Pawtucket, RI Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

Pawtucket has not adopted a separately codified short-term-rental ordinance fixing a numeric per-bedroom occupancy formula. Chapter 410 (Zoning) of the Pawtucket Code of Ordinances regulates uses by district through the Table of Use Regulations (Article V) and dimensional standards in Article VI (§ 410-44), but does not define a per-room STR guest cap. STR hosts in Pawtucket are subject to two layers of state regulation. First, R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-63.1-14 requires every operator listing a property for rent of 30 nights or fewer on a third-party hosting platform that conducts business in Rhode Island to register with the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation (DBR). The DBR registration form requires the owner's business address, contact details, property address, number of rooms, ownership status, and intended use (entire space, private room, or shared space) - the declared room count and intended use act as the practical occupancy ceiling. Second, the Rhode Island Housing Maintenance and Occupancy Code (R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 45-24.3) and the Rhode Island State Building Code (SBC-1, based on the 2018 IBC/IRC as adopted by the State Building Code Standards Committee) set minimum sleeping-room sizes and emergency-egress requirements for any room used as sleeping quarters. Where a Pawtucket operator rents to four or more unrelated persons, the use can shift from a single-family dwelling to a rooming or boarding house under the Article V Table of Use Regulations, which is a different (and more restricted) zoning use. The Pawtucket Zoning Officer and the Building Inspector at the Department of Permits and Inspections enforce zoning compliance and the State Building Code through the certificate-of-occupancy and rental-property processes.