Any owner of a transient rental is required to obtain an annual Transient Rental Permit for each dwelling prior to renting any dwelling unit as a transient rental.

“Transient occupancy” means to use, occupy or possess, or the use, occupancy, or possession of a dwelling or other living accommodation as defined by Sandusky City Code 1107.01(h) for a period of 30 consecutive calendar days or less.

“Transient rental” means the renting, letting, subletting, leasing or subleasing of a dwelling for a period of less than 30 consecutive calendar days or less.

A Transient Rental Permit is nontransferable. A transfer of ownership of a transient rental shall require the new owner to obtain a new Transient Rental Permit for the transient rental.

Transient Rental Permits are valid for no more than one (1) year, and all Transient Rental Permits expire December 31 of each year regardless of when issued.

Zoning Regulations
Transient rentals are only permitted in certain sections of the city. They are permitted in the following zoning districts: Commercial Recreation (CR), Commercial Services (CS), Downtown Business District (DBD), General Business (GB), Roadside Business (RB) and Residential Business (RRB). They are also permitted within the boundaries of the Transient Rental Overlay district (TRO).  Transient rentals are permitted in Local Business (LB) districts if granted a conditional use permit by the Planning Commission. 

To see if a property is in a permitted zoning district, click here to open the Sandusky Zoning Map. Enter the address of the property in the search bar and it will show you what the property is zoned. If it is zoned as one of the above districts, transient rental is permitted.

View Map of Transient Rental Zones

Some properties outside those districts are allowed to be used for transient rentals if they are a legally non-conforming use, meaning they've been continuously operating as transient rentals since before the adoption of the City's transient rental ordinance. For more information, please contact the Division of Planning at 419-627-5891.

Transient Rental Forms


Transient Rental Tax
For your convenience, the City of Sandusky has partnered with Erie County to collect the City of Sandusky’s transient rental tax in conjunction with Erie County’s lodging tax which will allow the  City’s  transient  rental owners  to  file  one  (1)  online  tax  form  and  make  payment  for  both  the  City  and  County  lodging  /  transient occupancy  taxes  due.  Click here for more information.