Short-term rental rules · Solvang, California
Short-term rentals in Solvang, explained properly.
The City of Solvang, in Santa Barbara County, California, regulates short-term rentals in Zoning Code Section 11-12-20 (Ord. 26-0390, 3/9/2026). Short-term rentals are allowed only in the Village Mixed-Use (VMU) District, with a City permit that lasts 12 months, is not transferable, and is capped at 40 permits citywide with a waiting list. Only one unit per property or per building may operate, accessory dwelling units and several other dwelling types are barred, and renewal needs at least 30 rented stays in the prior year. Owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied units are both covered, with a local contact available 24/7 and on site within 60 minutes. Owners also need a Business Certificate and must pay the City's transient occupancy tax. We haven't reviewed the zoning map, the fee schedule, parking Table 11.12, the tax chapters or the fine amounts yet, so confirm zoning and fees with the City before you buy.
At a glance
What you need to know before you buy or list
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Are short-term rentals allowed? | Conditional: only in the Village Mixed-Use (VMU) District, with a City permit and within a citywide cap of 40 permits; outside VMU only for permits already in effect when the ordinance took effect and renewed in time, with no ownership change [1] Clause |
| Is a City short-term rental permit required? | Yes: no one may rent, offer or advertise a dwelling as a short-term rental without a City permit, valid for 12 months and decided by the Community Development Director; the owner also needs a Business Certificate under Chapter 4-9 [1] Clause |
| Is there a cap on the number of short-term rental permits? | Yes: no more than 40 short-term rental permits citywide; later applicants go on a waiting list in the order received [1] Clause |
| Is there a limit on short-term rental units per property or building? | Yes: one dwelling unit per property, or one dwelling unit per building in a multi-unit or mixed-use project where units share common walls, for permits approved on or after January 1, 2026 [1] Clause |
| Must the owner live on the property? | No: the section covers both owner-occupied home stays and non-owner-occupied units; the owner must name a local contact person who can be on site within 60 minutes, 24 hours a day [1] Clause |
| Can a short-term rental permit be transferred to a new owner? | No: the permit is valid only for the address and owner on it; a new owner must file a new application within 60 days of the transfer, and a new owner outside the VMU District cannot apply [1] ClauseConfirming |
| Can an accessory dwelling unit be used as a short-term rental? | No: accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units are barred, along with several other dwelling types [1] Clause |
| Does renewal require a minimum number of rented stays? | Yes: the unit must have been rented for at least 30 stays in the previous permitting year, verified through transient occupancy tax filings; the renewal application is due 30 days before the permit expires [1] Clause |
| Do short-term rental permits issued before the 2026 ordinance remain valid? | Conditional: they stay in effect for 180 days from the section's effective date and then expire, unless the owner submits a new application in that window [1] ClauseConfirming |
| Must the owner pay City transient occupancy tax? | Yes: the owner must pay the City's transient occupancy tax (Chapter 3-2 as cited in the operating requirements); the rate hasn't been reviewed [1] ClauseConfirming |
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Detailed rules
The full picture, section by section
Operating rules
| What is the maximum occupancy? | By bedrooms: studio 2 overnight guests; 1 bedroom 4 (plus 2 daytime); 2 bedrooms 6 (plus 3); 3 bedrooms 8 (plus 4); 4 or more bedrooms 10 (plus 5); daytime guests are allowed 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. [1] ClauseConfirming Sec. 11-12-20Q.1 sets maximum overnight guests and additional daytime guests (7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.) by bedroom count. The saved page text flattens the table into one line, so the daytime figure for a studio (0) and the pairing of each row are read from that flattened line; marked for review until compared with the City's table. |
|---|---|
| How much parking is required? | Parking spaces as required by Sec. 11-11-13H (Table 11.12), meeting the minimum dimensions in Sec. 11-11-13D.2; the count hasn't been reviewed [1] Clause Sec. 11-12-20Q.2 points to Sec. 11-11-13H (Table 11.12) for the number of on-site parking spaces and Sec. 11-11-13D.2 for dimensions. The application must show all required parking spaces on a site plan. We haven't reviewed Chapter 11-11, so the number of spaces is not stated here. |
| Is a local contact person required? | Yes: a local contact person reachable 24/7 who can be at the rental within 60 minutes of a complaint, named in the application with a signed affidavit [1] Clause Sec. 11-12-20Q.3 and H.3. The owner must tell the City in writing immediately of any change of contact. The owner or contact must ensure guests do not create unreasonable noise or disturbances or engage in disorderly conduct and follow the City's Noise Ordinance (Sec. 6-2-7); the noise hours themselves haven't been reviewed. |
