Mesa County, CO Ordinances (2026)

Mesa County does not set one fixed guest-count ceiling for vacation rentals. Instead, the Land Development Code has the Planning Department calculate the maximum occupancy for each…

Mesa County does not require the owner to live on site, but it does require a local representative. The Land Development Code mandates a county-resident property manager reachable by…

Mesa County ties off-street parking directly to the size of a vacation rental. The Land Development Code requires one dedicated space per sleeping room plus an extra space, and guests…

In unincorporated Mesa County, every vacation rental, whether a whole home or a single rented room, must go through Site Plan Review with the Planning Department before it can operate…

A Mesa County vacation rental does not get a break from the obligations other lodging businesses carry. The Land Development Code holds it to the same safety and health inspections…

Mesa County runs a complaint-based strike system for vacation rentals. Three or more verified nuisance, health or safety complaints against the same rental in a calendar year gives the…

Mesa County requires outdoor advertising signs lit by indirect or external illumination to use only downward-facing, downcast light that keeps beams confined to the sign face and out…

Unincorporated Mesa County caps outdoor light sources at 35 feet in height and requires full cutoff fixtures on pole, building, and tree-mounted lights over streets, sidewalks, and…

Mesa County sets minimum yard setbacks by zoning district in the LDC's Density and Dimensional Standards tables. In the RSF-4 single-family/duplex district, for example, the standard…

Mesa County caps most single-family districts at 35 feet under the LDC's zoning tables, rising to 60-72 feet in higher-density multi-family districts. Accessory buildings and…

Mesa County caps how much of a lot residential development can cover with buildings and pavement. The Land Development Code defines lot coverage as building footprints plus impervious…

Home-based businesses in unincorporated Mesa County are capped at 2 square feet of signage under Table 6-4 of the county's Land Development Code, one flat limit applied the same way in…

Mesa County requires Site Plan review for home occupations, allowed as an accessory use in any dwelling that meets performance standards on subordinate size, no outdoor storage…

Permitted home occupations in Mesa County can host up to 12 customers a day between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday. A home business that limits visits to no more than 10…

Mesa County caps digital and electronic sign brightness at 0.3 footcandles over ambient light, bans interactive displays, and requires photocell dimming technology, standards that…

Mesa County excludes window signs incorporated with a window display from a property's total sign allowance, so businesses in the AFT zoning district can post window displays without…

Mesa County exempts temporary holiday decorations and displays from its sign permit requirements, letting property owners in any zone district put up seasonal displays without a…

Mesa County treats a garage-sale sign as an exempt temporary sign: no permit needed if it isn't illuminated or permanent, tops out at six square feet, and is capped at six signs per…

Mesa County allows vacant nonconforming lots to be developed with any use permitted in the underlying zoning district, but only if the development meets the LDC's minimum setback…

Mesa County Ordinance No. 15 makes it unlawful to accumulate rubbish on any unincorporated property, adopted specifically to stop the "visual blight," fire hazards and rodent…

Mesa County's Infestation and Rodent Harborage Code lets Code Compliance Services open an investigation after a citizen complaint, staff observation, or other report of a possible…

Mesa County's Land Development Code defines ten categories of violations, from building or subdividing without approval to defacing a required notice, and treats each day an…

New and substantially improved residential buildings in Mesa County's Special Flood Hazard Areas must set electrical, heating, plumbing, and HVAC equipment at least one foot above the…

Unincorporated Mesa County requires a Floodplain Development Permit before any land disturbance, construction, or development in a mapped area of special flood hazard. Land Development…

Mesa County's Land Development Code sets a slope-based defensible space zone around new homes on wooded or brush land. Section 8.07(C)(1)(a) sizes Zone 1 from 30 feet on gentle ground…

Mesa County requires a Local Stormwater Construction Permit under LDC Section 8.22 for any development that disturbs one acre or more of land, or less than an acre if part of a larger…

Mesa County caps accessory buildings like sheds and detached garages at two stories or 25 feet, and one small accessory structure can go up before the house is built. Setbacks follow…

A Mesa County accessory dwelling parcel cannot be rented at all during any stretch when its required local representative isn't available: Section 6.04(E)(2)(d)(3) of the Land…

Mesa County caps accessory dwelling units at 900 square feet on lots under half an acre, 1,200 square feet on lots between half an acre and one acre, and 1,500 square feet, or half the…

If the owner doesn't live in either the principal home or the accessory dwelling on a Mesa County parcel, Section 6.04(E)(2)(d) forces a local property manager onto the property: a…

Mesa County's Land Development Code lets tiny homes serve as short-term "Experiential Lodging" on working farms, ranches, vineyards and orchards in the unincorporated county, as an…

Mesa County's Land Development Code shields historical, traditional, legitimate and reasonable farm and ranch operations from nuisance claims. Noise, odors, dust, smoke and livestock…

Mesa County requires sprinklering of all habitable structures when a subdivision falls outside a fire protection district and no service agreement is practicable. Land Development Code…

In unincorporated Mesa County, new homes built on wooded or brush-covered land must thin vegetation in defensible-space Zone 1's Segment B under Land Development Code Section…

