El Paso County, CO Ordinances (2026)

El Paso County enforces Wildland-Urban Interface defensible space requirements following the Waldo Canyon (2012) and Black Forest (2013) fires. 2018 IWUIC adopted. Zone 1 (0-30 ft)…

El Paso County requires every guest room in a licensed bed and breakfast home to have its own smoke detector, on top of the home-occupation standards that already apply to the use.

El Paso County requires propane tanks and other combustible liquids storage on land in Wildland Fire Areas to conform to NFPA 30 and NFPA 58 standards plus the property's approved…

When a Wildland Fire and Hazard Mitigation Plan requires a fuel modification area, El Paso County's Land Development Code compels landowners to clear ground fuels and dead vegetation…

El Paso County bans burning rubbish, waste paper, wood, or other flammable material on any lot, road, or alley unless the property owner first obtains an Open Burning Permit from El…

El Paso County limits fireworks sales to May 31 through July 6 each year and requires fire department approval, a driveway permit, and warning signage under LDC § 5.2.24.

El Paso County requires every land division's drainage facilities to preserve historical flow patterns, avoid flooding neighbors, and grade lots for positive drainage before the county…

El Paso County subdivision plats must show approved base flood elevation data and 100-year floodplain boundaries, with FEMA-approved elevations required near any Zone A floodplain.

El Paso County bars clearing, grading, excavation, or filling on land disturbances over one acre until the county approves a grading plan and an erosion and sediment control plan, and…

El Paso County requires landowners in Wildland Fire Areas to clear and maintain defensible space around structures under Table 6.8, with maintenance standards set by Colorado State…

El Paso County requires a permit before any development in designated floodplain natural hazard areas in the unincorporated county, under its Areas and Activities of State Interest…

In unincorporated El Paso County, any residential or agricultural parcel with a stable or corral for livestock must have at least one acre of lot area, under the Land Development…

El Paso County's Land Development Code lets mobile home park occupants keep up to 4 dogs or cats per unit, the only numeric pet cap found anywhere in the county's zoning code.

County code separately defines residential beekeeping, kept for personal honey and pollination and not for profit, from commercial beekeeping, which is listed as an allowed accessory…

El Paso County requires refuse collection areas, including trash bins, on developed sites in the unincorporated county to be screened from view of adjacent properties and roads.

New commercial and multifamily development in unincorporated El Paso County must screen dumpsters and other refuse collection areas from view of neighbors and streets.

El Paso County requires rural mobile home park owners to arrange and maintain scheduled trash pickup for residents, with any centralized collection points screened, secured and kept to…

El Paso County splits home businesses into residential and rural home occupations, each with its own standards, and requires a site plan or home occupation permit to confirm compliance.

El Paso County keeps family care homes and child care centers at least 500 feet apart along the same road, unless the home has fewer than 6 children or sits in a commercial zone.

El Paso County follows the Colorado Cottage Foods Act (C.R.S. §25-4-1614). Non-potentially hazardous homemade foods may be sold directly to consumers up to $10,000 per product per…

El Paso County caps home-occupation client visits at 3 people at a time and requires at least 2 onsite parking spaces once customers start visiting, per LDC § 5.2.29(A)(4).

Home occupations in unincorporated El Paso County cannot advertise with any sign visible from outside the dwelling, and no sign illumination is allowed beyond normal residential…

El Paso County requires most outdoor light fixtures to be full cutoff, concealed, and aimed no higher than 90 degrees so light does not spill upward or onto neighbors.

Electronic message billboards in unincorporated El Paso County must auto-dim to no more than 500 NIT at night, cutting brightness 5-25% depending on sign resolution under the Land…

El Paso County caps site lighting at 0.1 foot candles at the property line next to residential land or a right-of-way, and requires house-side shielding near homes.

An attached or detached deck, patio or slab 18 inches or less above grade is not a regulated structure in unincorporated El Paso County; taller decks must meet full setback…

El Paso County bars most new family care homes, child care centers, and group homes from sitting within 500 feet of another such facility along the same road, unless the facility…

El Paso County caps carports built in front or side yard setbacks at 500 square feet and 12 feet tall, requires them over an approved driveway, and limits enclosed sides under the Land…

A guest house on an unincorporated El Paso County lot can only house occasional, non-paying guests: leasing or renting it is prohibited and turns it into an illegal second dwelling.

El Paso County allows a mother-in-law apartment up to the size of the primary home, capped at 1,500 square feet, but restricts it to family members or employees and bars a separate…

El Paso County limits unincorporated lots to one tiny house as a principal use, two in the A-35 Agricultural district, plus one more where a guest house is allowed.

