Mobile, AL Short-Term Rentals: Short-Term Rental Parking Rules (2026)

Sec. 11(g)(8) of Mobile's Unified Development Code sets the parking formula for every short-term rental approved as a conditional use: a minimum of two off-street parking spaces for the principal occupants of the residence, plus one additional space for every guest room the establishment offers, up to the eight-guest-room cap set elsewhere in the same subsection. Because short-term rentals top out at eight guest rooms, the parking requirement can reach ten spaces at a fully built-out rental, two for the occupants and eight more for the rooms.

The code is specific about where those extra spaces cannot go: subsection (8) bars locating the additional parking in any required front or side yard setback area, so an operator can't simply pave over the front lawn to meet the count. The additional spaces must also be screened from the view of adjacent properties by natural or artificial means, meaning fencing, hedges, or similar buffering has to hide the parking area from neighboring lots. The parking rule sits alongside the refuse-area standard in subsection (7), which keeps trash storage at least 20 feet from any property line and 100 feet from a dwelling on an adjacent lot, and the sign restriction in subsection (9), which bars vacancy, rent, or lease signage at the property. All three conditions attach to the conditional use permit itself, so the city council can revisit compliance if a complaint arises.