Paso Robles, California

Paso Robles allows short-term rentals citywide but regulates them under two distinct models. Homeshares, where the owner lives on-site and rents only a portion of the home, are uncapped. Non-hosted, whole-home rentals are capped, and that cap is the critical fact for investors: the city allows 325 non-hosted permits citywide, with a further sub-cap of 75 in the R-1 single-family zone, and both caps are currently full. New non-hosted applicants are placed on a waitlist until an existing permit is surrendered or expires, rather than being issued a permit on application.

To operate either model, an owner needs a Short-Term Rental Permit plus a business license tax certificate; permits are valid for three years. There is no owner-occupancy requirement for non-hosted units specifically, but access to that category is gated entirely by the waitlist. Guests pay a combined lodging tax of roughly 14.5%: an 11.0% Transient Occupancy Tax (raised from 10% under voter-approved Measure F-22, effective February 1, 2023), a 2% Paso Robles Tourism Improvement District assessment, and a 1.5% SLO County Tourism Marketing District assessment, applying to stays of 30 days or fewer. The ordinance includes neighbor-complaint thresholds that can lead to permit revocation. Enforcement is rated moderate, and the practical barrier for new investors is the full non-hosted cap and waitlist rather than the fee structure itself. Applications go through [email protected] or the city Planning Department.