North Charleston, SC Short-Term Rentals: Short-Term Rental Permits (2026)

Section 4-21 treats short-term rentals as a conditional use of a legally established dwelling, available everywhere except nonconforming dwellings in industrial districts, and it lists twelve conditions a unit must meet. Item 7 is the core permitting rule: an STR permit and an active business license for the use must be filed by the property owner with the city. Item 11 adds that the STR must be permitted by the city's planning and zoning department and that the registration is renewed annually by February 28.

The permit is not a formality with no teeth: item 8 provides that if the zoning department issues more than three notices of violation of the city's zoning, noise or refuse ordinances against the property within a one-year period, a fourth notice renders all previously issued STR permits and licenses null and void, subject to review by the board of zoning appeals under Section 7-6. Section 4-21(d) exempts properties with ten or more rental units, and hotels, motels or other properly licensed transient housing, from the conditional-use process in subsection (b), though each still needs an active business license, and a separate STR license is required per unit outside that hotel/motel exemption. Uses that were not in conformity with Section 4-21 before January 1, 2023, are not grandfathered and are treated as violations.