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

Section 7.120.020(N) defines a 'limited vacation rental' as 'a vacation rental that is non-hosted and rented for not more than three times per 12-month period,' distinguishing it from a 'commercial vacation rental,' defined in § 7.120.020(E) as non-hosted and 'rented for more than three times per 12-month period.' Section 7.120.060(A) makes limited vacation rentals 'an allowable use in designated zoning districts' subject to Titles 20 and 21 standards in § 20.64.290 or § 21.64.290, while § 7.120.060(B) layers on a turnover cap of one rental contract at a time and only one contract per seven-day period, on top of the three-per-year ceiling in the definition.

Occupancy is capped under § 7.120.060(C) at two overnight guests per bedroom plus one, excluding infants under 12 months, never exceeding ten people total, with daytime occupants and visitors capped at 1.5 times the overnight figure and never more than fifteen. Because a limited vacation rental is 'non-hosted' under § 7.120.020(O), meaning the operator does not occupy the unit while it's rented, an owner who wants to rent more than three times a year without living on site must instead license the property as a commercial vacation rental under § 7.120.070, which carries no annual cap but still limits the property to one active rental contract at a time.