Kirkwood, MO Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

Section 25-36(k)(2) requires the owner of a short-term rental, the person to whom the occupancy permit was issued, to maintain the rental as his or her permanent residence and to reside on the premises at the time a short-term rental guest is present. This host-presence rule works alongside § 25-36(k)(1)'s requirement that short-term rentals operate only in owner-occupied, detached single-family dwellings, so the two provisions together rule out whole-home rentals where the owner leaves for the guest's stay, absentee-owner rentals managed by a property manager, and any arrangement where the listed 'owner' actually lives somewhere else full time.

The Code does not carve out an exception for short absences, so an owner who is away, even briefly, while a guest occupies the home falls outside the rule as written. Compliance is checked through the same permitting chain as the rest of § 25-36(k): the owner must hold a current 12-month occupancy permit and a Chapter 13 business license, and must also designate a local contact person available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to respond to complaints about the rental within 45 minutes.