Sutter, CA Short-Term Rentals: Permit Requirements (2026)

Sutter County government has not adopted a stand-alone short-term vacation rental permit program for the unincorporated area. The county's only direct regulation of stays of 30 days or less is County Code Chapter 150 (Hotel/Motel Surcharge) in the Revenue and Tax division, which defines a 'Hotel/Motel' broadly as any structure in the unincorporated area occupied by transients for 30 days or less, expressly including a bed and breakfast inn, tourist home, lodging house, rooming house, and a 'mobile home or house trailer at a fixed location used for the purpose of transient lodging.' A short-term rental therefore falls within that definition and is captured by the 10% surcharge rather than by any separate STR permit. Section 150-060 requires every operator to register the property with the county within 30 days after commencing business and obtain a Hotel/Motel Registration Certificate. Land-use eligibility is governed by the general Zoning Code (Chapter 1500); its Article 27 definitions, last amended by the ordinance of June 28, 2022, do not define 'short-term rental,' 'vacation rental,' or 'transient lodging,' so the use is evaluated under the underlying residential or agricultural district standards and the Home Occupation rules (Article 12).