Chapel Hill, NC Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

Chapel Hill defines a primary residence STR as a dwelling, accessory apartment, or duplex unit where the host lives at least 183 days a year or 50 percent of the time (LUMO section 6.27.3). Under section 6.27.5(a)(2), a primary residence STR operator with an accessory apartment or duplex on the same lot may rent the main unit, the apartment, or one duplex unit as an STR, but renting more than one of those units at once to separate parties under separate contracts is allowed only while the operator is onsite.

That is materially different from dedicated STRs under section 6.27.5(a)(1), where simultaneous rental of the single-family unit and the accessory apartment to two different parties is never allowed; the two units there may only be rented together under one contract. Any STR used more than fourteen days a year needs a zoning compliance STR permit (section 6.27.4(a)), renewed annually, with the permit number posted in every rental listing. The town manager can deny a permit for an incomplete application or a standard the rental fails to meet (section 6.27.4(d)), and a denial can be appealed to the Board of Adjustment under LUMO section 4.10.

Enforcement of the host-presence rule runs through section 6.27.6: violations are penalized under LUMO section 4.13, the town manager may revoke the STR permit for violated conditions under section 4.9.5, and operating without a valid permit is itself a separate violation of section 4.9.8. Existing STRs as of adoption (Ord. No. 2021-06-23/O-9, section 3) had eighteen months to come into compliance, with continued noncompliant operation after December 23, 2022 treated as a LUMO violation.