Racine County does not set a fixed county-wide occupancy cap for short-term rentals. Wisconsin's Tourist Rooming House rules under Wis. Admin. Code ch. ATCP 72 limit a TRH to four or fewer individually keyed sleeping units; larger properties must license as a hotel. The state Uniform Dwelling Code (SPS 321) and ch. ATCP 72 building-safety provisions effectively cap occupancy through bedroom size and egress requirements. Wis. Stat. §66.1014(2)(c) allows local governments to impose reasonable health-and-safety occupancy limits.
There is no Racine County ordinance that sets a maximum number of overnight guests per short-term rental in unincorporated areas. Instead, occupancy is governed by a layered set of state rules. Wis. Admin. Code ch. ATCP 72 (Hotels, Motels, and Tourist Rooming Houses) defines a Tourist Rooming House as a lodging place with four or fewer individually keyed units; a property with five or more keyed units must obtain a hotel license rather than a TRH license. Wisconsin's Uniform Dwelling Code under Wis. Admin. Code ch. SPS 321 sets minimum bedroom dimensions, ceiling heights, and egress (window and door) standards that determine how many people can lawfully sleep in a room - generally a sleeping room must have at least 70 square feet for one occupant and 50 square feet per additional occupant. Wis. Stat. §66.1014(2)(c) preserves a local government's authority to enforce reasonable health, safety, and welfare regulations on short-term rentals, including occupancy limits keyed to bedroom count or septic capacity, provided the rules do not amount to a de-facto ban on 7+ day rentals. Racine County's role in unincorporated towns is limited to zoning under Chapter 20 of the County Code and shoreland-zoning enforcement under §59.692; no specific occupancy cap appears in the county code. Towns and incorporated municipalities may set their own caps - the Village of Wind Point's 2025 STR ordinance, for example, ties maximum occupancy to bedroom count.
Exceeding ATCP 72's four-keyed-unit threshold without upgrading to a hotel license is enforceable under Wis. Stat. §97.62 with forfeitures up to $500 per day. Sleeping-room overcrowding that violates SPS 321 minimum-square-footage and egress rules can be cited by municipal building inspectors and may invalidate a TRH license at renewal. Local-ordinance occupancy violations are enforced as forfeitures under each town or village code.
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