Short-term rentals in Little Rock, explained properly.

Sec. 36-603(a)(3) sets the density limit for STR-1 and STR-2 together.

The limit appears in the definitions of STR-1 and STR-2 (Sec. 36-600) and in the entitlement section (Sec. 36-601). Maximum occupancy of any room or of the structure is set separately by the Arkansas fire prevention code (Sec. 36-603(b)(15)).

The 29-day limit is part of both the STR-1 and STR-2 definitions. Sec. 36-603(b)(17) also says the owner may not receive compensation for occupancy of less than a one-day rental.

A pre-existing STR-1 could get administrative approval by registering with the City, showing it operated for six months before passage and meeting the STR-1 development standards, with a $150 administrative review fee, then a $100 inspection fee and an annual business permit. A pre-existing STR-2 without a PZD had to apply within six months of passage; if no application was received or the PZD was not approved, the property reverts to its former use status.

Sec. 36-602 requires the responsible party to respond within 60 minutes to complaints about the rental's condition or guest conduct and to require an immediate halt to disturbances; failing to respond within 60 minutes is a violation of the article. The responsible party must give contact information to all residents adjacent to the rental and post on or near the front door a notice with the rental's address, emergency contact numbers (including the responsible party's name and number), maximum occupancy and an emergency exit diagram approved by the Little Rock fire department. The owner stays liable for noncompliance.

Sec. 36-603(b)(8) lists the proof of insurance among the development standards that applicants must show with the special use permit (STR-1) or PZD (STR-2) application.

Sec. 36-603(b): applicants provide a scaled floor plan showing every room for rent with windows, doors and smoke detectors; certified smoke detectors are required in all sleeping areas, every room in the path of egress and each story with a sleeping unit, including basements; all sleeping areas need two ways of egress, one of which can be an operable window; carbon monoxide detectors are installed as city staff directs if there are fuel-fired appliances or an attached garage; a 5-pound ABC extinguisher must be mounted where readily accessible. Operators must meet the City's Arkansas fire prevention code chapter, and the annual building code and fire marshal inspection fee and the annual business license must be paid before use.

Sec. 36-603(b)(5): the on-street alternative must address neighborhood impact. If the rental is in a design overlay district, any alternate parking requirements in the district regulations (Article V) apply. The off-street standard in Sec. 36-54(e)(1) hasn't been reviewed yet, so the number of spaces isn't shown here.

Sec. 36-603(b): signage follows the single-family residential standard; no recreational vehicles, buses or trailers may be visible on the street or property in connection with the rental.

Sec. 36-604(a). Operating without a license also makes the owner ineligible to apply for a business license for up to one year.

Sec. 36-604(c): the owner or responsible party gets written notice of the reasons, served in person or by certified mail at the address on the permit application. Revocation becomes final within 10 days of service unless the owner or responsible party appeals in writing to the director within 10 days of receiving the notice, stating the reasons and the relief requested. The board of adjustment hears the appeal as an administrative appeal under Sec. 36-109 and may affirm or reverse for good cause shown. After revocation, no new license is issued to the applicant for the same property for one year. Complaints are also to be resolved under state law and City ordinances on public nuisances, vehicles and traffic, health and safety, and public peace. Fine amounts and the City's general penalty provisions haven't been reviewed yet.

The Department of Finance and Administration's sales tax rule (26 CAR § 30-501) says the service of furnishing rooms, suites, condominiums, townhouses, rental houses or other accommodations to transient guests by hotels, motels, lodging houses, property management companies or any other provider of accommodations to transient guests is subject to gross receipts tax, and defines transient guests as those who rent accommodations other than their regular place of abode on less than a month-to-month basis. The Department's statewide rate table lists the State Sales and Use Tax at 6.500% (effective July 1, 2013). City and county sales taxes may also apply; they are not shown here.

The Department's tourism tax rule (26 CAR § 30-1407) says that, in addition to state and local sales or use tax, a 2% tourism tax applies to the gross receipts from furnishing a condominium, townhouse or rental house to a transient guest, and from furnishing a guest room, suite or other accommodation by a hotel, motel, lodging house, property management company or any other provider of an accommodation to a transient guest. A transient guest is a person renting an accommodation other than their regular place of abode on less than a month-to-month basis. The Department's rate table lists the Parks and Tourism Tax at 2.000%. Act 822 of 2019 amended the tourism tax statute (Ark. Code § 26-63-402(1)) to the same effect and added accommodations intermediaries to the list of providers.

Act 822 of 2019 amended the state sales tax on accommodations (Ark. Code § 26-52-301(3)(A)) and the tourism tax (Ark. Code § 26-63-402(1)) to list accommodations intermediaries among the providers whose furnishing of accommodations is taxed. An accommodations intermediary is anyone other than the owner, operator or manager of the room, condominium, townhouse, rental house or other accommodation, and furnishing includes brokering, coordinating, making available or otherwise arranging the sale or use of the accommodation. The Act's title says it requires an accommodations intermediary to collect and remit the sales tax and tourism tax due on the arrangements it makes, and these sections took effect on the first day of the calendar quarter after the Act took effect (approved April 9, 2019). The same Act requires marketplace facilitators with more than $100,000 of Arkansas sales or 200 transactions in the current or previous year to collect and remit sales tax. This is the Act as passed; the current wording of the Arkansas Code was not read here. Which taxes a given platform collects is not stated in these sources; check with the platform.

Act 313 of 2025 (approved March 18, 2025) requires cities to allow at least one accessory dwelling unit by right on a lot with a single-family home, bars cities from requiring that the house or the accessory dwelling unit be occupied by the owner, and makes conflicting city rules in effect on or after January 1, 2026 invalid to the extent of the conflict, but it also says the section does not prohibit a municipality from regulating short-term rentals (defined as a home or unit offered for a fee for 30 days or less). Two 2025 bills on local regulation of short-term rentals did not become law: HB1445 was withdrawn by its author and recommended for study in the interim by the House City, County and Local Affairs Committee, and HB1790 failed on third reading and died at the end of the session. Searches of the Legislature's bill records from 2017 to 2026 found no enacted statewide short-term rental licensing law.