10 verified short-term rentals rules for Fishers, Indiana, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Fishers regulates short-term rentals through its Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Section 5.4.6 (Overnight Lodging), not the Chapter 163 home-rental program. An owner-occupied STR is a permitted residential use with no permit, while a non-owner-occupied STR requires Special Exception approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Fishers enforces noise at short-term rentals through its general noise and nuisance provisions, not an STR-only quiet-hours rule. Indiana Code 36-1-24-10 expressly lets the City regulate STR noise, provided it enforces the same way it does for any comparable home.
Fishers itself imposes no local lodging tax on STRs. Hosts collect Indiana's 7% state sales tax plus Hamilton County's 8% innkeeper's (lodging) tax on stays under 30 days. Any Indiana STR permit fee is capped at $150 by state law (IC 36-1-24-13).
Fishers' UDO 5.4.6 sets explicit parking ratios for bed-and-breakfasts (one space per guest room plus one per employee) but publishes no STR-specific parking minimum. Indiana Code 36-1-24-10 lets the City regulate parking/traffic only as it would for comparable non-STR homes.
Fishers' UDO 5.4.6 does not publish a numeric per-guest occupancy cap specific to short-term rentals. Under Indiana Code 36-1-24-10, the City may set occupancy/health-and-safety limits only if it enforces them the same way it does for comparable non-STR homes.
Neither Fishers' UDO 5.4.6 nor Indiana Code 36-1-24 imposes a mandatory liability-insurance threshold for short-term rentals. State law limits the information a city may demand to owner/manager contacts and marketing details, so an insurance mandate is not part of the permit framework.
Fishers' published UDO 5.4.6 does not set an annual night cap on short-term rentals. Indiana defines an STR as a rental for terms of less than 30 days, and IC 36-1-24 bars cities from interpreting zoning to prohibit or unreasonably restrict STRs — limiting any hard night cap.
Fishers' Chapter 163 registration program is for long-term home rentals, not STRs. For short-term rentals, the City relies on UDO 5.4.6: owner-occupied STRs need no registration, while non-owner-occupied STRs must obtain a Special Exception. Hosts must also register for county lodging tax with the Indiana DOR.
Fishers does not mandate that a host be physically present during a stay, but it uses owner-occupancy as the threshold for easier approval: an owner-occupied STR is a permitted use, while a non-owner-occupied (unhosted-investor) STR needs a Special Exception under UDO 5.4.6.
Fishers does not ban non-primary-residence STRs, but it treats them differently: an owner-occupied (primary-residence) STR is a permitted use needing no permit, while a non-owner-occupied STR requires a Special Exception under UDO 5.4.6 — exactly the distinction Indiana Code 36-1-24 draws.
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Fishers city rules.
Short-Term Rentals in Hamilton County →