Short-term rentals in Front Royal, explained properly.

The maximum number of occupants is set by the number of bedrooms, with no more than two adults per bedroom. The total may not exceed ten people unless approved by Council (Sec. 175-114(D)).

Staff conduct an inspection before the Special Use Permit approval is issued, and further inspections are made on a complaint basis to check the performance standards and any Council conditions (Sec. 175-114(C)). The owner gives the Town written consent to inspect any dwelling used for short-term rental on twenty-four-hour notice (Sec. 175-114(H)).

A fire extinguisher must be provided and visible in all kitchen and cooking areas. Smoke detectors must be installed in all locations identified in the current Uniform Statewide Building Code, and a carbon monoxide detector must be installed on each floor in every dwelling (Sec. 175-114(G)).

A property management plan showing how the rental will be managed and how impact on neighbours will be minimized is submitted to the Planning Department for review and approval as part of the permitting process. It includes local points of contact available to respond immediately to complaints, garbage clean-up, unruly tenants and utility issues. It is posted in a visible location in the rental, the contact numbers go to Town staff, public safety officials and, if applicable, the subdivision's HOA, and the plan is provided as part of the rental contract (Sec. 175-114(I)).

For a property in a subdivision governed by a homeowners' association, the Planning Department must receive proof that notification to operate the short-term rental was sent to the association (Sec. 175-114(J)).

The owners of the rental shall provide an emergency evacuation plan for the dwelling and the neighbourhood (Sec. 175-114(K)). A copy of Town Code Chapter 106 on noise must be provided at the rental, and outdoor burning must comply with Chapter 78 (Sec. 175-114(L), (M)).

Sec. 175-114(E) exempts an existing residential use property from the off-street parking requirements of Town Code Chapter 148-870. Chapter 148 was not read.

Sec. 175-114(F) requires that there be no visible evidence of the conduct of short-term rentals on the outside appearance of the property.

Sec. 175-114(N) says failure to comply with the approved conditions and/or supplemental regulations subjects the permit to revocation by the Zoning Administrator at any time. Council may attach conditions to the permit (Sec. 175-114(A)).

Code of Virginia § 15.2-983 defines a short-term rental as a room or space offered for dwelling, sleeping or lodging for fewer than 30 consecutive days in exchange for a charge. Any locality may, by ordinance, set up a short-term rental registry and require operators to register every year. Registration is ministerial: the operator's name, the address of each property offered, and, if the operator is a lessee or sublessee, an attestation that the owner has given permission. A locality may charge a reasonable fee tied to the cost of the registry. People licensed by the Real Estate Board (or owners represented by a real estate licensee), time-share registrants, places licensed by the Department of Health and businesses licensed by the locality for rental or property management (such as hotels and bed and breakfasts) cannot be required to register. A registry ordinance may set a penalty of up to $500 per violation for offering an unregistered property, and may bar an operator from offering a property after repeated registry violations or after violations of state and local short-term rental laws on more than three occasions. No local ordinance may prohibit an operator from offering a property solely because the operator is a lessee or sublessee, if the owner has given permission; a locality may limit a lessee or sublessee to one short-term rental. No local ordinance enacted after December 31, 2023 may require a special exception, special use or conditional use permit for a short-term rental in a dwelling that the owner also legally occupies as a primary residence. Otherwise, localities keep their general land use and zoning authority over short-term rentals, and the statute does not override recorded covenants, condominium instruments or property owners' association declarations. The section was last amended in 2024 (Acts of Assembly 2024, chapters 700 and 792).

Virginia's retail sales tax applies to accommodations, which the Retail Sales and Use Tax Act defines to include short-term rentals as well as hotels, motels, inns and similar places. A taxable retail sale includes charges for accommodations furnished to transients for less than 90 continuous days. The Department of Taxation says the tax applies to the total charge for the accommodation, and that fees charged by booking agents and other companies that handle reservations are also taxable; under the statute the room charge includes any fee retained for facilitating the sale.

The Virginia Department of Taxation lists the general sales tax rate by location: 7% in James City County, Williamsburg and York County; 6.3% in Charlotte County, Danville, Gloucester County, Halifax County, Henry County, Northampton County, Patrick County and Pittsylvania County; 6% in the Central Virginia region (Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan and Richmond City), Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia; and 5.3% everywhere else. The page lists different rates only for groceries and for aircraft, watercraft and motor vehicles. Rates are set by the locality where the sale is made. Local lodging or transient occupancy taxes charged by cities and counties are separate and are listed on each city page.

The Department of Taxation says the tax is collected by either the accommodations provider or the accommodations intermediary, depending on how the stay was booked. Online travel companies, travel agents and similar businesses that facilitate bookings are accommodations intermediaries. When a short-term rental is booked through an intermediary, the intermediary collects the tax on the total charge, including its own fees, and reports the sales tax on the entire transaction on its Virginia sales tax return.

When a reservation is made directly with the accommodations provider, the Department of Taxation says the provider collects the tax on the total charge for the lodging and reports it on its Virginia sales tax return. Sellers whose sales go through a marketplace facilitator's platform generally do not need to collect sales tax on those sales, but may still need to register to collect it on their own sales outside the platform; registering gives you a sales tax account number and a Certificate of Registration (Form ST-4).