Chapel Hill, NC Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

LUMO Sec. 6.27.5(b), part of the ordinance's operational requirements for short-term rentals, sets a single occupancy formula for every registered STR in Chapel Hill: overnight occupancy cannot exceed two persons per bedroom plus two additional persons, and children under 12 years of age are excluded from that count entirely. A three-bedroom rental, for example, tops out at eight overnight guests under the formula, two per bedroom times three plus two, before factoring in any exempt young children. The ordinance does not just set the number; it requires the operator to post the occupancy limit prominently inside the short-term rental itself and to include that same limit in the property's listings on hosting platforms, so a prospective guest can see the cap before booking.

That posting duty sits alongside the STR operator's other Sec. 6.27.5 obligations, including designating a local responsible party who can respond to emergencies within two hours, complying with the noise regulations in Chapter 11, Article III of the Town Code, providing at least one parking space per bedroom plus one additional space, and ensuring the primary renter is at least 18 years old. Because the occupancy cap applies to both primary residence STRs and dedicated STRs alike, a host cannot avoid it by classifying the rental one way or the other; the two-per-bedroom-plus-two formula, and the under-12 exclusion, apply the same way to every permitted short-term rental in town.