| What must ads and the posted permit show? | Every ad must show the permit number and the maximum permitted overnight occupancy; the permit must be posted inside near the entrance while rented; on-site signage advertising the rental is not allowed [1] Clause Sec. 11-12-20Q.7 and Q.9. Q.9.b states that no on-site signage shall be allowed to advertise short-term rentals. Booking platforms must also show a valid permit number on all listings in the City (see the platform rule). |
| What safety inspection and devices are required? | A City inspection before approval and every 5 years; smoke detectors in each bedroom and the hall, a carbon monoxide detector on each floor, a fire extinguisher in or near the kitchen, and a posted shut-off site plan [1] Clause Sec. 11-12-20J requires staff to inspect all dwellings on an initial application for required fire, life and safety devices and substandard conditions, then every five years. Sec. 11-12-20Q.5 lists the devices, adds a bi-annual sprinkler inspection where the home has a fire sprinkler system, and requires the rental agreement to let the City inspect for cause on 24-hour notice. |
| What are the trash and maintenance rules? | Keep the property neat and clean; trash containers go to the pick-up location no more than 24 hours before pick-up and back in storage within 12 hours after [1] Clause Sec. 11-12-20Q.4 also requires appropriate trash and recycling containers stored as required by Secs. 5-2-6, 11-7-5, 11-10A-7G and 11-10A-8G, as applicable. Sec. 11-12-20Q.6 says operation must not impede ingress or egress to the property or adjacent properties. |
| What must the rental agreement include? | A written agreement with the renter's name, address, phone and email, the permit terms including occupancy limits, and the renter's acknowledgment of responsibility for all guests [1] Clause Sec. 11-12-20R allows the owner's own agreement or one from a third-party rental agency or hosted online platform, which must include these items and the renter's agreement that the City may inspect for cause on 24-hour notice. |
Penalties & enforcement
| What are the penalties for violations? | A notice of violation, a misdemeanor (an infraction when the violation poses a threat to health and safety), or an administrative citation under Chapter 6-5A; each violation is a separate fine; the dollar amounts haven't been reviewed [1] Clause Sec. 11-12-20T lets the City issue a notice of violation to the owner, local contact, tenants, renters or guests under Chapter 6-5, Article A, treat a violation as a misdemeanor under Chapter 1-3 (an infraction if it poses a threat to health and safety), and issue administrative citations with fines set in Sec. 6-5A-4. A violation is also a public nuisance. The owner is responsible for violations by the agent, local contact person, renters or guests. |
|---|---|
| When can the permit be revoked? | The Director can revoke for violating the section, three or more permit-condition violations in the permit term, false information, tax fraud or a tax delinquency over 90 days, or a court order; after a notice of violation the permit is revoked in 10 days unless the problem is cured, and the property is barred from a new permit for two years [1] Clause Sec. 11-12-20U. The Notice of Violation says the permit will be revoked within ten (10) days of the notice unless the owner pays the penalty or completes the required remedy. If it is not cured, a Notice of Permit Revocation issues, appealable to the Planning Commission under Sec. 11-17-3. Neighbors within 300 feet are notified of a revocation. The property, or the building for a multi-unit or mixed-use project, is ineligible for a permit for two years after revocation. |
| What must booking platforms do? | A platform must show a valid permit number on all listings in the City and report each advertised unit's address (with nine-digit ZIP Code 93463) when the City asks; failure to report can bring an administrative fine [1] Clause Sec. 11-12-20W implements the Short-Term Rental Facilitator Act of 2025 (Government Code 50991(g) defines the facilitator). The City may request reports and audit a facilitator's tax records if it collects and remits the transient occupancy tax. If the address is not enough to identify a unit, the platform provides the assessor parcel number and listing URL. The text sets monthly reporting starting January 1, 2026 and also refers to quarter-end reports, so the reporting schedule is unclear. |
State law that also applies
| Who sets lodging taxes on short stays in California? | Each city or county: state law lets them levy a transient occupancy tax on stays of 30 days or less [2] Clause California Revenue and Taxation Code section 7280 lets the legislative body of any city, county, or city and county levy a tax on the privilege of occupying a room or other living space in a hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel or other lodging, unless the stay is longer than 30 days. A county's tax applies only in its unincorporated areas. The rate, registration and filing rules are set by each city or county, so the local tax is shown in the city's own section of this page. |
|---|---|
