How Cheyenne Handles Short-Term Rentals: A Practical Guide

Cheyenne maintains 74 local ordinances across all categories, and 7 of those deal specifically with short-term rentals. Here is a breakdown of what the city actually requires, what is prohibited, and where Cheyenne falls on the strict-to-permissive spectrum compared to other cities.

Permit Requirements

Cheyenne regulates short-term rentals through the Unified Development Code Section 5, requiring zoning compliance and a city business license before listing a dwelling on platforms like Airbnb or Vrbo within city limits.

Key details: Code: Cheyenne UDC Section 5. Length threshold: Under 30 days. License: City business license required. Tax: WY lodging tax applies.

Operating without a permit, business license, or in a non-permitted zoning district risks code enforcement notices, daily fines, lodging tax assessments, and forced cessation of rental activity.

Noise Rules

Short-term rental hosts in Cheyenne must ensure guests comply with the city quiet hours and general noise ordinance, with repeated complaints potentially triggering permit review by Planning and Development under nuisance provisions.

Key details: Quiet hours: 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.. Code: Cheyenne Title 9. Enforcer: Cheyenne Police Department. Permit risk: Repeated violations.

Guest noise complaints, especially during quiet hours, expose hosts to municipal citations, neighbor nuisance actions, and potential STR permit suspension after repeated documented incidents.

Taxes & Fees

Short-term rentals in Cheyenne must collect and remit Wyoming sales tax plus the local lodging tax, which combined approaches eight percent for stays under 30 days, paid through Wyoming Department of Revenue filings.

Key details: City lodging tax: 4 percent. State lodging tax: 4 percent. Combined approx: 8 percent. Filing: WY Department of Revenue.

Unregistered hosts, uncollected lodging tax, and unfiled returns face Wyoming Department of Revenue assessments, interest, late penalties, and potential personal liability for owed amounts.

Insurance Requirements

Cheyenne does not impose a minimum liability insurance mandate on short-term rentals, but operators are strongly advised to carry commercial short-term rental coverage because standard homeowner policies typically exclude transient lodging.

Key details: Statutory minimum: None mandated. Homeowner policy: Often excludes STRs. Recommended: 1M commercial liability. Platform coverage: Supplemental only.

Operating an STR without adequate commercial coverage exposes the host to personal liability for guest injuries, property damage claims, and potentially voided homeowner insurance.

The rules around insurance requirements in Cheyenne lean permissive, but that does not mean anything goes.

Occupancy Limits

Cheyenne ties short-term rental maximum occupancy to bedroom count and building code egress, with the UDC and adopted IBC limiting total guests to ensure life-safety standards in dwellings used for transient lodging.

Key details: Standard cap: 2 per bedroom plus 2. Code: UDC plus IBC adoption. Posting: Required inside dwelling. Enforcer: Planning plus Fire Rescue.

Exceeding occupancy caps risks zoning citations, fire code violations, permit revocation, and personal injury liability if egress or fire-safety standards are inadequate for the actual headcount.

Parking Rules

Cheyenne short-term rentals must provide off-street parking under UDC standards, with the number of spaces tied to bedroom count and operators expected to direct guests away from disruptive on-street overnight parking.

Key details: Minimum spaces: Two off-street typical. Code: Cheyenne UDC parking schedule. On-street: Mostly unrestricted. Snow rules: Plow route compliance.

Guest cars blocking driveways, fire hydrants, sidewalks, or violating snow ordinance plowing routes face towing, citations, and complaint-based STR permit review by Cheyenne Planning.

Cheyenne is more permissive than most cities when it comes to parking rules. That said, there are still limits.

Primary-Residence-Only Rule

Cheyenne does not impose a primary-residence-only restriction on short-term rentals citywide, though some specific zoning districts in the UDC may differentiate between owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied transient lodging uses.

Key details: Citywide rule: No primary-residence mandate. Zone distinction: B-and-B vs whole-house. Investor STRs: Allowed in some zones. Verify: Planning Department.

Mismatching the type of STR operation to the underlying zoning category, such as running a non-owner-occupied STR in a B-and-B-only zone, results in zoning violations and forced cessation.

Cheyenne is more permissive than most cities when it comes to primary-residence-only rule. That said, there are still limits.

The Bottom Line

Compared to many U.S. cities, Cheyenne gives residents more room on short-term rentals. 3 of the 7 rules here are rated permissive. But permissive does not mean unregulated. There are still requirements, and the city does enforce them when violations are reported.

These rules come from Cheyenne's publicly available municipal code. For complete penalty schedules, exemption details, and answers to common questions, see the individual ordinance pages throughout this guide.