Dakota County, MN Ordinances (2026)

Dakota County does not register short-term rentals. Cities that regulate them require a license application with owner details, emergency contact, bedroom count and maximum occupancy…

Dakota County has no STR parking rule. Cities set them. Mendota Heights limits overnight vehicles to the number allowed by its Property Maintenance Code and requires listings to state…

Minnesota sales tax applies to short-term rentals under 30 days. Dakota County has no county-wide lodging tax. Cities and towns may impose up to a 3% local lodging tax under Minn…

Dakota County sets no STR occupancy limit. Cities do. Mendota Heights caps rentals at five bedrooms and limits occupancy to two persons per bedroom (four in a bedroom over 280 square…

Dakota County sets no minimum or maximum night rule. A short-term rental is any stay of 30 consecutive days or less. Cities may add minimums; Mendota Heights requires a two-night…

Dakota County sets no STR-specific noise rule. Cities require operators to keep guests from creating a nuisance and enforce local noise limits, which follow MPCA standards of 60 dBA…

Dakota County has no rule, but some cities restrict short-term rentals to owner-occupied primary residences. Mendota Heights allows STRs only in a primary residence, defined as a…

Dakota County has no STR insurance rule. Cities focus on safety: Mendota Heights requires working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms per Minn. Stat. 299F.362 and 299F.51 plus a fire…

Dakota County imposes no host-presence rule. Cities that tie STRs to a primary residence effectively require an owner-operator connection. Mendota Heights defines the operator as an…

State law bans putting yard waste in the trash, at disposal facilities, or in resource recovery facilities anywhere in the Twin Cities metro, including unincorporated Dakota County…

Dakota County does not set watering restrictions. Your city or water utility does, typically odd/even address-day sprinkling and no midday watering during summer. The county promotes…

Minnesota law requires every city to allow managed natural landscapes of native or nonnative grasses, wildflowers, and shrubs, even over eight inches tall. Dakota County encourages…

Dakota County sets no countywide grass-height limit; cities set their own (commonly 8 inches) under Minn. Stat. Ch. 462. For designated noxious weeds, the Minnesota Noxious Weed Law…

Dakota County Ordinance No. 122 bars juveniles under 18 from public places during set nighttime hours, with the cutoff time varying by age band and by weeknight versus weekend. Parents…

Dakota County Ordinance 107 sets park hours from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. It is unlawful to enter or remain in a county park, such as Lebanon Hills, between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m…

Dakota County's park ordinance bars using, possessing, or transferring any controlled substance on park property, including cannabis, except as allowed by Minnesota statute, and bans…

Dakota County allows single-serving beer, wine, ciders and flavored malt beverages in designated areas of its county parks, but bans kegs, barrels or cases over 24 cans without a…

Dakota County bans smoking and vaping of any kind on county park property and recreational facilities, with narrow exceptions for parking lots, roadways, rented campsites, and…

Dakota County Ordinance No. 107 limits roller-skating, in-line skating, and skateboarding to designated bikeways, roadways, and trails, bans nuisance or unsafe riding, and caps speed…

Dakota County Ordinance No. 107 bans entering closed park buildings or areas, being present after posted hours, and loitering, sleeping, or congregating inside a building or closed…

Dakota County requires 10 days' advance notice before any non-low-impact filming or photography in a county park, and the county decides case by case whether a Special Use Permit is…

Dakota County confines drone flying to established designated areas in its parks under Section 4.4, and separately lists flying a drone as a commercial activity requiring a Special Use…

Dakota County Ordinance No. 107 confines unmanned aerial vehicles to established, designated areas within county parks, grouping drones with aircraft, hot air balloons, and parachutes…

In the unincorporated Flood Fringe District, Dakota County requires new structures to be built on non-settling fill with the lowest floor at or above the Regulatory Flood Protection…

Dakota County requires grading and filling on unincorporated shoreland to expose the smallest amount of bare ground for the shortest time, follow the state Construction Stormwater…

