Bowling Green, KY Short-Term Rentals: Night Caps (2026)

Unlike night-cap markets such as San Francisco (90 nights for unhosted), Portland OR (95 nights for accessory rentals), or Honolulu (180 nights for hosted), Bowling Green's STR program does not codify a per-year, per-quarter, or per-month night-cap on the number of nights a licensed STR may host. The Zoning Ordinance Section 5.2.4(C)(4)(c) Specific Use Standards do not contain a night-cap clause, and neither the City of Bowling Green Short Term Rental Guide nor the City-County Planning Commission's STR program materials reference an annual or rolling booking limit. A licensed Bowling Green STR may book up to 365 nights per year provided the operator continues to satisfy all CUP and license conditions. Scale is controlled by four parallel mechanisms instead of a night cap. First, the Conditional Use Permit process gives the Board of Zoning Adjustment case-by-case discretion to approve, deny, or condition each STR after a public hearing with neighbor notice; the BZA may impose CUP-specific conditions limiting hours of guest arrival, number of bookings per month, or other operational constraints on a particular property even though no citywide cap exists. Second, the categorical zoning prohibition in RS (single-family residential) districts removes the bulk of single-family residential housing stock from STR conversion altogether. Third, the no-commercial-events backstop in 5.2.4(C)(4)(c) (no meetings, seminars, weddings, receptions, concerts) prevents the highest-impact event-style booking patterns that drive neighborhood opposition in other markets. Fourth, the CUP and Short Term Rental license are subject to ongoing compliance review and revocation if the operator generates 'excessive traffic generation, noise and light,' which functions as a behavior-based cap rather than a booking-night cap. Operators should be aware that even though no codified night cap exists, an individual CUP may carry case-specific conditions limiting nights or bookings if the BZA imposed them at issuance, and CUP renewal/review may include nuisance-history evaluation.