13 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Santa Cruz County, California.
Verified from official government sources
In unincorporated Santa Cruz County, every short-term rental of fewer than 30 days needs a County permit. A Non-Hosted (Vacation) Rental permit covers an entire home; a Hosted Rental permit covers one to three bedrooms with the owner living on site. Both are issued by the Planning Department under SCCC 13.10.694 and 13.10.690.
Santa Cruz County Code §§ 13.10.694, 13.10.690
Short-term rental of an entire home requires a Vacation Rental Permit per County Code Section 13.10.694. Short-term rentals of one or two rooms in a home requires a Hosted Rental Permit per County Code Section 13.10.690.
Vacation rentals must comply with the County Noise Ordinance, SCCC Chapter 8.30, and a copy must be posted inside the rental where guests can see it. Daytime gatherings are limited to 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Citations for violating SCCC 8.30 are listed as significant violations that can lead to revocation of the permit. Fireworks are illegal in the County.
Unincorporated Santa Cruz County levies transient occupancy tax at 14% on vacation rentals (and 12% on hotels/motels) under SCCC Chapter 4.24, plus a Tourism Marketing District assessment. Permit fees are substantial: a new Non-Hosted permit deposit is about $1,807.90 for three or fewer bedrooms or $3,316.45 for larger homes; renewal is $149.60.
SCCC 13.10.694 requires at least one on-site parking space for one- and two-bedroom vacation rentals and at least two on-site spaces for three-or-more-bedroom rentals. Guests may park one additional vehicle off-site on the street, but get no exclusive or assigned use of street parking; in parking districts the host must buy a business-rate permit.
Under SCCC 13.10.694, overnight occupancy of a vacation rental may not exceed two guests per legal bedroom plus two additional guests, with children under eight not counted. For daytime celebrations and gatherings between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., the maximum is twice that overnight limit. These figures must be written into the rental's house rules.
Santa Cruz County Code § 13.10.694
Vacation rentals are allowed two overnight guests per bedroom plus two additional overnight guests. Additionally, during the daytime, twice the number of overnight guests may be present at a vacation rental.
Santa Cruz County's vacation rental ordinance (SCCC 13.10.694) does not impose a specific liability-insurance mandate or minimum coverage amount on short-term rental operators. The enforceable requirements center on the land-use permit, transient occupancy tax registration, occupancy and parking standards, noise compliance, and a responsive local property manager.
Santa Cruz County does not impose an annual maximum number of nights a permitted vacation rental may operate. Instead it caps the total number of permits. Designated-area caps are LODA 262 non-hosted plus 18 hosted, SALSDA 147 non-hosted plus 45 hosted, DASDA 3 plus 4, with a countywide 270 non-hosted and 185 hosted outside those areas.
Registration is a two-part process: a land-use permit from the Planning Department plus transient occupancy tax registration with the Tax Collector (or proof of registry with a verified platform). Vacation rental permits run for a five-year term and must be renewed; the rental must operate at least three of any five consecutive years to keep the permit valid.
Whether a host must be present depends on the permit type. A Hosted Rental under SCCC 13.10.690 requires the owner or a long-term resident to occupy one legal bedroom on site during the stay. A Non-Hosted (Vacation) Rental under SCCC 13.10.694 has no on-site host, but requires a local property manager who must respond to calls within 60 minutes.
Santa Cruz County does not require a vacation rental to be the owner's primary residence; a Non-Hosted Rental under SCCC 13.10.694 is explicitly a whole home the owner does not occupy. Instead, the County controls non-owner-occupied rentals through countywide caps, designated-area caps, a 20% per-block density limit, and a one-permit-per-owner rule.
1 cities in Santa Cruz County have their own short-term rentals rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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