Bulletin - Rochester, NY News Today
The proposed zoning amendment would bar room rentals in low-density neighborhoods, limit short-term units in larger buildings and require a 24-hour local manager for whole-unit rentals with no vote date set
Rochester Weighs Standalone Short-Term Rental Amendment With Primary Residence Rule and 25% Building Cap
The proposed zoning amendment would bar room rentals in low-density neighborhoods, limit short-term units in larger buildings and require a 24-hour local manager for whole-unit rentals with no vote date set
Rochester City Council is reviewing a standalone zoning amendment for short-term rentals that would require hosts renting rooms to live in the home as their primary residence, cap short-term units at 25% of a multifamily building and require a round-the-clock local manager for whole-unit rentals. Council will decide the amendment separately from the citywide zoning overhaul and Council President Miguel Meléndez has ruled out a November vote on the overhaul.
What the Amendment Would Change
The draft defines a short-term rental as a stay of fewer than 30 consecutive days and creates two uses. Renting rooms in an owner-occupied home including a traditional bed and breakfast would be prohibited in low-density residential districts and need a special permit in medium- and high-density residential districts, and the owner would have to live there as a primary residence while keeping at least one bedroom for their exclusive use.
For whole-unit rentals where the owner lives elsewhere, an owner living in a low-density two- to four-family building could rent one other unit outright while a non-owner-occupied house or small multifamily building would need a special permit for one unit. Medium- and high-density districts would allow one unit outright and multifamily and mixed-use buildings could add units by special permit up to 25% of the total although the draft definition treats any building where 25% or more of units are short-term rentals as a hotel.
Operating Standards and Exclusions
Whole-unit rentals would need a local manager or operator available 24 hours a day with "local" defined as an office or residence within 30 miles of the property. The draft sets parking at one space per whole unit and half a space per rented room, and it bans short-term rentals in the Dewey-Driving Park Urban Renewal District. It does not include a registration system, permit fees, night caps or penalty amounts.
Why the Rules Were Split Off
Short-term rentals drew more comments than any other topic during the 2023 and 2024 comment period, and the administration's environmental review says it separated the rules to consider them "simultaneously but in separate pieces of legislation" without delaying the code. Councilmember Mary Lupien said in 2023 that the earlier draft would have banned them in low- and medium-density residential districts and proposed regulating by primary residence instead.
Tom Pastecki of the ABC Streets Neighborhood Association told the Planning Commission that more than 600 unregulated short-term rentals operate citywide, a figure the city has not confirmed. Local data remains thin because Monroe County voted 21-8 in December 2025 to opt out of the state's short-term rental registry although it still collects its 6% hotel and motel tax through a voluntary agreement with Airbnb.
Rochester's Proposed Zoning Map
Official interactive map showing proposed zoning districts under Rochester’s Zoning Alignment Project, allowing residents and property owners to explore potential changes affecting short-term rentals and other land uses.
⦾ Status: Proposed amendment, not adopted
⦾ Definition: Stays of fewer than 30 consecutive days
⦾ Primary residence requirement: Yes, for room rentals
⦾ Room rentals: Prohibited in low-density residential; special permit in medium- and high-density residential
⦾ Whole-unit rentals: Permitted or special permit depending on district and owner occupancy
⦾ Building cap: Up to 25% of units in multifamily and mixed-use buildings; 25% or more treated as a hotel
⦾ Local manager: Required for whole-unit rentals, available 24/7 within 30 miles
⦾ Registration, fees and fines: Not specified in the draft
⦾ Platform responsibility: None in the draft; Monroe County has opted out of the state registry
In case you missed it:
Jas Albatana
Jas Albatana
Jas Albatana
Strisker Document Analysis
Finding the right compliance documents shouldn’t feel like searching for a needle in a haystack - Strisker’s Documents Analysis is built to simplify your life, offering instant access to hundreds of thousands of documents from thousands of cities across the world.
Stay Updated with Strisker!
Strisker offers tools and features to keep you updated with the Short Term Rental movement (and now Data Centers!) movement across the world.
👍 We’d love your feedback!
We're always looking for ways to improve Bulletins.
Was this one useful to you? Are there other topics you'd like to see get covered?
✉️ Just reply directly to this email. We read and respond to every message!
— Will McClure 🙋
P.S. Know someone else who should be reading this Bulletin? Feel free to forward this along. We want to make sure operators and stakeholders are aware of regulatory changes in their area.