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

Article 61 contains no primary-residence or owner-occupancy mandate. The January 17, 2024 Planning Commission staff report explains that the Board of Supervisors discussed potentially requiring residency but ultimately decided to forgo the two-year residency requirement on the recommendation of County Counsel. Counsel relied on South Lake Tahoe Property Owners Group v. City of South Lake Tahoe (2023), where the court struck down a measure restricting vacation rental permits to residents, holding the residency exception unconstitutionally discriminated against non-residents and violated the interstate commerce clause. As a result, Siskiyou County permits non-resident and out-of-state owners to obtain VR Activity Permits on equal terms. What the ordinance does require under Section 10-6.6104 is that the property be a qualifying single or two-family dwelling in an eligible zoning district, that only one dwelling per parcel be a vacation rental, and (in the McCloud, Dunsmuir/Mount Shasta, and Weed/Lake Shastina areas) that the parcel be at least 2.5 acres. Operational control is achieved instead through the mandatory 24-hour local property manager, not through an owner-occupancy rule. These are the unincorporated county's standards.