Docks wider than eight feet on unincorporated Dakota County shoreland need a shoreland building permit from the Zoning Administrator and may also require a Minnesota DNR dock permit…

Unincorporated Dakota County shoreland caps impervious surface coverage at 25% of a lot and requires new development to manage stormwater with constructed wetlands, vegetated buffers…

Unincorporated Dakota County splits its floodplain into Floodway, Flood Fringe and General Floodplain Districts based on the Flood Insurance Rate Map, and any construction, fill…

Dakota County limits amplified sound in its parks to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. in designated areas, bans noise that becomes a nuisance or disturbs neighbors, and lets rangers weigh nine…

Dakota County Ordinance No. 107 caps amplified sound in county parks to the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and bans loud, unnecessary or unusual noise that disturbs the peace…

Dakota County Ordinance No. 107 bans operating a vehicle in county parks that emits excessive or unusual noise, along with noxious fumes, dense smoke, or other polluting matter, on top…

Dakota County uses Minnesota's statewide MPCA decibel standard (Minn. R. 7030). In residential areas the L50 limit is 60 dBA daytime and 50 dBA at night, with L10 limits of 65 and 55…

Any public assembly of 50 or more people in a Dakota County park, including a parade, worship service, demonstration, or ceremony, needs a Special Use Permit, and the county may charge…

Dakota County requires a Special Use Permit for any exclusive or special use of park grounds, greenways, trails, or facilities, or for events expected to draw 50 or more people, issued…

Dakota County Ordinance No. 107 confines park bicycling to designated bikeways, roadways, and trails, keeps riders to the right-hand side of the path, bans nuisance or unsafe riding…

Dakota County Ordinance No. 107 allows electric-powered bikes and similar devices on paved park surfaces at up to 15 mph, and limits Class 1 electric mountain bikes to designated…

Absent a local siting ordinance, Dakota County Ordinance No. 133 bars registering a cannabis retail business within 1,000 feet of an existing school or another cannabis retailer, and…

Dakota County only issues cannabis retail registrations in a city or township that has passed a resolution consenting to county administration, and it caps registrations countywide at…

Commercial and semipublic uses on Dakota County shoreland must shield outdoor lighting in the shore impact zone so it does not illuminate across public waters. That covers illuminated…

Dakota County phases in mandatory food-scrap separation for large commercial generators on a rolling schedule: grocery stores and food distributors by 2022, hospitals and schools by…

Where and when you set out carts is set by your city and hauler, but Dakota County Ordinance 110, Sec. 16.06, requires every trash, recycling, and organics container to have a visible…

Illegal dumping is prohibited by Dakota County Ordinance 110 and Minnesota law. Ordinance 110 bars disposing of solid waste anywhere except a county-licensed facility. Under Minn…

Dakota County uses open-hauler collection: residents contract directly with a licensed hauler, and every hauler serving the county must be licensed and accept the county's designated…

Yard waste, household hazardous waste, electronics, appliances, and tires are banned from Dakota County trash and recycling. Ordinance 110 makes it unlawful to put yard waste in mixed…

All Dakota County residents, businesses, multifamily properties, schools, and governments must recycle a designated list of materials, and every licensed hauler must accept them. The…

Property owners, managers and event sponsors in Dakota County must provide recycling containers within 10 feet of every trash container or chute, give both equal access, and route…

Dakota County Ordinance No. 110 requires solid waste haulers in the unincorporated county to collect yard waste separately from trash. Yard waste must go out in compostable paper bags…

Dakota County's hauler licensing ordinance caps how long solid waste can sit in a collection vehicle or detachable container, including roll-off dumpsters, at 48 hours, and requires…

Licensed haulers serving unincorporated Dakota County may not collect or transport residential solid waste before 6:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m., a countywide curfew set in the Solid…

