Unincorporated Knox County does not require a short-term rental to be the owner's primary residence. Non-owner-occupied STRs are allowed because the county has no STR ordinance restricting them. The City of Knoxville does distinguish owner-occupied units.
Knox County has adopted no short-term rental ordinance, so it imposes no owner-occupancy or primary-residence condition in the unincorporated area. Investors may operate non-owner-occupied STRs subject only to underlying zoning, the occupancy tax, and general nuisance rules. By contrast, the City of Knoxville's STR framework treats owner-occupied ('Type 1') and non-owner-occupied ('Type 2') rentals differently and limits where non-owner-occupied units may locate. Tennessee's Short-Term Rental Unit Act protects the continued use of units already operating before any future local restriction.
No county primary-residence penalty exists in the unincorporated area. City of Knoxville operators face city enforcement if they exceed the allowances for owner-occupied versus non-owner-occupied units.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Knox County does not prohibit backyard composting for households. The zoning code only regulates commercial-scale composting facilities, which are solid-wast...
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Knox County has no ordinance regulating artificial turf on residential property. Synthetic lawns are neither required nor banned; large installations should ...
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Knox County has no rule requiring native plants in home yards, but its zoning ordinance requires native shade trees in new parking lots and along streets in ...
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Knox County has no ordinance prohibiting or specially regulating residential rain barrels or rainwater collection. Tennessee does not restrict rainwater harv...
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Knox County does not impose a general ordinance restricting lawn or garden watering days or hours. Any watering limits come from your individual water utilit...
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Knox County treats vines, grass, weeds and other vegetation that reaches 12 inches or more as a presumed public nuisance on residential property. Owners must...
See how Knox County's primary-residence-only rule rules stack up against other locations.
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