North Charleston, SC Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

Section 4-21(a) defines a short-term rental as a dwelling unit that provides temporary sleeping accommodations for no more than two persons per bedroom, up to eight persons total including children, for a stay not exceeding twenty-nine consecutive days. Subsection (b)(1) restates that cap as one of the twelve conditions a unit must meet to keep its conditional-use status: the number of STR overnight guests may not exceed two persons per bedroom, capped at eight including children, and that maximum must be posted inside the unit and included in any advertising for the rental.

The occupancy limit interacts with the parking condition in (b)(2), which ties required parking to bedroom count, one off-street or allocated space for every two bedrooms rented, so a larger household sleeping at the eight-person cap in a four-bedroom unit also needs at least two dedicated parking spaces. Because a violation of any (b) condition, including the occupancy and posting requirement, counts toward the three-strikes notice-of-violation rule in (b)(8), an operator who repeatedly overfills a rental risks losing the STR permit entirely on the fourth notice within a year, not just a fine for that stay.

Compliance is the property owner's responsibility under (g), even though citations may be written directly to a property manager, emergency contact, or the overnight guests occupying the unit.