Permeable resin-bound surfacing can work as a retention practice in Orlando when it's installed over Rock Crete or another permeable base and an open-graded stone reservoir on the area's sandy soils, with the reservoir sized by an engineer and kept clear of the seasonal high water table. Resurfacing an existing driveway or parking lot is different: it upgrades the finish, but rain still runs off the slab underneath.

Orlando is a city of lakes, and the St. Johns River Water Management District has specific volume rules for lakes that have no outlet, so how much water leaves a lot matters to the neighbors as much as to the City. Central Florida's sands give infiltration a head start. Shallow groundwater in low spots and the region's karst are the constraints to design around.

SJRWMD criteria, the City's Engineering Standards Manual and the stormwater fee

Orlando straddles two water management districts. Downtown and the older neighborhoods around it fall in the St. Johns River Water Management District, while parts of south and southeast Orlando, including the airport area and Lake Nona, are in the South Florida Water Management District. The City's Engineering Standards Manual lists both districts, Orange County and FDOT among agencies that may have jurisdiction, and says the most stringent rule governs where criteria conflict. The SJRWMD Applicant's Handbook Volume II lists pervious concrete with a continuous curb among its retention system examples, requires the treatment volume to recover within 72 hours, and since June 28, 2024 calls for a safety factor of at least two in the design. Resin-bound isn't named, so whether a resin-bound section is accepted as retention is the reviewer's decision.

Chapter 7 of the City manual has two lines worth knowing. Stormwater ponds aren't allowed on residential lots, but that "shall not preclude" low impact development, which is the opening for a permeable driveway or court. And redevelopment that only resurfaces paving without altering drainage patterns is exempt from the chapter's stormwater permitting, while changing the character of a parking surface counts as altering drainage. In plain terms: an overlay is easy to permit and does little for stormwater, while a true permeable rebuild is a drainage change and is reviewed as one.

Orlando bills its stormwater utility fee by square foot of impervious area, and developed properties whose facilities meet the Orlando Urban Stormwater Management Manual (OUSWMM) criteria pay a discounted rate. How the City classifies a permeable surface is its decision.

Sand, lakes and sinkholes: considerations for the base

Deep sands across much of the Orlando area generally percolate well, which is why retention is the default here. The limits are groundwater and geology. The City's manual asks for normal wet-season water table elevations and a geotechnical engineer's recommendation on infiltration potential with every final stormwater submittal. For streets it requires two feet between the bottom of the base and the seasonal high groundwater, with an underdrain where water comes closer. That's a useful reference point when discussing reservoir depth for a private permeable section, though the engineer sets the actual criterion.

Where a site drains to a lake with no outlet and more than one owner around it, SJRWMD limits post-development runoff volume for the 25-year, 96-hour storm to the pre-development volume, a standard that favors infiltration over detention. Karst is the other consideration in Central Florida: borings should look for clay lenses, voids and other sinkhole indicators before an infiltrating base is built, and storage is better spread across the site than concentrated in one deep pocket.

Where permeable resin-bound fits in Orlando

College Park, Thornton Park and Delaney Park: bungalow driveways and garden courts on infill lots where ponds aren't allowed but low impact design is.
Lakefront homes: driveways and paths that send less runoff toward the shoreline, designed around the lake's water level.
Mills 50 and downtown restaurants: patios and outdoor seating at grade.
Lake Nona and southeast Orlando campuses: plazas and walks on newer development, where the governing water management district can differ, so confirm which handbook applies.
Hotels and tourism properties: entry plazas and pool surrounds that carry heavy foot traffic.

Refreshing existing concrete instead? See concrete resurfacing in Orlando.

Permitting in Orlando and what Resin Rock provides

The City's Permitting Services and the Streets and Stormwater Division handle local review, with a water management district environmental resource permit where thresholds apply. The manual offers a pre-application conference; bring soil types and hydrologic groups, the wet-season water table, infiltration results and the drainage boundary. Once built, owners are responsible for private stormwater facilities under City Code section 31.05, and the City inspects them through its pond compliance program, so write a maintenance plan you'd be comfortable showing an inspector.

Resin Rock supplies the system, not the installation: UV-stable binder, stone blends, trims and the Rock Crete permeable sub-base, plus technical data sheets for your engineer. We train installers and connect Orlando owners with an approved installer through find an installer.

Before you specify permeable resin-bound in Orlando

Confirm whether SJRWMD or SFWMD criteria apply to the site's drainage basin.
Get the normal wet-season water table and a geotechnical infiltration recommendation.
Check borings for clay layers, voids or other karst indicators.
If the site drains to a lake with no outlet, run the 25-year, 96-hour volume check.
Decide whether the job is a resurfacing (exempt, little stormwater benefit) or a drainage change.
Write the owner's maintenance plan for City inspections.

Common questions about permeable resin-bound in Orlando

Will a permeable driveway reduce my Orlando stormwater fee?

Possibly, but it's the City's call. Orlando bills by square foot of impervious area, and properties with stormwater facilities that meet OUSWMM criteria can be discounted, fully or in part, as determined by the Streets and Stormwater division manager. Ask the division before you build how it would classify a permeable resin-bound area on an engineered base.

Can I put a small retention pond on my house lot instead?

Not on a residential lot. The City's Engineering Standards Manual doesn't allow stormwater ponds on residential lots, though it says that doesn't preclude low impact development. A permeable driveway or court over an engineered stone base is one of the few ways to add storage on a house lot, subject to soils, groundwater and City review.

Is resin-bound over my old concrete driveway a stormwater upgrade?

No. It's a resurfacing, which the City's manual treats as exempt from stormwater permitting when drainage patterns don't change, and the hydrology doesn't change either: rain crosses the resin-bound layer and runs off the slab. For a real stormwater benefit, the slab comes out and an engineered permeable base goes in.

Official sources for Orlando

Local rules change. We last checked these sources in October 2026. Confirm current requirements with the reviewing agency before you design, and treat this page as a starting point, not engineering or permitting advice.

Permeable Resin-Bound Surfacing in Orlando, FL