisdiction for this unincorporated market is Nassau County, which levies a 5% tourist-development / transient-rental tax on Amelia Island — an STR-touching device that sets the tier to Light-touch
- FL preemption ceiling (Fla. Stat. §509.032(7)) — county cannot newly cap/ban post-2011
- only general obligations otherwise: BTR + DBPR license + state sales tax
Based on: City of Fernandina Beach (governs the incorporated portion of the island): Ord. 2000-28 (eff. 2000-10-03) confining
Summary of the rule
For the unincorporated Amelia Island market this city_id assesses, the governing jurisdiction is Nassau County, which levies a 5% tourist-development / transient-rental tax applying to Amelia Island (ZIP 32034; Nassau County Code Ch. 30 Art. IV) on transient rental stays. This county lodging tax reaches STR stays and, per the 2026-09-14 governing-jurisdiction rule, sets the tier to Light-touch.
View the ordinance source ↗✓ Verified
Last reviewed Sep 14, 2026 · Sources · Report an error
Pending legislation
Monitoring Amelia Island · system last checked Oct 25, 2026
Owners in Amelia Island
Following Amelia Island adds it to the Followed cities list on your ASTRO dashboard, linked to its city page.
Add a home to the ASTRO registry and confirm ownership of it.
City Watch tracks changes from public sources — council agendas, state bills, local news — not a complete legal compendium.
A city permit is not the whole picture — HOA, condominium, deed, or lease rules may be stricter.
City Watch provides good-faith summaries of publicly available information as of the review date shown. Rules, enforcement, and permit availability can change, and summaries may contain errors or omissions. Ratings describe the general regulatory environment; they do not establish whether a particular property or stay is permitted. This is general information, not legal advice. Before buying, listing, or hosting, verify applicable requirements with the responsible authorities and review any HOA, condominium, deed, or lease restrictions.