Mesquite

Operating rules

Primary residence

No

Min stay (nights)

2

Max nights / year

—

Max occupancy

Maximum 16 persons total INCLUDING children (as amended by Ord. B26-005, adopted 6-9-2026), per bedroom chart: 0/studio = 4 guests; 1BR = 4; 2BR = 8; 3BR = 10; 4BR = 12; 5+BR = 16. (Prior rule under Ord. 464: 2 persons per sleeping room plus 2 additional per property, max 12, excluding children under 12; chart was studio 4 / 1BR 4 / 2BR 6 / 3BR 8 / 4BR 10 / 5BR 12.)

Zoning-restricted

Yes

Cap on licenses

—

Grandfathering: MMC 2-13-8: license applications for properties already in use as a vacation home rental must be filed within 120 days of the effective date of the ordinance. No grandfather exemption from the substantive standards was identified; existing operators remain subject to Chapter 13 as amended.

Zoning: MMC 2-13-7 (unchanged by B26-005): vacation home rental units are allowed only in Residential Zoning Districts that specifically list 'vacation home rental unit' as a permitted or conditional use, and must comply with all development regulations for the respective zone plus any conditions of approval for a conditional use permit. Whether a CUP is needed is therefore district-dependent. NOTE: a June 2026 local news report (Mesa Valleys Progress) stated that under the revised rules 'STR applicants must secure a conditional-use permit through the planning department before a business license can be issued' — this is NOT supported by the adopted ordinance text, which left 2-13-7 unchanged and contained no blanket CUP requirement; B26-005 was the only bill on the 6-9-2026 agenda and no companion Title 9 zoning amendment accompanied it. Council public comment in the packet indicates a CUP/special-condition requirement existed from 2012 but was converted to a permitted use in 2019. The specific Title 9 use tables could not be retrieved (American Legal section IDs for Title 9 redirect after the 2024 zoning rewrite), so the per-district permitted/conditional matrix is UNVERIFIED and should be confirmed with Development Services.

• NO distance/density separation ('distancing') requirement is in effect. The Council deliberately omitted it from B26-005 pending litigation: 'we intentionally did not put in distancing, because of the lawsuit taking place.' A section was 'reserved for distancing' in the draft. Public comment references active injunctions and Nevada AB 363; the separation question remains unresolved and is a likely future change vector.
• No cap on the total number of vacation home rental licenses was found anywhere in Chapter 13 or MMC 2-1-13.
• No primary-residence / owner-occupancy requirement exists. An owner residing within a 40-mile radius of the city MAY designate him/herself as the Qualified Local Operator, but this is an option, not a requirement.
• min_stay_nights = 2 is DERIVED from the definitional floor in MMC 2-13-4: a VHR is a dwelling 'rented for the purpose of overnight lodging for a period of not less than two (2) days and not more than twenty seven (27) consecutive calendar days.' Rentals of a single night fall outside the licensed VHR category; the code does not expressly prohibit them, so this is an inferred limit and warrants confirmation with the City.
• Max stay is 27 consecutive calendar days; separately, MMC 2-2A-2(A) provides that 28 days of continuous occupancy constitutes permanent occupancy and ends room-tax liability.
• Vehicles: overnight occupant vehicles are limited to the number designated in the permit and may not exceed the number of designated on-site parking spaces; all overnight occupant parking must be on site; parking buses on site or on the street is prohibited. The 6-9-2026 adopting motion added that ancillary vehicles such as trailers count toward the property's maximum vehicle allowance — this amendment is not in the published Exhibit A text.
• Quiet hours: no sound used outside or audible from outside the unit between 10:00 P.M. and 8:00 A.M.
• Ord. B26-005 REPEALED the prior requirement that each vacation home rental contain a landline telephone for local phone service (former MMC 2-13-11(A)(11), struck in the redline).
• B26-005 also renumbered the chapter (inserting 2-13-13 Neighbor Information Notice and shifting subsequent sections) and renamed 'Local Contact Person' to 'Qualified Local Operator' and 'Operator' to 'Licensed Operator'; it added a 'Hosting Platform' definition.
• False/unsubstantiated complaints by neighbors are themselves sanctionable: repeat false complainants may be cited and fined up to $1,000.00 per day per violation.

Enforcement

Active enforcement

yes

Fines

Escalating administrative penalty ladder under MMC 2-13-13(B) (renumbered 2-13-14 by B26-005), measured within any rolling 12-month period: (1) first violation — warning courtesy notice; (2) second violation — notice of violation and/or administrative fine not to exceed $500.00; (3) third violation — license suspension not to exceed 90 days; (4) fourth violation — license may be revoked, with reinstatement petition to the city manager no sooner than 12 months after revocation. Separately, operating a vacation home rental without a valid permit is a misdemeanor (MMC 2-13-16), and code enforcement officers may issue citations for violations that are misdemeanors. Neighbors who file repeated false or unsubstantiated complaints may themselves be cited and fined up to $1,000.00 per day per violation. IMPORTANT: the 6-9-2026 adopting motion moved the fine structure 'under the discretion of the City Manager,' so the $500/suspension/revocation tiering above reflects the pre-amendment codified text and the published Exhibit A, not necessarily the final adopted text.

Notes

Enforcement is exercised by the Development Services Director or designee, the Mesquite Police Department, and code enforcement officers. Grounds for suspension/revocation include failure to meet standard or additional license conditions, failure of the Qualified Local Operator to respond timely to a verified complaint, failure to collect or remit transient occupancy and lodging taxes, and false or misleading information in the application. All complaints must be substantiated with supporting documentation (police reports, city employee reports, sworn third-party affidavits, photographs, video) before penalties are invoked. Due process: written notice, penalties imposed within 15 days unless the owner requests a hearing before the city manager; hearing scheduled 15-45 days out; City Council decision within 30 days, appealable to district court. Stated enforcement priorities added by B26-005: '(1) threat to life-safety, (2) chronic nuisance activity, and (3) repeated failure to respond to verified complaints.' Local reporting (Mesa Valleys Progress, 6-22-2026) indicates the city manager will conduct quarterly audits of room tax compliance and contact noncompliant operators directly — secondary source, unverified against primary records.