Page County Short Term Renters Group

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A community for local short term rental owners. We trade tips, share what works with guests, and keep each other current on the rules that affect our properties.

Public hearing Monday, September 21 at 7 PM, Luray High School. Please come speak if you can.

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Board meeting notice

Posted by Page County Short Term Renters Group

Board of Supervisors public hearing is Monday, September 21

Monday, September 21 at 7 PM, Luray High School, 243 Bulldog Drive. The Board will take comments on the short term rental draft. Please attend in person to have the most impact as the short term rental opposition has beaten us on numbers at board meetings. Written comments get read. Speaking in the room carries more weight.

This is county zoning outside Luray, Stanley, and Shenandoah. It does not change town rules. The Board can still edit the draft that night.

The following provisions are concerning:

  • A two year ownership rule has appeared in past drafts and could return. It is out of the August 4 draft. Ask the Board to leave it out.
  • The public road and private lane rules could push HOA and POA properties into a permitting process where vocal neighbors can protest the permit.
  • There is a 24/7 local contact rule. That person has to live in Page County or within a 30 mile drive, which is a problem for owners who self manage from farther away.
  • The county can set a limited term on any SUP it grants. Even an approved owner could face renewal uncertainty down the road.
What to raise on Monday

The public road rule

The draft says by-right access requires that “the parcel on which the dwelling is located has frontage on a public road,” or that the private lane serve the rental and no more than two other houses. Most HOA and POA streets are private, so a lot of those cabins fall on the permit path.

If you are on an HOA or POA road, this is the rule that can take you out. A special use permit is a county hearing, not an association vote. A few neighbors can oppose the permit even when your HOA or POA already allows rentals.

Small lot or forty acres, same rule

Acreage does not matter in this draft. A four bedroom house with plenty of buffer gets the same hearing as a house on a small lot.

Keep the two year rule out

The June draft said you had to own the property two years before you could apply. The August draft dropped that. The Board can put it back. Ask them not to. A buyer of a working rental should not sit dark for two years. The owner-occupied path is separate, and it only works if the house is your primary residence and you stay there during the rental. A second home cabin does not get that path.

A permit that expires

On a special use permit, the Board can set a time limit. You could win once and have to do it again later.

Local contact and occupancy

Someone has to be reachable day and night while guests are there, and live in the county or within 30 miles. Occupancy is two people per bedroom, kids six and under not counted, and the septic permit can set a lower cap.

Who needs a special use permit

  • Four or more bedrooms
  • A private lane that already serves more than two other houses

If you live in the house and stay there during the rental, that is a separate by-right category.

What changed between the June 24 and August 4 drafts
Removed from the June 24 draft: the two year minimum ownership rule, including the extra language on inheritance, divorce, and transfers through an LLC or similar entity. Also gone are the guest fireworks ban, the kiln-dried or Page County firewood rule, and the rule that confined pools, hot tubs, and sport courts to the rear or side yard.

Still in the August 4 draft

  • By right up to three bedrooms with public road frontage or a quiet private lane, as described above. Larger houses or busier lanes need a special use permit.
  • Occupancy capped at two people per bedroom, not counting children six and under, and limited further by the septic permit where that applies.
  • Annual registry. The permit number has to appear on every online listing. $500 civil penalty per violation for a missing or unregistered listing.
  • Points of contact on call 24 hours a day within Page County or a 30 mile drive.
  • Emergency vehicle access: 20 foot minimum width, 13 feet 6 inches of clearance, and a turnaround on dead ends longer than 150 feet.
  • Life safety inspection on a new application and again if ownership transfers.
  • Screening if the dwelling, deck, or porch sits within 50 feet of a side or rear line.
  • On a special use permit, the Board may set a duration and add fencing, traffic, and private lane conditions lot by lot.

The Steering Committee had floated a special use permit for every rental in Residential zoning, or countywide with an owner-occupied carve out. Neither version is in the August 4 draft as a blanket rule.

Latest updates

Owner briefing

Posted by Page County Short Term Renters Group

What we want owners thinking about before September 21

The Board of Supervisors hears the short-term rental draft on Monday, September 21 at 7 PM, Luray High School. This is our read of the live issues. It is not the ordinance. Read the August 4 draft before you speak.

Existing rentals

If a special use permit requirement lands, the first question for most of us is what happens to a place that already has a license. Do not assume you are automatically covered. Check the August 4 draft for how existing uses are treated. Keep the business license current either way. A long lapse is a bad position to be in if the rules change.

The economic piece

Short-term rentals in this county bring in more than $4 million a year in transient occupancy tax. That tax sits on visitor spending of about $109 million a year. The same places keep work on the books for about 51 property managers and 121 housekeepers. Those figures are the ones the Steering Committee put in its report last year. They have not been replaced by newer public numbers.

