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

Under Sec. 7-371, an STVR is defined as an accommodation for transient guests where a residential dwelling is rented for compensation for not more than 30 consecutive days. Sec. 7-372 requires every operator to obtain a short-term vacation rental certificate from the Macon-Bibb County Department of Business Development Services and to receive Planning and Zoning Commission approval before renting. Sec. 7-373(a)(5) requires the application to identify the number and location of parking spaces, and Sec. 7-373(b)(1) requires a sworn Code Compliance Verification Form certifying that the unit complies with all applicable zoning, building, health and life-safety codes, including occupancy. Sec. 7-373(b)(2)(d) requires the exemplar rental agreement to disclose the maximum occupancy of the unit and on-site parking to every guest, and Sec. 7-375(a)(3) requires the operator to send maximum occupancy information to all adjacent property owners before the initial certificate is issued. Sec. 7-376(a)(3) requires that a legible copy of the certificate showing maximum occupancy be posted inside the unit. Macon-Bibb has not adopted a numeric guests-per-bedroom or guests-per-square-foot formula, so the binding occupancy ceiling is whatever is supportable under the Georgia State Minimum Standard Building Code and IPMC sleeping-room standards (generally 70 square feet for the first occupant and 50 square feet for each additional occupant in a sleeping room) as confirmed by the code compliance verification form. STVR owners must remit Georgia state sales tax, the $5 per-night state hotel-motel fee under O.C.G.A. 48-13-50.3, and the local hotel-motel excise tax under Sec. 7-378 and Chapter 26, Article III. Three founded code violations within 12 consecutive months trigger automatic certificate revocation and a 12-month bar on new applications under Sec. 7-377(b). Pending 2026 Georgia House Bill 1166 would allow accessory dwelling units of 400 square feet or less by right but does not preempt local STVR occupancy regulation.