Peoria, IL Short-Term Rentals: Primary-Residence-Only Rule (2026)
Key Facts
- By-right condition
- Property owner-occupied by a natural person
- Non-owner-occupied option
- Special use permit required
- Form Districts
- No non-owner-occupied option at all
- Special-use density cap
- 1% of parcels per neighborhood
- Special-use spacing
- 1,500 feet between special-use rentals
Summary
Peoria only allows a short-term rental by right in its Estate Residential and Single-Family Residential districts, and the Form Districts R-4 Frontage and West Main Local Frontage, when the property is owner-occupied by a natural person. Section 5.3.3.B.1-2 of the Unified Development Code pushes every non-owner-occupied rental in those districts into the discretionary special use process, capped citywide by density and spacing limits.
1.In Estate Residential and Single-Family Residential districts, the use is permitted by right where the property is owner occupied by a natural person or persons. Short term rental is a special use in any other property type in the Estate Residential or Single-Family Residential districts.2.In the Form Districts R-4 Frontage and the West Main Local Frontage, the use is permitted by right where the property is owner occupied by a natural person or persons. The use is not permitted in any other property type in the R-4 Frontage or West Main Local Frontage.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 119).
Full Breakdown
1 states that in the Estate Residential and Single-Family Residential districts, short term rental 'is permitted by right where the property is owner occupied by a natural person or persons,' and that it 'is a special use in any other property type' in those same districts. 2 repeats the identical structure for the Form Districts, providing that in the R-4 Frontage and West Main Local Frontage, short term rental is permitted by right only where 'owner occupied by a natural person or persons,' and 'is not permitted in any other property type' in those frontage districts at all, meaning a non-owner-occupied short term rental cannot locate there under any approval path.
5-mile radius where no neighborhood map applies, may hold a special-use short term rental, and no special-use short term rental may sit within 1,500 feet of another. An approved special use is also personal to the applicant named on the application; a change of ownership voids it and requires a fresh special use application.
Violations & Fines
Operating a non-owner-occupied short term rental by right in the Estate Residential, Single-Family Residential, R-4 Frontage, or West Main Local Frontage districts, without the required special use approval, violates Section 5.3.3.B.1-2 and is enforceable as a zoning code violation. In the Form Districts the use is barred entirely absent owner-occupancy, with no special use fallback available under Section 5.3.3.B.2.
Frequently Asked Questions
Must the owner live in a Peoria short-term rental to operate it by right?
Can a non-owner-occupied short-term rental ever operate in a Peoria single-family district?
What happens to a short-term rental's approval if the property is sold in Peoria?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Peoria
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