Chattanooga's homestay STVR must be the operator's primary residence, defined as living there at least 183 days a year. Absentee STVRs are for properties that are not the owner's primary residence and are restricted to commercial zones that permit hotels, not ordinary residential neighborhoods.
The city splits rentals by residency. A homestay is the applicant's primary residence (occupied at least 183 days per year) and may operate in commercial zones and in residential zones inside the STVR Homestay Overlay. An absentee STVR is a property that is not the owner's primary residence and is only allowed in commercial zones already zoned for hotel/motel use. Rezoning a parcel to create a new absentee STVR now carries an 18-month cooling-off period before a certificate application. Tennessee's Short-Term Rental Unit Act (TCA 13-7-603) grandfathers properties used as STVRs before local restrictions took effect.
Falsely claiming a homestay when the property is not your primary residence can void the certificate, and absentee use in a residential zone is a zoning violation.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Chattanooga encourages backyard composting and offers free mulch and compost to city residents. No ordinance bans a tidy home compost pile. The city collects...
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No Hamilton County or Chattanooga ordinance specifically bans or requires a permit for residential artificial turf. In required landscape areas of developmen...
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Neither Hamilton County nor Chattanooga requires homeowners to plant native species, and there is no ban on turf lawns. Native and pollinator plantings are e...
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Rainwater harvesting is legal in Tennessee with no state permit or volume limit for non-potable uses like irrigation. Chattanooga actively encourages it, eve...
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Tennessee has no statewide homeowner lawn-watering ban, and neither Hamilton County nor Chattanooga imposes fixed watering days. During drought, Tennessee Am...
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Chattanooga treats weeds like tall grass: grass, underbrush, or weeds must be kept under 10 inches. Overgrown lots are tagged as public nuisances by Code Enf...
See how Hamilton County's primary-residence-only rule rules stack up against other locations.
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