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

Municipal Code Section 17.84.330(B) makes a Zoning Administrator Permit mandatory for every short-term rental in Woodland, and (C) ties the use to whatever the base zone otherwise allows. The permit itself has unusually personal conditions: it must be issued in the name of the owner-applicant who actually owns the property, one person may hold only a single short-term rental permit citywide, and the permit cannot be transferred if the home is sold (D)(2). Applicants also must have owned the home for a minimum of two years before they can apply and be issued the permit (D)(15), which screens out investors who buy a house specifically to rent it short-term.

Woodland further built a residency preference into the review queue: applications from people whose primary residence is within the City must be processed and decided ahead of applications from nonresident owners (D)(14). Beyond the permit itself, the owner-applicant must keep a 24-hour local contact person on file with the City, post that contact's information inside the rental, and have the dwelling inspected by the Fire Department before any rental activity starts (D)(5), (D)(7). All advertising, including listings on short-term rental websites, must display the Zoning Administrator Permit number (D)(12), which lets code enforcement and neighbors verify a listing is actually permitted before booking.