10 verified short-term rentals rules for Gardena, California, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Gardena bans whole-home short-term rentals and allows only home-sharing under Municipal Code Chapter 5.76 (Ordinance 1854, adopted September 12, 2023). A host must hold a valid Home-Sharing Rental Permit before renting any bedroom for 30 consecutive days or less. The city caps permits at 100 per five-year period.
Gardena home-sharing hosts must post a good-neighbor notice advising guests that city noise rules require reduced noise from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Chapter 5.76 rentals are for overnight lodging only, with no parties or events, and repeated noise or nuisance violations can lead to permit revocation.
Gardena imposes an 11 percent transient occupancy tax on stays of 30 days or less under Municipal Code Chapter 3.16, and home-sharing hosts must collect and remit it monthly. The one-time Home-Sharing Permit fee is $1,337, plus a business license and a required transient occupancy registration certificate.
Gardena Municipal Code Chapter 5.76 requires at least two on-site parking spaces per unit for home-sharing, meeting Chapter 18.40 standards. At least one space per reservation must be available to guests, and driveway spaces may count. An enclosed garage is not required.
Under Gardena Municipal Code Chapter 5.76, home-sharing occupancy is capped at four people per rented bedroom, and only bedrooms, not the entire dwelling, may be rented. The rental is for overnight lodging only and may not host weddings, parties, conferences, or similar events.
Gardena Municipal Code Chapter 5.76 requires home-sharing hosts to carry general liability insurance of one million dollars combined single limit, or platform-provided equivalent coverage. Proof must be submitted with the application and renewed yearly, with a copy provided to the city on request.
Gardena Municipal Code Chapter 5.76 does not impose an annual cap on the number of nights a home may be shared. Instead it controls short-term rentals through host-present, primary-residence rules, a 30-day maximum stay, and a citywide cap of 100 permits per five-year period.
Gardena accepts Home-Sharing Permit applications only from January 1 to February 15 each five-year cycle under Municipal Code Chapter 5.76. Only a proposed host may apply, and applicants must also register a business license and transient occupancy tax certificate. Permits are capped at 100, allocated by lottery if oversubscribed.
Gardena Municipal Code Chapter 5.76 permits only host-present home-sharing: the host must reside on site, in a bedroom within the dwelling, throughout the entire time guests are present. Unhosted or absentee whole-home short-term rentals are prohibited citywide.
Gardena Municipal Code Chapter 5.76 allows home-sharing only in the host's primary residence, which must be occupied at least 183 nights per year. Each host may have only one primary residence, and the property must be in an R-1 or R-2 zone with no ADU or junior ADU.
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Gardena city rules.
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