Recreational fires in a backyard fire pit are allowed under the Minnesota State Fire Code without a DNR burn permit if kept small: no more than 3 feet in diameter, set well back from…

Under the Minnesota State Fire Code, propane (LP-gas) cylinders larger than 1 pound cannot be stored or used indoors at a home, including attached or detached garages. Twenty-pound…

Minnesota law requires every dwelling unit to have a working smoke alarm meeting the State Fire Code, placed in and near each bedroom and on every level. This is a statewide rule…

Minnesota bans aerial and explosive fireworks statewide. Only ground-based, non-explosive sparkling items (sparklers, cones, fountains) are legal. Firecrackers, bottle rockets, and…

Open burning of brush, leaves, and untreated wood needs a Minnesota DNR burning permit whenever the fire is larger than a recreational fire and the ground is not snow-covered. Burning…

The Minnesota State Fire Code bans open-flame grilling on balconies and within 15 feet of buildings with three or more units. Detached single-family homes may grill freely, but propane…

A backyard smoker is treated as a cooking device, not open burning, so it needs no DNR permit. But like grills, charcoal and gas smokers are banned on balconies and within 15 feet of…

On-street parking is regulated by your Dakota County city, not the county. All cities enforce the statewide baseline in Minn. Stat. 169.34, which bans parking in crosswalks…

Where you may park an RV, boat, or trailer on residential streets and driveways is set by your Dakota County city, not the county. The one county-wide rule covers county parks: boats…

Overnight and winter street parking is set by your city, not Dakota County. Many cities ban overnight or snow-season street parking. The county's own overnight rule applies only in its…

Abandoned and junk vehicles are governed statewide by Minn. Stat. Ch. 168B. Government units and police may take into custody and impound any abandoned or junk vehicle. Report…

In Dakota County Parks, dogs must be on a static (non-retractable) leash no more than six feet long, except in designated off-leash areas. Away from county parks, leash-at-large rules…

In Dakota County parks it is unlawful to feed or otherwise disturb wildlife under Park Ordinance 107, Section 5.4. Off park land, deer and other wildlife-feeding limits are set by your…

Breed-specific bans are illegal in Minnesota. Under Minn. Stat. 347.51, subd. 8, no city or county may regulate dangerous or potentially dangerous dogs based solely on breed, and any…

Dakota County has no countywide lot-coverage limit. The maximum percentage of a lot that buildings and impervious surface may cover is set by each city's zoning district under Minn…

Dakota County sets no building-height limit for cities. Maximum building height is set by each city's zoning district under Minn. Stat. 462.357, which grants municipalities power over…

Dakota County does not set building setbacks for incorporated cities. Setbacks (front, side, and rear yard distances) are established by each city's zoning district under Minn. Stat…

Home business zoning in Dakota County is decided by your city under Minnesota's municipal zoning law, not by the county. Most cities allow home occupations in residential zones with…

Cottage food is a statewide program, so Dakota County home cooks follow Minnesota's cottage food law. You may sell non-hazardous home-made foods after registering with the state, with…

Dakota County licenses in-home family child care on behalf of the state. A family day care may serve up to 10 children, and a group family day care up to 14, under state Rule 9502…

Dakota County MN has no countywide fence-height ordinance. Each city sets its own limits under Minn. Stat. 462.357. Typical suburban rule: about 6 feet in rear/side yards and 3.5 to 4…

Residential pool fencing in Dakota County is set by your city under the Minnesota State Building Code, which requires a barrier at least 48 inches high with small openings. Public…

Dakota County does not issue backyard residential pool permits; your city building department does. The county's role is limited to public and semi-public pools, which the Minnesota…

Minnesota law bars cities from restricting the size or number of noncommercial signs, including political signs, from 46 days before the state primary until 10 days after the general…

Dakota County has no countywide vacant-lot maintenance ordinance. Cities require owners to keep vacant lots free of tall grass, weeds, junk, and debris under their nuisance codes…