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

In York County, Virginia, every short-term rental home, tourist home, and bed and breakfast is a special use permit use under Sec. 24.1-409, and Sec. 24.1-409(g) puts the actual guest cap in the hands of the Board of Supervisors rather than a fixed number in the ordinance. The board looks at the density and character of the surrounding vicinity and the size and characteristics of the specific site before setting the number of people who may stay at any one time. Applicants do not get to guess at what the board wants: Sec.

24.1-409(j)(1) requires the special use permit application to include a detailed narrative specifying the maximum number of occupants, broken out by children and adults, the minimum and maximum length of stay if any, the number of bedrooms to be rented, and whether the property will be rented room-by-room or as a whole house. Sec. 24.1-409(k) further directs the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors to weigh the capacity of the adjacent roadway network, including pavement widths and traffic volumes, when deciding what scale of rental the site can support.

Because the occupancy figure is written into the special use permit itself rather than the zoning text, it varies from property to property, and the approved number becomes a binding condition of that specific permit. The owner must also secure a York County business license, open a transient occupancy tax account with the county, and register for a Virginia sales tax account under Sec. 24.1-409(i) before operating.