Plumas County, CA Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

There is no short-term rental ordinance establishing a maximum guest count or per-bedroom occupancy formula for vacation rentals in unincorporated Plumas County. A whole-home rental is treated as a dwelling, so occupancy is bounded by the County's general definition of a dwelling unit and 'family,' by California Building Code limits, and by the capacity of the property's water and onsite wastewater (septic) system rather than by a dedicated STR cap. The one explicit numeric limit on transient lodging in residential zones applies to bed and breakfast inns, which are capped at five guest rooms (with a narrow exception allowing more where the property's zoning and size would otherwise permit additional units) and must have the owner or manager living on site, per Sec. 9-2.213.5. Septic capacity is a real constraint at popular lake and resort properties: an onsite wastewater system is sized for a specific design flow, and overloading it by housing far more guests than the system was built for can create a health-code problem independent of any STR rule. Because the County has not adopted occupancy numbers for vacation rentals, owners should rely on building, septic, and fire limits and confirm any applicable standards with Environmental Health and the Building Department.