| Can cities make booking platforms report rentals and show local license numbers? | Yes, where the city or county opts in by ordinance (Short-Term Rental Facilitator Act of 2025, in force January 1, 2026) [3] Clause 1 Clause 2 Clause 3 Clause 4 Government Code sections 50990 to 50996 (Senate Bill 346, 2025) apply only in a city or county that adopts an ordinance making them apply. Where they apply, a booking platform must, on the local agency's request, report the physical address with nine-digit ZIP code of each short-term rental it facilitated (no more often than every 3 months, or monthly if the local tax is remitted monthly), and must include in each listing any applicable local license number and any transient occupancy tax certification issued by the local agency. The local agency may fine a platform that does not report. The act does not stop a city or county from regulating short-term rentals, platforms or tax collection in other ways. |
| Short-term rentals in ADUs and junior ADUs under state law | Junior ADUs, and ADUs approved under the state's by-right path, must be rented for more than 30 days; for other ADUs a city may require 30-day-plus rentals [4] [5] [6] Clause 1 Clause 2 Clause 3 Government Code section 66333(g) requires a city's junior accessory dwelling unit ordinance to require that a rental of a junior ADU be for a term longer than 30 days (as amended by Assembly Bill 1154, in force January 1, 2026). Section 66323(e) requires a city to require that a rental of an ADU created under that section (the ministerial, by-right approvals) be for a term longer than 30 days. For other ADUs on a lot with a single-family home, section 66315 bars standards beyond section 66314, including owner occupancy, except that a city may require that the property be used for rentals of terms 30 days or longer. Cities can be stricter in their own codes; see the city section. |
| Can an HOA or condo association ban short-term rentals? | Yes: associations may prohibit rentals of 30 days or less, though they cannot ban or unreasonably restrict longer rentals [7] Clause Civil Code section 4741 says an owner in a common interest development is not subject to a governing-document provision that prohibits, has the effect of prohibiting, or unreasonably restricts renting or leasing a separate interest, ADU or junior ADU, and an association may not cap rentals below 25 percent of the separate interests. The same section says it does not prohibit an association from adopting and enforcing a provision that prohibits transient or short-term rental of a separate property interest for 30 days or less. Check your association's governing documents. |
| Are short-stay guests covered by California landlord-tenant law? | Not by the Civil Code chapter on renting homes while the stay is subject to a local occupancy tax [8] Clause Civil Code section 1940 applies the chapter on hiring of real property (Civil Code sections 1940 to 1954.071) to tenants, lessees, boarders, lodgers and others who hire dwelling units, but excludes a person in transient occupancy in a hotel, motel, residence club or other facility when the stay is or would be subject to a transient occupancy tax under Revenue and Taxation Code section 7280 (stays of 30 days or less). Stays longer than that are not covered by this exclusion. |
| Short-term rental rules in the coastal zone | Local short-term rental rules in the coastal zone go through the local coastal program or a coastal development permit; the Coastal Commission has not supported blanket bans [9] Clause In a December 6, 2016 letter to coastal cities and counties, the California Coastal Commission said that regulating short-term or vacation rentals in the coastal zone must happen within the local coastal program or under a coastal development permit, because it changes the intensity of use and access to the shoreline and so counts as development under the Coastal Act. The Commission said it does not believe outright bans adopted outside that process are legally enforceable in the coastal zone, that it has not historically supported blanket bans, and that it has supported limits such as caps on numbers by area, limits on days, occupancy limits, 24-hour response, parking, noise and signage rules and payment of transient occupancy tax. This applies only to places inside the coastal zone. |
Changes
Recent and pending changes
We read the table of contents of the City of Solvang Code of Ordinances on eCode360, which says it includes legislation through Ord. No. 26-0397 adopted September 14, 2026, and Section 11-12-20, Short-term rental regulations, whose history note cites Ord. 26-0390, 3/9/2026, repealing Ord. 24-0378, as captured on October 18, 2026. The text gives the adoption date but not the effective date, which starts the 180-day period for older permits. We haven't reviewed City Council or Planning Commission agendas, the City's short-term rental web page, the fee schedule or the transient occupancy tax chapters yet, so whether a change is pending isn't known.
Sources
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This page is general information compiled from public sources, not legal or tax advice. HOA rules, deed restrictions and zoning for a specific property can be stricter. Confirm with the local permitting office and a qualified professional before buying or listing a property.