Alhambra, CA Short-Term Rentals: Primary-Residence-Only Rule (2026)

Unlike many California cities that restrict short-term rentals to a host's primary residence, the City of Alhambra's Chapter 5.92 contains no primary-residence requirement. Section 5.92.040 requires only that the host be the owner of record and a natural person (or a family trust whose beneficiaries are all natural persons), and that the host hold only one STR permit for one dwelling unit in the City. The STR permit application asks whether the host resides on-site while guests are present (a yes/no question used for the host-presence determination), but residing on-site is not a condition of eligibility, so both owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied whole-home rentals may be permitted. The principal limits on investor-style operation are the natural-person ownership rule (no LLCs or corporations), the one-permit-per-host cap, the 500-permit citywide cap, and the exclusion of ADUs and JADUs (5.92.030, per Government Code 66323(d)) and units under affordable-housing covenants. Section 5.92.030 allows STRs in all zones except Industrial. Because the City affirmatively allows non-primary-residence rentals subject to these caps, Alhambra's stance is more permissive than primary-residence-only jurisdictions, while still being more controlled than having no STR ordinance. State law does not impose a primary-residence requirement, leaving the choice to the local ordinance.