Pismo Beach, CA Short-Term Rentals: Short-Term Rental Permits (2026)

Chapter 5.22, Vacation Rental and Short-Term Rental Regulation, requires a license before anyone rents or advertises. Section 5.22.100 covers short-term rentals and homestays: no owner can rent, offer to rent or advertise a property as either without a license issued under the chapter. A short-term rental is a detached single-family residence rented for less than thirty consecutive days while the owner is not concurrently living there. A homestay is an owner-occupied detached single-family residence where bedrooms are rented for less than thirty consecutive days. Article I separately licenses vacation rentals, meaning structures of four or fewer separate transient rental units, under § 5.22.020.

The number of licenses is capped. Section 5.22.130 A counts twenty-eight (28) authorized properties, limits licenses to no more than twenty-eight (28) at any time, and closed applications after December 5, 2023 for properties without an existing license. A revoked or unrenewed license, or a change of ownership, produces no replacement license, and the city council states its intention to reduce the number to zero through attrition.

An applicant under § 5.22.110 submits the fee set by council resolution, a site and floor plan with photographs of each bedroom and parking location, mailing label materials for properties within a five hundred (500) foot radius, proof of ownership for two consecutive years, a signed affidavit under penalty of perjury that the home is the primary residence, and written HOA Board authorization where an HOA applies. The city inspects to confirm bedroom count, on-site parking and safety standards, the owner acknowledges the good neighbor policy, and a valid business license is required before the tax administrator issues a transient occupancy registration certificate. Licenses are personal to the owner and are void on sale. Under § 5.22.130 B, licenses expire on September 30 each year, and renewal requires proof of primary residence, a listing of each rental night and charge over the prior twelve months, and proof of transient occupancy tax payment. The 1983 Zoning Ordinance repeats the license requirement at § 17.113.040 and adds that the owner, not a property management company, registers the property. The 1998 Zoning Code carries a parallel chapter 17.09.