Lafayette, LA Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government caps short-term rental capacity directly in its licensing chapter. Sec. 73-26(d) sets the ceiling: no more than four guest rooms may be rented or offered for rent in a short-term rental located in an "RM" zoning district, and occupancy within each guest room cannot exceed two persons. The ordinance is explicit that this cap travels with the license rather than the parcel, "These maximum occupancy restrictions apply per license, irrespective of whether the licensed property contains more than one structure suitable for the operation of a short-term rental", closing the loophole of splitting a lot into several licensed units to multiply capacity.

The same section layers on related RM-district restrictions: a one-night minimum stay applies citywide (Sec. 73-26(a)), receptions or paid private events are barred on RM short-term rental premises (Sec. 73-26(b)), and individual guest rooms within an RM dwelling cannot be separately and concurrently rented (Sec. 73-26(c)), which prevents an operator from using the room cap as a workaround by renting rooms as standalone units. Every short-term rental first needs a license from the director under Sec. 73-15, and Sec. 73-16 requires the application to disclose the specific address and the total number of guest rooms the operator intends to use, which is where the director checks the occupancy math before issuance.

Because the four-room/two-person formula is embedded in the licensing chapter rather than the zoning code, it binds every RM short-term rental license the city issues, not just new construction.