Elko County, NV Accessory Structures: ADU Rental Restrictions (2026)

Two provisions of the zoning title close off renting a secondary building. The first is the definition of GUESTHOUSE in § 4-1-9: a detached accessory building containing living quarters for use by temporary guests of the occupant of the dwelling on the same premises, which can contain a kitchen or cooking facilities and is not rented or otherwise used as a dwelling unit. A guesthouse is a conditional use, one per parcel, in the OS Open Space district (§ 4-2-1(B)) and in the A Agricultural-Recreational district (§ 4-2-4(B)), authorized only by the Planning Commission.

The second is the removal clause in the invalid or invalid caretaker secondary housing conditional use. That use is a secondary independent living unit on a parcel already developed to the maximum density allowed in the district, for an invalid family member or a caretaker of an invalid family member residing in the primary residence. Paragraph (d) requires a mobile structure to be removed when it is no longer used for that housing. For an attached or conventionally constructed dwelling where removal is impractical, the unit may not be utilized as rental housing.

The same item appears as conditional use 20 of § 4-2-3(B) in the AR Agricultural-Residential district, and the conditional use permit must be reviewed within two years and every two years thereafter. The AR permitted-use list in § 4-2-3(A) includes resort hotels or Airbnb as a separate use. That entry is a different use from a secondary dwelling. This code applies only in unincorporated Elko County. Elko, Carlin, Wells and West Wendover set their own rental rules.