Palm Coast, FL Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

Palm Coast Ordinance 2025-01 (Section 17-68) was structured to use the maximum-occupancy authority created by the 2023 amendments to FS § 509.032. Under those amendments, local governments may impose maximum occupancy limits on vacation rentals at no more than two persons per bedroom plus an additional two persons in one common area (or higher with square-footage justification). Palm Coast adopted a formula that combines a per-room ratio with a hard total cap: two transient occupants per sleeping room or habitable space, with an absolute maximum of 10 occupants per property regardless of bedroom count. Children age 3 and younger do not count toward the 10-person cap, allowing families with infants and toddlers slightly more flexibility. Critically, when homeowners reside in the property simultaneously with vacationers (such as in a hosted room rental or owner-occupied STR scenario), the owners count against the maximum - the cap is not per-renter-group but per-occupant. The 'habitable space' language captures dens, living rooms, and other spaces that could be used for sleeping but were not originally designed as bedrooms - so a 6-bedroom house cannot count a converted office and a media room as additional 'bedrooms' to inflate occupancy beyond what the original construction supports. The 10-person cap is one of the most restrictive STR occupancy ceilings in coastal Florida; many Atlantic-coast tourist cities operate caps in the 12-16 range. The cap is enforceable as a registration condition: misrepresenting bedroom count or maximum occupancy on the Section 17-68 city registration is grounds for registration revocation, and exceeding the 10-person cap during a stay is enforceable by Code Enforcement with the graduated warning-then-fine framework. Separately, the Florida Building Code's bedroom and egress standards continue to apply - each room used for sleeping must be a legal bedroom with proper egress, smoke detector, ceiling-height minimum, and (for converted spaces) appropriate permits. The Florida Fire Prevention Code's R-3 occupant-load calculations also apply. Pet limit: Section 17-68 separately caps pets at 2 per rental house, and animals must be leashed when off the owner's property. Responsible Party affidavits must certify that no guests are registered sex offenders.