Associations
HOA rules and condenser placement in Longwood, FL
Florida Statute §720.3035 limits what a homeowners' association may review. A like-for-like air conditioning replacement that is not visible from the street is normally outside that authority. Where placement genuinely changes — a new pad, a relocated unit, a screen — the association's architectural review does apply.
What the statute limits
Like-for-like, not visible: normally outside review
The statute gives an association architectural review authority over the exterior of a parcel, but that authority is defined and bounded rather than open-ended. Swapping a failed condenser for an equivalent unit on the existing pad in the same position, where nothing about the appearance from outside the parcel changes, is not the kind of alteration architectural review exists for. Read §720.3035 yourself — it is short, and it was amended by chapter 2026-63 in the same session that produced HB 803.
What does need approval, and should be asked about before the equipment is ordered: moving the condenser to a new location, pouring a new pad in a visible position, adding a screen or enclosure, or any change that alters what a neighbour sees. Approval is a different question from the building permit, and getting one does not substitute for the other.
Where the associations are
Most of Longwood's HOA neighbourhoods are not in Longwood
Longwood's association geography has a wrinkle worth knowing. Several of the neighbourhoods with the most active associations — The Springs, Sweetwater Oaks, Wekiva Hunt Club, Sabal Point, Innswood — carry a Longwood mailing address but lie outside the city limits, so their building permit is a Seminole County permit even though their architectural review is the association's. Two different approvals, two different desks, neither of which knows about the other.
Gated communities add a third: The Springs and Longwood Club both have guarded or gated entry, and equipment delivery has to be arranged with the gate in advance rather than on the morning of the installation. That is a scheduling item, not a paperwork one, but it fails jobs just as reliably.
- The Springs
- Gated, 1972–2002. Files with Seminole County.
- Sweetwater Oaks
- 1971–1987. Files with Seminole County.
- Wekiva Hunt Club
- 1974–1994, zero-lot-line sections. Files with Seminole County.
- Sabal Point
- 1976–1990. Files with Seminole County.
- Longwood Club
- Gated, 1998–2000. Inside the city.
The physical constraints
Clearance on a zero-lot-line, canopy on an acre
Zero-lot-line sections are the real placement problem here rather than the association. In parts of Wekiva Hunt Club the side yard is narrow enough that clearance around the condenser cabinet is the binding constraint on what equipment fits, and a physically larger high-efficiency unit may not go where the old one was. That is worth measuring before signing, not after delivery.
The opposite problem is canopy. On the deep wooded lots in Sweetwater Oaks and Sabal Point the condenser often sits well back under mature oak, shaded and steadily fouled with leaf litter. Inside the city, owner-occupied single-family homes are exempt from tree removal permitting, so clearing limbs over a condenser needs no City permit — outside the city, that is a county and association question. The tree rule.
Sources
- Florida Statutes §720.3035 — homeowners' association architectural review authority (amended by ch. 2026-63). https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2026/720.3035
- City of Longwood FAQ: “Is my address/parcel located within the City of Longwood City limits?”. https://www.longwoodfl.org/Faq.aspx?QID=159
- City of Longwood FAQ: “Do I need a permit to remove a tree?”. https://longwoodfl.org/FAQ.aspx?QID=163
- Seminole County Building Division. https://www.seminolecountyfl.gov/departments-services/development-services/building
- Seminole County Property Appraiser — parcel search and GIS, the way to confirm whether a Longwood-address parcel is inside the city limits. https://www.scpafl.org/
- Seminole County Property Appraiser CAMA extract (Parcels.csv, dated 5 September 2026), tax district L1 — Longwood; improved residential parcels, DOR codes 01 and 04. https://www.scpafl.org/
Figures are dated. Permit fees, rebate amounts and code cycles change — re-check the primary source before you rely on a number here.
Ask the association in writing
A one-line email asking whether a like-for-like replacement in the existing position needs review costs nothing and settles the question before the equipment is ordered.