Temporary window signs covering less than 50 percent of the window surface don't need a sign permit in unincorporated El Paso County; larger or permanent window signs fall under the…

Temporary signs in El Paso County's residential zoning districts, including yard and garage sale signs, need no permit but can't exceed 7 feet in height and must come down once worn or…

New electronic message display billboards in unincorporated El Paso County need a Board of County Commissioners-approved special use permit; animated or video messages require the same…

El Paso County exempts holiday decorative lighting entirely from its outdoor lighting standards, allowing any type, number, area, height, location, illumination or animation as long as…

El Paso County's land code requires required parking lot trees be shielded from vehicle damage with curbs, planters, or barriers: the only mandatory tree-protection rule in the…

El Paso County encourages xeriscaping and native plant landscaping for water conservation in Colorado's semi-arid Front Range climate. Colorado HB 19-1050 and SB 23-178 bar HOAs from…

Artificial turf counts as landscape material in unincorporated El Paso County only on a case-by-case basis, not as a by-right substitute for living plants.

El Paso County requires a noxious weed management plan for any development application on land flagged on the county's Noxious Weed Map, implementing the Colorado Noxious Weeds Act…

El Paso County's Land Development Code regulates commercial and industrial composting facilities but expressly exempts backyard composting from those standards, leaving residential…

El Paso County flatly excludes auto repair garages, auto detailing and auto body or paint shops from qualifying as a residential home occupation under LDC § 5.2.29(A)(3).

El Paso County requires sexually-oriented businesses to sit at least 1,000 feet from residential zoning, schools, parks and religious institutions, and 1,000 feet from each other.

El Paso County requires 30 dBA of indoor noise reduction for new residential construction inside the Airport Noise Sub-Zone around the Colorado Springs Municipal Airport overlay…

Unincorporated El Paso County caps outdoor sound under LDC Table 6-7: 55 dBA daytime and 50 dBA at night in residential and commercial areas, with a higher 80/75 dBA allowance for…

El Paso County requires dedicated truck loading and turnaround areas for any non-residential building of 3,000 square feet or larger, designed so parked delivery trucks don't block…

In unincorporated El Paso County, only one tractor-trailer or over-the-road semi-truck may be kept with a residential use, and it must be parked inside a fully enclosed building on a…

El Paso County's Land Development Code bars outdoor storage or parking of any inoperable vehicle or recreational vehicle on residential- and agricultural-zoned lots in the…

El Paso County enforces Colorado's abandoned vehicle law (C.R.S. §42-4-1802 through 1805). Vehicles left on public right-of-way for 72+ hours or inoperable vehicles visible from the…

The county's parking design standards, including paving requirements, exempt driveways and parking serving single-family and duplex homes; rural lots with fewer than 25 spaces may use…

In unincorporated El Paso County, land divisions must avoid altering historic or archaeological sites and give agencies a chance to excavate or record a site before it is disturbed.

El Paso County follows Colorado HB 24-1098 which requires just cause for most evictions and lease non-renewals effective April 2024. Tenants in good standing cannot be evicted without…

El Paso County bars tree planting in its road rights-of-way as a rule; a landscaping tree may go into the ROW only with the right-of-way owner's approval, a maintenance agreement, and…

El Paso County's Land Development Code bars corrugated metal as a perimeter fencing material whenever the fence is visible from outside the lot, under the sight-distance standards in…

Retaining walls over 4 feet tall, or any wall that retains a surcharge, need a building permit in unincorporated El Paso County; walls over 7 feet are treated as accessory structures.

In unincorporated El Paso County, a fence over 25% opaque is capped at 30 inches within the front setback; taller solid fencing must sit behind that line, per LDC § 6.2.1(E)(1).

Fences and walls up to 7 feet tall need no permit in unincorporated El Paso County, but anything taller requires a building permit from the County Building Department.

A temporary use permit is required in El Paso County if a yard sale runs past 5 days or exceeds 3 sales a year on the same lot.

Development on land flagged on the county's Noxious Weed Map must address state-listed noxious weeds with a management plan before permits are approved.

El Paso County caps residential buildings at 30 feet in the RS, RR, F-5, A-5, A-35 and R-T zoning districts, while RM-12 and RM-30 multifamily districts allow up to 40 feet under Land…

Unincorporated El Paso County limits building footprint by zoning district under Table 5-4, from 20% in RS-20000 up to 70% in RM-12, with single-story ranch homes in RS-6000 and…

El Paso County's Table 5-4 sets minimum front, rear and side yard setbacks for every agricultural, residential and special-purpose zoning district: 25 feet front and rear with a 5-foot…

El Paso County's Land Development Code recognizes Colorado's right-to-farm law, limiting when agricultural operations in the unincorporated county can be treated as a nuisance.

The county's Land Development Code flags Colorado's right-to-farm law, which limits when an established agricultural operation can be sued as a nuisance under state statute.

Unincorporated El Paso County prohibits retail marijuana stores, along with marijuana cultivation, product manufacturing, and testing facilities, under Ordinance 13-01, so no…

El Paso County allows peddler sales in parking lots but requires a temporary use permit once sales exceed three occurrences a year or run longer than five days.

El Paso County requires salvage yards and auto recycling facilities to submit vector and mosquito control plans approved by El Paso County Public Health before operating, per Land…