Augusta's zoning rewrite would ban short-term rentals in most neighborhoods, Masters week included

Augusta's first full zoning rewrite since 1963 would bar short-term rentals from the city's regular residential neighborhoods, a change that would reach homeowners who rent out their houses during Masters week, WRDW/WAGT News 12 reported. The Augusta Planning Commission scheduled a public hearing on the draft for 2 p.m. October 21 in Room 260 of the Municipal Building at 535 Telfair Street, and was expected to decide afterward whether to recommend it to the Augusta Commission, WGAC reported.

Under the proposal, renting a home even once for less than 30 days would make it a short-term rental. Those would be banned from single-family and other residential zones and allowed, with a permit, only on agricultural land, in medical and mixed-use zones, and in three downtown districts. Every host would need a city permit and would owe the 8% hotel-motel tax, which is split between the Coliseum Authority and Destination Augusta. Occupancy would be capped at two adults per bedroom and six people total, and a host who breaks the rules three times could be fined and lose the permit for good.

The tax would apply even to the classic Masters rental. Federal law lets a homeowner who rents out their residence for fewer than 15 days a year skip reporting that income. The IRS says that in that case, "don't report any of the rental income and don't deduct any expenses as rental expenses." The city's 8% tax would still be owed.

Commissioner Don Clark said the city is trying to separate residents from investors. "Some folks depend upon paying their mortgage off of their rental for Masters," he told News 12. "But then you have corporate entities that are coming in also with an entirely different intent." News 12's analysis of 2026 county parcel data found about 2,500 companies own 9,600 homes in Augusta, and a third of those owners are outside Georgia. In one neighborhood, nearly 1 in 4 homes is company-owned, including 11 houses bought by one out-of-state investment group, one of which was advertised on Airbnb as a walk to the Masters.

Long-term rent in Augusta is climbing faster than the national average. Typical rent in Augusta was $1,344 a month in September 2026, a record and up 4.5% from a year earlier, compared with 2.9% nationally, according to RentDataNow data built on the Zillow Observed Rent Index. In the 30909 zip code on the city's west side, it's $1,362, up 4.9%, and in 30904, which includes the area around the golf club, it's $1,348, up 2.4%. About half of Augusta households rent.

The proposal isn't final. The city's planning and development director told News 12 the short-term rental language is still being worked on and should be settled by the rewrite's second presentation to commissioners in November. Residents can also comment online. For how other places have handled the same question, see Salt Lake City's fight with Airbnb hosts, and for the year-round renter's side, Nantucket paying landlords to keep year-round rentals.

Sources

• WRDW/WAGT News 12 (October 20, 2026), for the proposal details, the parcel analysis, and Clark's quotes
• WGAC (October 11, 2026), for the hearing details
• IRS Topic No. 415, renting residential and vacation property
• RentDataNow Augusta rent data, anchored to the Zillow Observed Rent Index, September 2026