City Watch: Biloxi
Biloxi caps short-term rentals at 75 permits citywide, bans them in most single-family zones, and forces every operator through conditional-use hearings, special certificates, and mandatory inspections.
- STRs only allowed in select commercial/high-density areas with city approval.
- Annual permit + business license + fire inspection with $500-per-day fines for violations.
- Hotel lobby is notified of every permit application, keeping owners under a microscope.
This Gulf Coast city treats STRs as a tightly controlled commercial use. ASTRO tracks council votes, permit openings, and enforcement sweeps so members know when inventory can actually operate — and when to pivot to other revenue channels.
Operating constraints in Biloxi
- Zoning bottleneck: Conditional-use permits required and limited to tourist/commercial corridors; residential neighborhoods remain off-limits.
- Citywide cap: Only 75 STR certificates exist. Once full, new entrants must wait for a permit to lapse.
- Compliance stack: Certificate of occupancy, zoning compliance, privilege license, guest logs, and on-call reps within 30 minutes.
- Hotel oversight: Ordinance requires notifying the Hotel & Lodging Association for each permit, fueling opposition.
ASTRO catalogs Biloxi permit openings, appeal outcomes, and inspection findings so members don’t waste resources chasing dead-end applications. We coordinate with land-use counsel and community allies to argue for safety-based permits instead of blanket caps, and we curate fallback plans — 30+ day furnished rentals, member swaps, or sponsor stays — when the quota locks out new inventory.
Politically, Biloxi is high-friction: council champions are aligned with hotels, enforcement officers levy $500-per-day penalties, and HOAs get full backing to keep STRs out. ASTRO’s stance is to treat Biloxi as a Tier 2 “heavily restricted” market requiring constant vigilance.
- What do members get? Toolkits, governance tracking, and a trusted exchange.
- How fast can we launch? Paste Markdown, run the pave script, verify.