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

There is no primary-residence or owner-occupancy requirement for short-term rentals in unincorporated Plumas County. Because the County has not adopted an STR ordinance, it imposes no rule that a vacation rental be the host's main home, and non-owner-occupied 'investor' rentals, common at second-home destinations like Lake Almanor, Graeagle, and Bucks Lake, are not banned. The County's interest is registering the rental and collecting Transient Occupancy Tax under Ordinance No. 544, which applies the same way whether or not the owner lives there. The one place an on-site occupant is required is the bed and breakfast inn use: Sec. 9-2.213.5 expressly requires that 'the owner or manager resides on the property,' but that is a distinct, defined use (with meals served to guests and a five-room cap), not a rule imposed on ordinary whole-home rentals. Separately, the County's accessory dwelling unit rules require that ADUs and junior ADUs be leased for terms longer than 30 days, and a junior ADU carries an owner-occupancy requirement, so an ADU generally cannot itself be used as a short-term rental. Outside that ADU context, owners are free to operate whole-home short-term rentals without living on site, subject to TOT registration and zoning compliance.