Under the Title 9 amendments adopted February 6, 2024, Home Occupation STRs in single-family zoning districts may operate no more than 30 nights per calendar year. Commercial STRs and STRs in non-residential zones are not subject to a night cap. Pre-existing non-owner-occupied STRs in residential zones must phase out within two years.
Athens-Clarke County's February 6, 2024 Title 9 short-term rental ordinance imposes a night cap that varies by use type. In single-family residential zoning districts, owner-occupants and long-term tenants who actually live in the home may host short-term-rental guests for no more than 30 days per calendar year — a cap designed to protect single-family-neighborhood character around the University of Georgia and historic neighborhoods such as Five Points. Commercial STRs (operated under a Special Use Permit in zones where they are allowed and processed through plans review) do not carry the 30-night cap; they may operate continuously subject to occupancy limits, parking, and life-safety requirements. The ordinance also imposed a two-year phase-out on non-owner-occupied STRs already operating in residential zones at the time of adoption: those properties may continue under the prior land-use regime for up to two years (running into early 2026) before being required to either come into compliance, convert to long-term housing, or cease STR use. Stays of 31 or more consecutive days are not STRs under the Title 9 definition and do not count toward the 30-night cap; they are treated as residential tenancies. Georgia has no statewide preemption of municipal STR night caps (HB 555 targets institutional investors and does not preempt STR ordinances), so the Athens-Clarke cap applies in full.
Hosting paid guests for more than 30 nights per calendar year in a Home Occupation STR within a single-family zone is a Title 9 violation enforceable through code court. Continuing to operate a non-owner-occupied STR in a residential zone after the two-year phase-out period likewise violates Title 9. Both can be cited by Code Enforcement and may trigger revocation of the STR approval and the Business Occupation Tax Certificate.
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