Fredericksburg

Operating rules

Primary residence

No

Min stay (nights)

—

Max nights / year

—

Max occupancy

Maximum occupancy of 12 (all persons count towards occupancy); 1 parking space required per bedroom. (From the 2024 STR Ordinance summary memo; not re-verifiable this session because the ordinance PDF is a scanned image.)

Zoning-restricted

Yes

Cap on licenses

Effective cap on new residential STRs: no NEW STR-unoccupied or STR-facility permits are issued in R1/R2, and no new STR-Condominium permits — new residential-unoccupied STRs are available only by Special Exception through the Zoning Board of Adjustment. No single numeric citywide cap number was quote-anchored.

Grandfathering: Non-conforming/'grandfathered' permits may continue to operate and transfer, but must come into compliance with new requirements (except parking and occupancy) at renewal — specifically life safety, 24-hour contact, signage, food service, host rules, conduct on premises, duration of rental, hotel occupancy tax, application information, and advertising.

Zoning: Zoning-dependent. Commercial districts (C1, C1.5, C2, CBD) allow most STR uses by right (STR-Condo requires a Special Exception/CUP). Under the 2024 STR Ordinance: R3 zoning allows no type of STR; R2 is treated like R1 (no new STR-unoccupied, no new STR-facilities); no new STR-Condominium. Special Exceptions are handled by the Zoning Board of Adjustment (e.g., R1/R2 unoccupied 'stranded properties' meeting adjacency/200'-radius criteria). Commercial-district right-of-use is quote-anchored to the official STR FAQ; the R1/R2/R3 and condo detail is from the official 2024 STR Ordinance summary memo.

• STR defined as a rental of a dwelling unit for less than 30 days; no stated minimum-night requirement and no stated annual night cap.
• Permits can be transferred within 90 days of sale of the property (from ordinance summary; not re-verifiable this session).
• Parking: 1 space per bedroom; tandem parking allowed; on-street parking does not count toward the minimum (from ordinance summary).
• STRs in the city's ETJ do not require a city permit (city zoning/permit rules apply only inside city limits).
• Commercial C1/C1.5/C2/CBD districts allow most STR uses by right per the official STR FAQ.

Enforcement

Active enforcement

yes

Fines

Violation-based enforcement rather than a flat fine schedule: 3 minor violations (e.g., watering, trash, advertising, lighting) count as 1 Major Violation. 3 Major Violations (health/safety, occupancy, noise, failure to update application info, unresponsive 24-hour contact, non-remittance of HOT, unlawful advertisements, operating without a permit) within 12 months trigger City Council review and the permit may be suspended for up to 90 days. Lack of HOT remittance results in a 90-day suspension of the permit. (From the official 2024 STR Ordinance summary memo; not re-verifiable this session because the ordinance PDF is a scanned image without a text layer.)

Notes

City operates an STR permitting/complaint system with a required 24-hour local contact, annual inspections, and a defined violation-escalation process. Non-remittance of hotel occupancy tax is specifically an enforcement trigger.