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Pearland planners approve UDC amendments adding short-term rentals and tightening 'family' definition
Summary
The commission voted 4–0 to forward amendments to the Unified Development Code that add a short-term rental definition to both residential and nonresidential land-use matrices and change the definition of 'family' from allowing up to four unrelated persons to three.
The Pearland Planning & Zoning Commission voted 4–0 to forward proposed Unified Development Code amendments to City Council that would (1) add a definition for short-term rental and place short-term rentals in both residential and nonresidential land-use matrices and (2) revise the UDC definition of "family" by reducing the number of unrelated persons permitted in a single housekeeping unit from four to three.
Staff said short-term rentals are currently authorized by ordinance 16-11 and that there are 17 active short-term rentals in the city. Public notice for the UDC amendments was published in the Pearland News Reporter on Dec. 17, 2025, and staff reported no written comments for or against the proposed changes.
During discussion commissioners said the changes are being advanced ahead of a broader UDC rewrite to address recurring code-enforcement and family-definition issues. "We have some existing items in town that we didn't want to wait for," a commissioner said.
The commission voted to approve forwarding the amendments 4–0. The amendments will be taken to City Council for further action.
