Pleasanton, CA Short-Term Rentals: Night Caps (2026)

Unlike cities that cap unhosted short-term rentals at a set number of nights per year (for example 90 days), Pleasanton has no annual night cap for vacation rentals - because it does not permit whole-home short-term rentals at all. The decisive number in Pleasanton is the 30-day threshold that separates transient from non-transient occupancy. Renting an entire dwelling for periods of less than 30 days is not a permitted residential use, while the transient occupancy tax in Chapter 3.32 applies to a 'transient' occupying lodging for 30 consecutive days or less. A code-recognized bed and breakfast is not subject to an annual night cap; instead, it operates continuously under the terms of its conditional use permit (Chapter 18.124), which can attach operating conditions but does not ration the number of nights per year. The bed and breakfast definitions in Chapter 18.08 describe overnight accommodations offered 'on a temporary basis,' which aligns with short guest stays rather than long-term tenancy, but the binding limits are the use category, the room counts (3-5 rooms for a small bed and breakfast; 6-15 for an inn), and the owner-occupancy requirement - not a yearly night ceiling. Operators should not assume a 90-night or similar allowance exists; the correct framing is that whole-home nightly rental is prohibited and only a permitted, owner-occupied bed and breakfast may host short stays, subject to its permit conditions. Confirm any stay-length conditions for a specific approval with the Planning Division.