Bartow County, GA Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

Bartow County Code § 18-133(a)(1) caps overnight occupancy at a short-term rental, a single-family home in a residential zoning district rented to transient guests for one to 30 nights, at two persons per bedroom plus two additional persons per residence, with a hard ceiling of 15 overnight occupants regardless of bedroom count. The community development director has discretion to raise that ceiling to as many as 24 overnight occupants if the owner provides justification. Additional daytime, non-overnight guests are allowed up to the same number as the occupancy limit; the code's own example is a three-bedroom home that could host up to eight overnight occupants plus eight more daytime guests.

Children age three and under are not counted toward any of these limits. The occupancy cap is one piece of a broader short-term rental article adopted July 12, 2023 that also requires one off-street parking space per rented bedroom (§ 18-133(a)(2)), makes the owner or a local contact reachable 24 hours a day and required to respond to a violation within one hour (§ 18-133(a)(3)), and layers on safety equipment, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, an emergency escape window, and a fire extinguisher, under § 18-133(b). The community development director and designees enforce the article and may investigate complaints, inspect the property, and refer violations to magistrate court.