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

Milpitas's Short-Term Rental ordinance, Municipal Code Section C.10.200, was adopted by Ordinance No. 38.858 on September 2, 2025, to regulate STRs in the R1, R2, R3, R4, MXD, MXD3, NCMU and TC zones while preserving neighborhood character. Subsection C.7, Maximum Occupancy, sets two separate occupancy periods: a daytime period running 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and an overnight period running 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. In both periods, occupancy of the rental unit is capped at two persons per bedroom plus one additional person, a formula tied to the number of bedrooms in the unit rather than a flat headcount.

The same Subsection reaches beyond overnight guests to any daytime gathering: the operator may not allow the STR to be used for any gathering, such as a day party, where attendance exceeds the permitted maximum occupancy limit, even if no one stays overnight. The bedroom count used to calculate the cap is the figure the operator reports on the Short-Term Rental Permit application under Subsection D.3.g, so an operator who converts a den or office into an unpermitted bedroom to raise the cap is also misrepresenting the permit application.

Because the occupancy limit sits inside the Section's General Requirements alongside the Alternative Contact Person duty in Subsection C.8, a neighbor's overcrowding complaint reaches the same 24-hour contact who must respond in person within 60 minutes, giving Code Enforcement a documented first point of contact before any citation issues.