Santa Barbara County · checked 2026-09-16
Can you BnB it in Santa Maria?
No STR ordinanceSanta Maria's municipal code, current through Ordinance 2026-01 adopted April 7, 2026, has no short-term rental ordinance: no permit, cap, or zoning chapter addresses renting a home for under 30 days. Stays of 30 consecutive days or less are subject to the city's 10 percent transient occupancy tax.
The rules, with their sources
Permit or licenseNo permit is required; the code has no short-term rental permit program.L1Title 4 (business) or Title 12 · code text · checked 2026-09-16
Hosted onlyThe code does not limit rentals to hosted stays.L1Title 4 (business) or Title 12 · code text · checked 2026-09-16
Primary residenceThe code does not require the rental to be the operator's primary residence.L1Title 4 (business) or Title 12 · code text · checked 2026-09-16
Transfer when the home sellsNo short-term rental permit scheme exists in the code, so there is nothing to transfer on sale.L1Title 4 (business) or Title 12 · code text · checked 2026-09-16
Read the code text →
In the city's own words
3-9.02“means any person who exercises occupancy or is entitled to occupancy by reason of concession, permit, right of access, license or other agreement for a period of 30 consecutive calendar days or less, counting portions of calendar days as full days.” source
3-9.03“For the privilege of occupancy in any hotel, each transient is subject to and shall pay a tax in the amount of 10% of the rent charged by the operator.” source
Citation: Title 4 (business) or Title 12
Check a specific address
The checker resolves any California address to its jurisdiction and returns these rules with their verification level. Where a county or city publishes a licensed-rental registry or parcel map (Riverside County, San Diego, Palm Springs, and a growing list), it also runs parcel spacing, permit cap, and registry checks.
How this page was verified
Verified from the municipal code (level 1), checked on 2026-09-16 by the CanIBnB research desk. Research is AI assisted and human reviewed; the method, the level system, and the re-check schedule are on the How we verify page. If anything here is wrong, report it and it goes in the public corrections log.