Turf work on Conway's lake chain and airport-side streets

Conway has no city hall of its own: it is an unincorporated community, so a permit question goes to Orange County rather than a Conway building department. Kissimmee Artificial Turf installs synthetic lawns, pet turf and putting greens here at $8–$18 per square foot as of September 2026, on 1950s-era ranch lots between Lake Conway and Orlando International Airport, about 15 miles from our Kissimmee base.

Reviewed by Luis Austin, owner · Last reviewed September 21, 2026

Conway has no building department, and that changes who you call

Conway is a census-designated place, not a city, which means every permit question routes to the Orange County Division of Building Safety rather than a Conway city hall that doesn't exist. The county's landscaping ordinance never even reaches the synthetic question: Chapter 24 limits its definition of the word to Bahia, St. Augustine and other living species, leaving nothing on the books for a manufactured surface one way or the other (a gap the state rule now caps regardless; Chapter 24). Permitting Services takes calls at 407-836-5550 and applications through Fast Track Online Services.

One wrinkle worth checking before assuming that: part of Conway was annexed into the City of Orlando between 1964 and 1973, and the community today sits only partly inside Orlando's limits (Orlando’s own neighborhood list). A lot on that edge can answer to Orlando's building code, which does name artificial turf, instead of the county's silence. A quick search on the Orange County Property Appraiser site settles which office actually has a given address before anyone applies for anything.

Conway yard types and what we do differently
Yard type	What we see	What changes about the install
Lake Conway chain frontage	Boat docks, screened lanais, older seawalls	State's 10-ft waterbody setback, waived where a seawall already separates yard from water
Inland 1950s–70s ranch lot	8,000–12,000 sq ft, oak canopy from decades of growth	Drip-line rule; base often runs the fuller 4 in where roots have loosened the sand
Airport-corridor infill and newer builds	Rebuilt or expanded homes near the MCO approach path	No turf-specific change, just a hotter, noisier jobsite most afternoons
Orlando-annexed edge parcel	Same architecture, different building department	Permit goes through Orlando's engineering process, not the county's quiet code

Yard types as observed on Conway jobs; permit column reflects each office's published rule as of September 2026, not a guarantee for a specific parcel.

Which agency actually manages Conway's water

Two different offices can appear on a Conway water bill. Orange County Utilities bills most of the unincorporated community, while a strip closer to the Orlando line can instead be billed by the Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC), which serves the city plus adjoining county pockets (Orange County’s water service page; OUC’s water services page). Either way, the state's May 2026 rule already bars watering a synthetic lawn from an in-ground system once the heads underneath are capped, so the specific utility only matters for whatever lawn or bed stays natural.

The lake chain itself answers to a district most of Orange County doesn't. Most of the county drains north toward the St. Johns River, but the county's own water atlas maps Lake Conway into the Boggy Creek Watershed, whose namesake stream runs south into East Lake Tohopekaliga (Boggy Creek Watershed, general information; the Boggy Creek entry itself). That puts Conway's chain under the South Florida Water Management District's Upper Kissimmee Basin planning umbrella, the same district that covers most of neighboring Osceola County, rather than the St. Johns district that serves Orlando just to the north (SFWMD’s Upper Kissimmee Basin plan).

Ranch homes, a lake chain and the ground under both

Conway's housing stock is mostly 1950s–1970s ranch-style homes on lots running 8,000 to 12,000 square feet, with a mix of 1980s–90s builder product and newer custom lakefront construction filling the gaps (a Conway neighborhood profile). The 2020 Census counted 13,596 residents in the CDP (Census QuickFacts, Conway CDP), and decades of that growth means most lots now carry oak canopy old enough to trigger the state's drip-line rule on any job that gets close to a trunk.

The Water Atlas puts the Conway chain, Lake Conway itself plus its connected waters, at 1,771 surface acres (the Lake Conway entry), which is why lakefront turf work here runs into the 10-ft waterbody setback more often than in a landlocked neighborhood, waived only where a seawall already stands between yard and water. Away from the shoreline, Orange County's soil survey maps the community's higher ground to Candler and Astatula fine sands, excessively drained ridge soils built from wind-blown and marine deposits rather than the flatter, wetter flatwoods sand common in most of Osceola County next door (Candler series description; Astatula series description).

Permits, HOA paperwork and the state's May 2026 floor

Nothing above changes what HB 683 and Rule 62-308.100 already requires on a covered single-family lot: turf on permeable backing over a washed, open-graded base, irrigation heads capped rather than watering the turf, and infill limited to silica, zeolite or another natural material. A Conway HOA is a separate question again; F.S. 720.3045 protects turf an association can't see from the street or a neighboring lot, not a front yard.

Searching for the best artificial turf contractor near you in Conway usually comes down to three checks: does the crew already know which building department has your specific parcel, does the quote name base depth and infill by product, and does it account for a lakefront lot's setback before pricing the job.

Turf services in Conway

Questions people ask

Is my Conway address inside Orlando or unincorporated Orange County?

It depends on the parcel. Conway was annexed into Orlando in pieces between 1964 and 1973 and today sits only partly within the city, so two houses a block apart can answer to different building departments. A search on the Orange County Property Appraiser's site shows the taxing jurisdiction for a specific address.

Does Orange County Utilities or OUC serve my street in Conway?

Either can, depending on how close the address sits to the Orlando line. Orange County Utilities bills most of unincorporated Conway; the Orlando Utilities Commission bills the city plus some adjoining county pockets. Checking a recent bill is faster than guessing, and it stops mattering for turf itself once the irrigation heads are capped.

Does living on the Lake Conway chain change the setback for turf?

A shoreline lot still has to keep synthetic turf ten feet back from the water, the same figure that applies statewide, and the only way around it is an existing seawall or bulkhead standing between the yard and the lake. We found no Conway-specific buffer published beyond that state number as of September 2026.

Does Orlando International Airport's flight path affect a turf installation in Conway?

Not the build itself. Conway sits close enough to the airport that residents have asked the FAA for relief from arrival and departure noise in the past, which is worth knowing before scheduling an outdoor walkthrough, but it has no bearing on base depth, drainage or the state's material standard.

How far is Conway from your Kissimmee crew?

About 15 miles by straight line, which keeps it well inside the roughly 40-mile radius we work within. The published Central Florida price range doesn't change with that distance.

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Send the basics and we call back to set a time to measure. Prefer to talk? Call or text (689) 202-3710.

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