Pella STR Rules: Call the Clerk Before You Advertise 2026

Thomas Garner
2 days ago
7 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Empty Pella Iowa City Hall Broadway Street, no people

Call Pella City Clerk Mandy Smith at 641-628-4173. 825 Broadway Street. Planning and Zoning 641-628-0043. Iowa Code 414.1: no city STR-specific CUP or STR-specific license/permit fee on this research pass. STR classified as residential. Generally applicable health and safety still allowed. State hotel and motel tax is 5 percent. Confirm remaining Pella local hotel tax at Iowa DOR. Confirm 2026. AirROI's low-regulation scrape is not the clerk file. Confirm remaining Winterset clerk before you advertise a Madison County driveway. Des Moines Development Services 515-283-4200 is the 240 city hall. Do not remesh 240. Confirm you are inside Pella before you advertise. AirROI's current Pella extract, August 2025 through July 2026, pins typical listings at about $20,593 a year on 56 active rentals. The average night was $191. Occupancy was 38.7 percent. Revenue per available night was $78. Year over year is minus 11.8 percent. Active supply moved plus 36.6 percent.

Confirm You Are Inside Pella

Confirm you are inside Pella before you advertise. Winterset is another municipality. Des Moines 240 is already live. Pella Shoulder is already live on Crest and Cove. Use it for the related stay, not as a blended year. Read that line as Pella evidence, not as a metro dashboard. A neighbor year stays on its own line. If a packet still averages two towns, the underwrite is already wrong. Send the address before anyone files a blended caption.

Call the Clerk at 641-628-4173

Call Pella City Clerk Mandy Smith at 641-628-4173. 825 Broadway Street. Planning and Zoning 641-628-0043. Iowa Code 414.1: no city STR-specific CUP or STR-specific license/permit fee on this research pass. STR classified as residential. Generally applicable health and safety still allowed. State hotel and motel tax is 5 percent. Confirm remaining Pella local hotel tax at Iowa DOR. Confirm 2026. AirROI's low-regulation scrape is not the clerk file. Confirm remaining Winterset clerk before you advertise a Madison County driveway. Des Moines Development Services 515-283-4200 is the 240 city hall. Do not remesh 240. Pella Remote Stays is already live on Crest and Cove. Use it for the related stay, not as a blended year.

Iowa Code 414.1 Is Not a Dedicated STR Permit

Iowa Code 414.1: no city STR-specific CUP or STR-specific license/permit fee on this research pass. DIY vs Hire in Pella is already live on Crest and Cove. Use it for the related stay, not as a blended year. Call the desk that actually covers the Pella parcel before you advertise. A listing scrape is not the permit file. Confirm remaining 2026 fees and tax on the live city page. Do not paste a neighbor hall onto this deed.

State Hotel Tax Is 5 Percent

State hotel and motel tax is 5 percent. Confirm remaining Pella local hotel tax at Iowa DOR. Who Books Near Des Moines is already live on Crest and Cove. Use it for the related stay, not as a blended year. Read that line as Pella evidence, not as a metro dashboard. A neighbor year stays on its own line. If a packet still averages two towns, the underwrite is already wrong. Send the address before anyone files a blended caption.

Winterset Is Another Clerk

Winterset has no AirROI extract on this pass. Do not invent a Winterset year, listing count, or ADR. Name Roseman Bridge, Holliwell Bridge, and the John Wayne Birthplace Museum as visitor demand, not occupancy. Confirm remaining Winterset clerk. Buying a Pella Rental is already live on Crest and Cove. Use it for the related stay, not as a blended year. Call the desk that actually covers the Pella parcel before you advertise. A listing scrape is not the permit file. Confirm remaining 2026 fees and tax on the live city page. Do not paste a neighbor hall onto this deed.

A Listing Scrape Is Not the Town File

AirROI's scrape is not the clerk. Zero licensed on AirROI is not the town file. Pella Tourism Data is already live on Crest and Cove. Use it for the related stay, not as a blended year. Read that line as Pella evidence, not as a metro dashboard. A neighbor year stays on its own line. If a packet still averages two towns, the underwrite is already wrong. Send the address before anyone files a blended caption.

