Vacation Rental Permits & Licensing

Vacation rentals are the rental of a private residence for periods of 30 days or less. Vacation rentals do not include traditional Bed and Breakfast Inns or hosted rentals, which are described below.

Hosted rentals are the rental of a single room or sleeping area within a single-family dwelling, where the property owner remains in residence.

More Information: Hosted Rental Permits

Vacation Rentals are allowed in certain Zoning Districts with appropriate permitting. Please review the Vacation Rental Map Viewer to check eligibility.

More Information Email: PRMD-VacationRentals@sonoma-county.org

Existing Vacation Rental Operators are required to comply with the new Vacation Rental Licenses Ordinance including obtaining a license by June 30, 2024.

The newly applied Vacation Rental Cap Zones and X Combining Zones do not affect currently permitted vacation rentals.

Existing Vacation Rental Operators:

• All operators (outside the Coastal Zone) are required to comply with the new Vacation Rental Licenses Ordinance and obtain a license. For information on how to obtain a license please visit our Vacation Rental Permit and License Application Page.
• Legally operating vacation rentals and applicants who submitted a Vacation Rental Zoning Permit prior to June 16, 2023 are exempt from the following Vacant Rental License property ownership requirements:
  • “All property owners must be individuals”
  • “A property owner may only have an ownership interested in one licensed vacation rental at a time.”

 New Vacation Rental Applicants:

• After a vacation rental zoning permit and a TOT registration ID have been obtained, applicants are required to file an application for and obtain a Vacation Rental License. Permit Sonoma will provide instructions on applying for a Vacation Rental License during your application process.

All Vacation Rentals are subject to Transient Occupancy Tax and must be registered with the program.

Information on how to register: Sonoma County Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector Office Transient Occupancy Tax

Cap Zones are areas where the County has established limits on the total number of Vacation Rentals - typically 5% of the dwellings in a designated neighborhood.

Most of these zones are already at or above capacity and no new Vacation Rental permits can be issued until the current number of Vacation Rentals decrease. This only happens when Vacation Rental properties change hands, Vacation Rentals are voluntarily ceased, or a Vacation Rental permit is otherwise revoked. Permit Sonoma is not able to provide an estimate of when these areas will be able to accommodate new vacation rentals, but in effected areas, this may take a number of years.

If you are interested in applying for a vacation rental in a cap area that is over capacity, you may submit an application for a Vacation Rental permit and be placed on a waiting list.

Our Vacation Rental Map Viewer will tell you if your parcel is in one of these zones and what the current concentration is. 

If you or your neighborhood would like to rezone one or more parcels to exclude, or limit vacation rentals, please review: "Exclusion (X) Combining District"

If you experience problems with a nearby vacation rental property in unincorporated Sonoma County, you may submit a complaint.

Important: DO NOT put yourself in harm's way when making a complaint. CALL 911 if you feel your safety is in jeopardy or there is an emergency.

More Information: Vacation Rental Complaints

In most cases, no. Weddings, parties with more people than the limit on the vacation rental, and any event with amplified sound are allowed only if a special permit has been issued specifically for those events. These events are never allowed in conjunction with a vacation rental in the residential zones, nor in the Land Intensive Agriculture (LIA) Zone. You may use the Permit History Lookup for the parcel you are considering renting to see if a special permit has been issued. Use of a vacation rental is subject to performance standards, including noise and occupancy limits. Most special events require a special event permit that establishes additional standards. Any special event occurring on a property with a vacation rental must comply with all applicable standards.

No. In Accordance with California state law and Sonoma County Zoning Ordinance Section 26-28-160 ADUs are not permitted structures for a Vacation, Hosted Rentals, or any short term occupancy under 30 days.

Allowable structures for Vacation Rentals include:

• A detached single family dwelling unit.
• A detached single family dwelling unit together with its legally established guest house.
  
  Please note guest houses are specifically defined in Ordinance 26-24-170 as “An accessory building, maximum 640 square feet, to a single-family dwelling which consists of a detached living area of a permanent type of construction, which may contain a full or half bathroom, but may not contain provisions for appliances or fixtures for the storage and/or preparation of food, including, but not limited to, refrigeration, dishwashers or cooking facilities.”

A vacation rental license is required for the operation of a vacation rental outside of the Coastal Zone. The licensee must be a property owner.

"Property owner" means a person with an ownership interest in the real property upon which a vacation rental is located or proposed. If the property is held in trust, "property owner" includes the present beneficiaries, but not the trustee, unless the trustee is also a present beneficiary. "Property owner" does not include a person with an ownership interest that is solely a security, lien, or encumbrance.

All property owners must be individuals, which means a natural person. A limited liability company or LLC is not a natural person and may not be a licensee.

If a property is held in trust, a trustee may apply for a license on behalf of the trust beneficiaries.

A property owner may only have an ownership interest in one (1) licensed vacation rental at a time.

A vacation rental that was legally operating, or for which a land use permit application was accepted, prior to June 15, 2023, is not subject to this limitation.

Follow the instructions provided in the notice and on Code Enforcement's Vacation Rental Violation page. Generally, you have two options to correct the violation: Obtain a permit and pay penalty fees or cease operations.

Follow the procedure for submitting a complaint.

If you feel there is an emergency or a public safety issue, please contact the Sheriff’s Department for assistance.

Vacation Rentals in the Coastal Zone require payment of Transient Occupancy Tax. In the future, they will also require a zoning permit and vacation rental license.

The Board of Supervisors recently adopted an ordinance that applies the regulations governing Vacation Rentals inland to the Coastal Zone. The goal of the proposed amendment is to align vacation rental regulations in the Coastal Zone with inland regulations.  The regulations await certification by the California Coastal Commission. Once certified, Vacation Rentals in the Coastal Zone would be required to get a zoning permit and vacation rental license to legally operate a vacation rental property in Sonoma County's Coastal Zone. 

Permit Sonoma will continue to implement the current Vacation Rental program and closely monitor its effectiveness. In addition, the County will consider potential changes to the program through the multi-year, countywide General Plan Update, starting in 2024.