Redwood City, CA Short-Term Rentals: Noise Rules (2026)

The noise rules for short-term rentals sit in the operating standards of Redwood City Zoning Code § 31.3, the Short-Term Rental Use section. Its stated purpose includes establishing operating standards that reduce potential noise, parking, traffic, property maintenance and safety impacts on adjacent neighbors. Two standards in subsection D carry that purpose into daily operation.

The first is the local contact person under D(5). The host must identify the contact to all guests and to all occupants of adjacent properties, defined as the dwelling units located next to the rental. The contact must be available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week during the term of any unhosted stay. When a complaint arrives about the condition or operation of the dwelling unit or the conduct of guests, the contact must respond within 60 minutes and take remedial action to resolve it. A neighbor kept awake by a party therefore has a named person and a one-hour clock, not a general promise. The contact's information is also a required item on the registration form under § 31.3(E)(1).

The 24-hour contact duty is written for unhosted stays. Under D(4), a host counts as present only when on the premises at all times between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. A principal residence can be rented for no more than 120 days per calendar year where no host is present, and the section sets no limit on days when the host is present.

The second standard is the special event ban in D(7). Weddings, corporate events, commercial functions, and any other similar events that have the potential to cause traffic, parking, noise or other problems in the neighborhood are prohibited from occurring at the short-term rental property as a component of short-term rental activities.

The section does not print a decibel limit or its own quiet hours. Noise conduct at a rental is still reachable through the rest of the City Code, because § 31.3(E)(7) states that a registration does not relieve any person of the obligation to comply with all other provisions of the Code applicable to the use and occupancy of the property. Ordinance No. 1130-892, adopted July 27, 2026, is the most recent amendment recorded in the section's history line, and the Municode editor's note says it changed the section title.