Des Moines 240 Is Already Live

Des Moines listings earned about $16,916 last year from 619 active rentals on the current AirROI extract used for the already-LIVE 240 city cluster. Keep that stay on its own line. Do not remesh 240. West Des Moines listings earned about $26,021 last year from 115 active rentals on that same 240 leftover line. Complete Visitor's Guide to Pella and the Covere is already live on Crest and Cove. Use it for the related stay, not as a blended year.

What to Bring to the License Desk

What to bring to the desk is the parcel, remaining tax questions, and remaining city-code questions. What It Costs to Start a Legal Pella STR Stay 20 is already live on Crest and Cove. Use it for the related stay, not as a blended year. Call the desk that actually covers the Pella parcel before you advertise. A listing scrape is not the permit file. Confirm remaining 2026 fees and tax on the live city page. Do not paste a neighbor hall onto this deed.

Hosts who underwrite Pella stays should keep $20,593 on 56 town listings, call 641-628-4173, leave Winterset uncounted, and leave Des Moines 240 on its own live line. We market. We do not take the lock. Call the desk that actually covers the Pella parcel before you advertise. A listing scrape is not the permit file. Confirm remaining 2026 fees and tax on the live city page. Do not paste a neighbor hall onto this deed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who do I call to confirm Pella's short-term rental rules?

Call the Pella City Clerk's office, Mandy Smith, at 641-628-4173, 825 Broadway Street, or Planning and Zoning at 641-628-0043. That office is the current point of contact for confirming permit, licensing, and zoning status for a specific Pella address. This is not legal advice — treat this as a starting phone number, not a substitute for the clerk's own current answer.

Does Pella require a dedicated short-term rental permit?

On this research pass, no dedicated city STR-specific conditional use permit or STR-specific license fee was confirmed. Iowa Code 414.1 classifies short-term rentals as a residential use, and generally applicable health and safety codes still apply regardless of that classification. This is not legal advice, and fee schedules can change — confirm the current requirement directly with the city clerk before advertising a listing.

What is the state hotel and motel tax rate that applies to a Pella rental?

State hotel and motel tax runs 5 percent. Any additional local hotel tax specific to Pella should be confirmed directly with the Iowa Department of Revenue, since local rates can be layered on top of the state rate and can change. This is not legal or tax advice — a host should verify the current combined rate before setting pricing or filing returns.

Does a small listing sample mean regulation is loosely enforced?

No — a market data extract, even a small one, is not the same thing as a permit file. The current AirROI scrape counts 56 active Pella listings, but that count says nothing about which of those listings are actually in compliance with local rules. Confirm compliance status directly with the city clerk rather than treating a low-regulation-looking dataset as evidence enforcement is relaxed.

Is health and safety code enforcement different for short-term rentals in Pella?

On this research pass, generally applicable health and safety codes still apply to short-term rentals even without a dedicated STR-specific permit category. That means standard residential code requirements don't disappear just because there's no separate STR license process. This is not legal advice — confirm which specific codes apply to a given property with the city's building or code enforcement office.

Where is the Pella City Clerk's office located?

The office is at 825 Broadway Street, and the clerk's direct line is 641-628-4173, with Planning and Zoning reachable separately at 641-628-0043. Confirm current office hours before visiting, since municipal hours can shift. Bringing the property address, tax map information, and the listing URL to that call makes the conversation faster and more specific to the actual parcel.

Should I rely on a market data source for regulatory confirmation?

No. AirROI's listing extract is a revenue and occupancy dataset, not a permit or zoning file, and it should never be treated as proof that a given regulatory status applies. This is not legal advice. The only reliable source for a Pella property's actual permit, license, or zoning status is the city clerk or planning and zoning office directly, confirmed for the current year.

Does this guidance apply to properties outside Pella city limits?

No — confirm whether an address actually sits inside Pella's municipal boundary before assuming this city-specific guidance applies. A property just outside city limits may fall under Marion County's rules instead, which can differ from the city's. This is not legal advice; a host should verify jurisdiction with the appropriate office before assuming Pella's clerk is the correct point of contact.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

Assuming a low-regulation research pass means no rules apply is the fastest way to advertise a Pella listing before actually confirming its status with the city.

We help hosts get their listing marketing-ready once compliance is confirmed — the copy, the photos, and the pricing story built around a property that's cleared to operate.

Reach out at crestcove.co or (256) 998-7502.