Roanoke, VA Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

2-405 of the zoning ordinance sets the guest-count ceilings for Roanoke's two licensed home-lodging use types. A bed and breakfast operating in a residential district under subsection (b)(4) may dedicate no more than six guest sleeping rooms to the use, and the total number of guest occupants at the establishment cannot exceed 12 people at a time. In the MX Mixed Use and CN Commercial-Neighborhood districts, subsection (c)(2) instead allows up to 10 bedrooms used exclusively for rent, including guest rooms in detached accessory structures, without a separate numeric guest cap beyond the bedroom count.

A homestay, defined in Appendix A as an establishment offering a portion of a dwelling for compensated overnight stays that does not meet the bed and breakfast definition, is held to a tighter standard under subsection (d)(2): no more than two bedrooms may be used for guests, no more than four total guests may be accommodated, and only one homestay is allowed per property, preventing a single lot from hosting multiple stacked home-share units. These caps sit alongside the separate 14-day maximum stay length and the requirement, for homestays, that the owner or leaseholder occupy the property during guest stays, so occupancy, duration, and host-presence work together as a package of standards enforced through the zoning permit process rather than a standalone short-term-rental license.