Del Norte County, CA Short-Term Rentals: Primary-Residence-Only Rule (2026)

Del Norte County imposes no primary-residence or owner-occupancy requirement on short-term rentals because it never adopted a dedicated vacation-rental ordinance. The Board of Supervisors declined to regulate vacation rentals in 2022, and the County's framework is built on tax registration (Chapter 3.08 TOT) and general zoning rather than on residency status. Whole-home, non-owner-occupied rentals are therefore not prohibited by any County STR rule. The 2022 staff data underscores this market reality: single-family-home rentals had grown from 79 in 2017-18 to 140 in 2021-22 - many of them second homes and investment properties near the redwood coast and Redwood National Park rather than owners' primary residences. The one structural limit the County does enforce is on accessory dwelling units: short-term rentals (rentals of less than 30 days) are not allowed in ADUs, though an owner may rent the primary residence while living in the ADU, or rent the ADU itself for stays of 30 days or longer. That ADU restriction is not a primary-residence requirement for the main home - it simply keeps the granny flat out of the short-term market. Because rules could change if the Board revisits STR regulation, and because Coastal Zone parcels carry their own review, operators should confirm the current requirements with Planning & Building before listing a non-owner-occupied rental.