Short-term-rental rules
Can you Airbnb in Lewisboro, NY?
Researched and reviewed by Jake Lee, FounderCurrent as of July 2026How this atlas is maintained
Short-term rentals are currently legal by default in the Town of Lewisboro: the town code (including zoning Chapter 220) contains no short-term-rental provision, no rental permit or registration requirement, and no zoning language excluding transient occupancy from dwellings. However, a local law amending Chapter 220 to regulate STRs (permit required, roughly 180-day annual cap, 30-consecutive-day max, owner must be a full-time town resident, one STR per permittee) is actively pending: the public hearing opened March 23, 2026 and was continued April 27, 2026, with the board planning a work session and possibly a revised draft, so owners should expect a permit regime soon.
The operator's read
Can I run a short-term rental in Lewisboro, NY?
Go, with conditions
The rule that decides it: Renting rooms within an owner-occupied home to paying transient guests fits the defined 'bed-and-breakfast establishment' use (owner-occupied dwelling, max 3 bedrooms for paying transient guests, added by L.L. No. 3-2015), which is allowed in one-family residence districts only by special permit under sec. 220-23A(18); hosted room-rental STRs arguably need that special permit.
- What does Lewisboro actually require?
- The registration requirement above is the whole of it. The governing text is Town of Lewisboro Code Ch. 220 (Zoning), secs. 220-2, 220-23; proposed (unadopted) local law to amend Ch. 220 re: Short-Term Rentals of Dwellings (2026).
- What stands in the way in Lewisboro?
- PENDING: a proposed local law amending Chapter 220 would make it unlawful to rent an STR without a town short-term-rental permit (issued by the building inspector), cap STR use at 180 days per calendar year and 30 consecutive days, limit a permittee to one STR in town at a time, and require the permittee to be a full-time resident and property owner of the town. Public hearing opened March 23, 2026, continued April 27, 2026; as of the April 27 minutes the board planned a future work session and, if the draft changes, a new public hearing. No adoption found as of early July 2026.
- What does it cost to get permitted in Lewisboro?
- Lewisboro's ordinance does not publish a fee schedule in the sources we hold. We confirm current fees with the municipality before you budget for them.
- How long does approval take in Lewisboro?
- Lewisboro's ordinance sets no published processing time, which is true of most towns in this region. We confirm the clerk's current turnaround before you commit to a date, because an unbooked opening season costs more than the permit does.
What would you do with a property in Lewisboro?
Workable. Confirm the current permit position with the municipality before you commit, then treat compliance as the first operating task rather than an afterthought. Most of the risk in Lewisboro is administrative, not structural.
What the rules say in Lewisboro
- No STR-specific law is currently in force: town news coverage of the March 23, 2026 hearing states short-term rentals are 'currently unregulated' in Lewisboro, and the code's chapter list (as of a March 2, 2026 capture) contains no short-term-rental, rental-property, or rental-registration chapter.
- Zoning (Ch. 220) does not implicitly bar STRs: 'dwelling unit' is defined simply as 'a building or portion thereof providing complete housekeeping facilities for a family,' with no permanency/non-transient requirement; 'family' is a group of related individuals or not more than 4 unrelated individuals living as a single housekeeping unit.
- Renting rooms within an owner-occupied home to paying transient guests fits the defined 'bed-and-breakfast establishment' use (owner-occupied dwelling, max 3 bedrooms for paying transient guests, added by L.L. No. 3-2015), which is allowed in one-family residence districts only by special permit under sec. 220-23A(18); hosted room-rental STRs arguably need that special permit.
- PENDING: a proposed local law amending Chapter 220 would make it unlawful to rent an STR without a town short-term-rental permit (issued by the building inspector), cap STR use at 180 days per calendar year and 30 consecutive days, limit a permittee to one STR in town at a time, and require the permittee to be a full-time resident and property owner of the town. Public hearing opened March 23, 2026, continued April 27, 2026; as of the April 27 minutes the board planned a future work session and, if the draft changes, a new public hearing. No adoption found as of early July 2026.
- General town ordinances still apply to rental properties: e.g., Ch. 160 Noise, Ch. 134 Garbage/Rubbish, Ch. 92 Building Code Administration, Ch. 164 Outdoor Special Events.
- Lewisboro contains no incorporated villages (South Salem, Cross River, Vista, Waccabuc, Goldens Bridge are hamlets), so the town code applies town-wide.
Sources: Town of Lewisboro Code, eCode360 table of contents (inspected via Wayback capture of 2026-03-02; no STR or rental chapter); Lewisboro Code Ch. 220 Zoning, Art. I Purpose and Definitions, sec. 220-2 (dwelling, dwelling unit, family, hotel, bed-and-breakfast definitions; inspected via Wayback capture); Lewisboro Code Ch. 220 Zoning, Art. IV District Regulations, sec. 220-23 permitted uses in residence districts (inspected via Wayback capture of 2024-06-13); Katonah-Lewisboro Times: residents debate proposed STR ordinance at March 23, 2026 public hearing (STRs currently unregulated; hearing left open); Lewisboro Town Board minutes, April 27, 2026 (continued public hearing on Ch. 220 amendment for STR regulation; future work session planned); Lewisboro Town Board minutes, March 23, 2026 (public hearing on proposed STR regulations); Truesdale Lake community post announcing the proposed Lewisboro STR code and March 23, 2026 hearing (proposal text in Feb 9, 2026 agenda packet pp. 17-24). Last reviewed 2026-07.
How short-term rentals are regulated in New York
- New York has no single statewide short-term-rental ban. Towns, villages, and cities set their own rules through local ordinances and zoning, so rules can differ sharply between neighboring municipalities in the same county.
- Short stays in New York are generally subject to state and local sales tax, and many counties add a local occupancy (hotel/motel) tax, often collected by the booking platform on the host's behalf.
- Common local controls include permits or registration, primary-residence requirements, and zoning limits on which districts allow short-term use. In New York, a town and a village inside it can each have their own rule.
- Rules change. An ordinance can be added or amended at any time. Always confirm the current rule with the municipality before listing.
Thinking about a short-term rental in Lewisboro?
Palisade Stays launches and runs short-term rentals for owners end to end. Tell us about your property and we'll see if it's a fit.
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