Growth has not been picking up. Fall 2025 showed about 602 active licenses, in a countywide pool of roughly 600 to 700. New licenses have run about 95 a year over the last five years. The most recent increase we can point to is about 3 percent.

The lodging tax is money visitors pay so local property owners do not have to. On the figures we have been using, that works out to about $1,200 in tax savings for residents.

We are not asking the Board to ignore neighborhood complaints. We are asking them not to write the ordinance as if the tax base, the housekeeping jobs, a 3 percent growth rate, and that resident tax savings are beside the point.

Read more

How we got here

Over the last year the county has looked at a few different paths:

  • Require a special use permit for short-term rentals in residential zones
  • Put supplemental regulations on rentals in every zoning district
  • Leave the current rules in place

The Steering Committee finished its report earlier this year. That group is done. Its meetings were not open and the minutes were not released. The rooms left for owners are the Board hearing and a letter to your own supervisor.

What the zoning hearing will not fix

State health rules sit outside this draft. They can block the transfer of a short-term rental business license on a property that uses cistern water. Occupancy math on some systems has already gotten tighter. Saying that at the microphone will not rewrite those rules.

What we are asking owners to do

Write your district supervisor in your own words. Form letters get set aside. Then come to Luray High School on September 21 if you can. Speaking in the room still carries more weight than a comment that gets read into the record.

District supervisors

  • Jeremy Baldwin, District 1
  • Allen Louderback, District 2
  • Ryan Cubbage, District 3
  • Susan Kile, District 4
  • Jeff Vaughan, District 5
  • Clifton "Bucky" Thomas, Chairman, At-Large
Draft ordinance update

Posted by Page County Short Term Renters Group

The August 4 draft drops the two year ownership rule

The draft going to the Board drops the two year ownership rule, the fireworks ban, the firewood rule, and the rear yard only limit on pools and hot tubs. Bedroom count and private lane rules are still in. So is the local contact rule. See the pinned notice if you are speaking on the 21st.

Read the August 4 draft (PDF)

Comment deadline

Posted by Page County Short Term Renters Group

Written comment deadline reached before the hearing packet closed

The county's zoning administrator agreed to include member comments in the official packet going to the Board of Supervisors. Members were encouraged to submit even a short paragraph explaining how short term rentals support their household and the local economy.

Meeting recap

Posted by Page County Short Term Renters Group

Planning Commission forwards the ordinance without a recommendation

On July 14 the Planning Commission heard the June 24 draft. A motion to recommend approval failed 3-3. A second motion failed 3-3. With no recommendation, the draft moved to the Board of Supervisors. At that meeting the draft still included the two year ownership rule and had no grandfather clause for a buyer of an existing rental. That ownership section is not in the August 4 draft now in front of the Board.

July 14 Planning Commission minutes (PDF)

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Committee update

Posted by Page County Short Term Renters Group

STR Steering Committee report released for comment

The county's STR Steering Committee released its report, and members were encouraged to submit comments before that week's deadline. The report, along with background materials, was shared with the group so owners could respond with their own perspective.

Read what's in the report

Who was on the committee

  • Ryan Cubbage, Board of Supervisors
  • Nina Fox, Economic Development and Tourism Director
  • Tracy Clatterbuck, Planning and Zoning
  • Cathy Grech, Planning Commission
  • Cara Sottosanti, Tourism Council

Key findings

  • Growing complaints about STRs changing neighborhood character, though committee members also noted STRs have funded road repairs and remodeling in some neighborhoods
  • In the Fall 2025 Comprehensive Plan survey, 86% of 262 respondents said the county does not need more STRs
  • 602 active STR business licenses as of fall 2025, roughly 600 to 700 STRs countywide, about 95 new licenses issued per year on average over the last five years
  • About 30% of newly built homes over the last two years became STRs
  • STRs generate over $4 million a year in transient occupancy tax, tied to an estimated $109 million in annual visitor spending countywide, and support roughly 51 property managers and 121 housekeepers
  • More than 53% of STRs are owned by non-residents, and more than 53% are in residentially zoned neighborhoods, where crowding, traffic, noise, and privacy are the most common complaints
  • The committee noted enforcement of existing rules is difficult with current staffing

What the committee recommended

Option A: Require a Special Use Permit and supplemental regulations for STRs across every zoning district, with an exception allowing owner-occupied, primary-residence STRs by right.

Option B: Require a Special Use Permit only in Residential zoning, with tighter but still by-right standards in Agriculture and Woodland-Conservation.

Neither option made it into the August 4 draft as a blanket requirement. The by-right structure by bedroom count and access stayed largely as written in that draft.

September 21, Luray High School, 7 PM.

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