How many cars can a guest bring to a Shipyard rental villa? The Town of Hilton Head Island's answer is up to six exterior spaces on an improved surface. At Sailmaster, one of Shipyard's villa communities, each villa gets two numbered spaces, and any vehicle beyond that goes to guest parking or off the property.
Since May 1, 2026, that gap has shown up in public. Under the Town's rewritten ordinance, every rental ad has to show the permit number, the bedroom count and the maximum number of vehicles allowed, and those details must match the permit application. An owner now publishes a vehicle limit and pays a fee tied to bedroom count. Inside Shipyard, the Town rarely decides either number. The villa regime and the Shipyard Plantation Property Owners Association decide them, and the Town's figure is only the ceiling above both.
The ordinance set a ceiling, and the regime sits well below it
On October 21, 2025, Town Council repealed and replaced Title 10, Chapter 2 of the Municipal Code, the chapter that covers short-term rentals. Most of the changes took effect May 1, 2026. The headline provisions are written for the whole island, which means they're written for a big single-family house on an open lot as much as for a two-bedroom flat in a gated villa complex.
Here's how those Town limits compare with the two layers above them, using Sailmaster as one example of a regime:
| Question | Town of Hilton Head | Shipyard POA | Sailmaster regime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicles | Up to six exterior spaces on an improved surface, garages not counted | Passes or decals must be displayed, and vehicles without them may be cited | Two numbered spaces per villa, extras to guest parking or off property |
| Occupancy | Bedrooms must meet code and be used primarily for sleeping | Set by each regime | Six people in a 2BR, eight in a 3BR |
| Pets | Set by each regime | Set by each regime | Renter pets prohibited |
| Registration | Annual STR permit, business license, HOA approval letter where applicable | Register the rental with Shipyard Dispatch | Regime rules apply, with a $100 fine per violation of Sailmaster's additional rules |
Sailmaster's rules are labeled as amended March 15, 2021, and they apply to Sailmaster alone. Brigantine, Fiddler's Cove, Courtside, Quarterdeck and Shipyard's other villa communities each have their own documents. The pattern still holds across all of them. The Town sets the outer limit, and the people who share your parking lot set a lower one.
So the vehicle number in your listing is really a question about your regime. It also has to survive a Town check, because any short-term rental can now be inspected with 48 hours' notice to confirm it complies with the chapter.
The bedroom count now carries a price
The second number in every ad is the bedroom count, and in 2026 the Town put a price on it. The STR permit used to cost a flat $250. According to the Town's permit fee page, it is now $150 per bedroom per year, and owners must also keep an active Town business license and comply with South Carolina accommodations tax rules. The Town says the per-bedroom model puts the program on full cost recovery, so short-term rentals pay for their own oversight rather than drawing on general Town revenue.
For Shipyard's typical villa sizes, the math works out like this:
- One bedroom: $150 a year, less than the old flat fee
- Two bedrooms: $300 a year, $50 more than before
- Three bedrooms: $450 a year, $200 more than before
At Sailmaster, the bedroom count also sets maximum occupancy, at six people for a two-bedroom and eight for a three-bedroom. The Town's permit requirements add that a bedroom must meet building and safety codes and be used primarily for sleeping. A den marketed as a third bedroom now raises the permit fee, changes the occupancy figure the regime applies, and has to pass a code test. The bedroom count you list, the one you pay on and the one your regime counts guests by need to be the same number.
The gate is a separate registration
The Town permit doesn't cover Shipyard's gates. The POA rules ask owners who offer short-term rentals to register the property with Shipyard's Dispatch Officers at [email protected]. The POA's guest pass form asks for the owner's details, the Shipyard address, the guest's name, arrival and departure dates, and whether the pass will be picked up at the Pope Avenue Gate or the Hwy 278 Gate. Gate attendants control visitor access and can issue passes, and vehicles have to display a pass or decal or they may be cited.
This is the point where rental management companies run things differently, and the difference reaches the guest. On one Shipmaster villa listing, a local manager includes one gate pass and charges $45 for each additional pass, and all passes have to be picked up at its office before arrival. Another company gives guests who book a Shipyard rental through it one adult admission to a Shipyard golf course each day. Those are terms set by individual managers on individual properties, not Shipyard-wide rates. What they show is that pass policy is part of the guest-facing offer, and it has to fit within the regime's parking limit. A three-car family at a two-space villa is a problem whether or not the Town would have allowed six.
Moving day has its own rule too. Sailmaster requires a restricted vehicle pass from Shipyard's gate officers for moving vehicles, which may stay on the property for 48 hours. That matters to any buyer planning to furnish a rental villa over a single weekend.
Enforcement is shifting from complaints to oversight
In April 2026, Town Council approved a FY2026 budget amendment to expand the short-term rental program, which the Town says moves it "from complaint-based to performance-driven." The expansion adds six full-time positions dedicated to short-term rentals, a 24/7 hotline, inspections, compliance software and enforcement resources. The Town also created an administrative citation process for parking and short-term rental enforcement.
The current requirements also say an owner or STR agent must be reachable by phone for the whole rental period and respond to a complaint within one hour. Guests must get trash pickup instructions where applicable, and garbage has to stay in containers.
Two dates one day apart
The spring calendar has two deadlines back to back:
- April 30, 2027. Permits now run from May 1 to April 30, in line with the business license year. After the one-time 2026 extension to May 15, renewals filed after April 30 each year owe a $250 late fee, according to the Town's renewals page.
- May 1, 2027. Short-term rentals of 3,600 square feet or more that don't already have a fire suppression system must have a fire alarm system with monitored, automatic smoke detectors that trigger an occupant notification alarm. Most of the ordinance took effect May 1, 2026, but owners who held permits as of October 21, 2025, have until May 1, 2027 to meet this one requirement.
Rentals that use propane also need a combustible gas detection device, and every gas grill needs a shut-off timer of 60 minutes or less. The fire alarm rule mostly affects Shipyard's larger single-family homes. The grill timer applies to any rental with a gas grill, whatever its size.
For a buyer looking at a Shipyard rental this winter, the timing matters. A closing in early spring can leave the new owner handling the renewal and, for a larger home, the alarm deadline within weeks of getting the keys.
What to line up before you buy or renew
- The regime's current rules, with the amendment date, and the parking and occupancy figures they set
- Whether the regime issues the HOA approval letter the Town asks for "if applicable" on the application
- A bedroom count that matches across the permit fee, the regime's occupancy rule and the listing
- Registration with Shipyard Dispatch, and the manager's gate pass policy
- Square footage and fire suppression status, for anything near 3,600 square feet
- Who collects the Town's 3% Local Accommodations Tax. The Town says owners who manage their own rentals, or who use a management company without a Town license, must collect and remit it themselves
Frequently asked questions
Does the Town's six-space parking limit apply to Shipyard villas? It applies as the Town's maximum. A villa regime can set a lower limit, and at Sailmaster that limit is two numbered spaces per villa.
Is a Town permit enough to rent in Shipyard? The POA rules also ask rental owners to register with Shipyard Dispatch, and guests get access through passes issued at the gates.
When is the 2027 renewal due? The Town's permit page sets April 30 as the annual deadline after 2026, and late renewals owe a $250 fee.
This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Please confirm your own property's requirements with the Town, your regime and a qualified professional.
If you own a Shipyard villa or are thinking about buying one as a rental, I'm happy to sit down with you and the regime documents and work out what your bedroom count, parking and gate setup mean for the property's value before spring. Tierra Schaffer. Let's Connect.