New homes built in Mesa County's wooded or brush-covered wildfire hazard areas can't store an above-ground propane tank within 5 feet of the structure at all, and any tank kept farther…

Mesa County's Land Development Code lays out a two-zone defensible-space system for new homes built on wooded or brush-covered land. Section 8.07.C creates Zone 1, extending 30 to 120…

Mesa County's Infestation and Rodent Harborage Code requires every dwelling and its premises to be kept rodent- and insect-free, splitting the duty between owner and occupant…

Mesa County's Land Development Code regulates private energy facilities, community solar gardens and energy generation/production facilities under Section 6.02.CC. Applicants must…

Mesa County's Land Development Code bars keeping nondomestic or exotic animals as an accessory use at a home. Any exotic animal keeping is instead classified as Animal…

On urban parcels under half an acre, Mesa County allows up to six chickens or six rabbits (no roosters) per dwelling, kept 20 feet from side and rear lines. Larger and rural parcels…

Mesa County classifies veterinary clinics and animal care, grooming, boarding and training under the Office and Personal Service use category, so where a vet clinic can locate depends…

Mesa County allows vehicle and equipment repair as a home occupation only on lots of one acre or more in Urban Zone Districts, limited to one vehicle at a time inside an enclosed…

Section 6.02.A of Mesa County's Land Development Code bars any adult entertainment establishment from locating within 1,000 feet of another adult entertainment establishment, within…

Mesa County residents may hold up to six yard sales per calendar year, each running no more than four consecutive days and spaced at least 30 days apart, under Section 6.05(B)(7) of…

Mesa County regulates aircraft noise around Grand Junction Regional Airport through an Airport Environs Overlay District with four noise/hazard subdistricts. New construction in the…

Outdoor amplified music at Mesa County agritourism operations, farm events, weddings and similar activities, can't exceed sixty-five decibels between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., or sixty…

Commercial and multi-family dumpsters in unincorporated Mesa County cannot sit wherever is convenient. Section 8.05.A.2 of the Land Development Code requires outdoor trash collection…

Mesa County's Rubbish, Refuse and Garbage Rule makes every occupant of a dwelling responsible for keeping garbage cans and rubbish containers clean and sanitary. Section IV requires…

Mesa County's Rubbish, Refuse and Garbage Rule does not set a fixed pickup day, but it does require garbage to be removed often enough that it does not pile up or smell. Rule 4.04…

Mesa County doesn't run municipal trash collection in the unincorporated county, but Ordinance No. 15 sets the outer limit on how long rubbish can sit: residential properties must…

Mesa County Ordinance No. 15 requires all rubbish to go to an approved disposal site and specifically bans using county trash receptacles on streets, in parks or at public buildings to…

Mesa County lets owners of buildings, structures, sites or districts at least 50 years old apply for listing on the County Register of Historic Landmarks. It is a voluntary honor…

Mesa County limits residential lots to one occupied RV, camper, or temporary shelter at a time, bans them from required setbacks, and requires a 10-foot gap from buildings, under…

Mesa County requires commercial and multi-family loading areas to be screened from view and sized for real trucks, not just parking-lot leftovers. Section 8.05.A applies in every…

Mesa County's Land Development Code, Section 6.02.M.2, lets unincorporated property owners keep one inoperable or unlicensed vehicle outdoors in plain view without a permit; any…

Off-street parking areas in Mesa County's Urban Zoning Districts must be paved and striped, so gravel alone doesn't satisfy the lot's primary parking area. Rural Communities only…

Generators run at an RV or camp site on a Mesa County residential lot can't operate between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., must sit at least 50 feet from any neighboring dwelling, and have to…

Mesa County does not set a decibel limit for HVAC units, but it does require them to disappear into the site design. Section 8.05.A.3 of the Land Development Code requires outdoor HVAC…

Mesa County bans nighttime delivery, loading and trash-removal noise at commercial and multi-family sites unless the operator proves it is quiet enough. Section 8.05.A.5 of the Land…

Mesa County's Land Development Code bans specific fence materials outright rather than regulating fence type by zone. Section 8.03.B prohibits glass, bottles, cans, machinery parts…

Mesa County lets fences and walls rise to seven feet by right before triggering a building permit, measured from the ground at the fence's base. Near intersections and driveways…

A fence or wall in unincorporated Mesa County only needs a building permit once it exceeds seven feet in height. At that point, the Land Development Code treats it as a structure…

Mesa County's Land Development Code lists 'Marijuana Sales' as a Table 6-1 use type with a blank cell in every zoning district column, meaning the county allows no marijuana dispensary…

A footnote to Mesa County's zoning Use Table requires a Conditional Use Permit for any marijuana cultivation site sited within 1,000 feet of a school, using the Colorado Marijuana…

In the Agricultural, Forestry, Transitional (AFT) district, Mesa County lets a subdivision exceed its base one-lot-per-five-acres density only through a density bonus process. To…

New development landscaping in Mesa County's Urban Zoning Districts must favor drought-tolerant, native vegetation. The Land Development Code allows only turf mix, native grasses or…

Mesa County's Infestation and Rodent Harborage Code requires every dwelling and its premises to be kept rodent- and insect-proof, and bars owners and occupants from letting rubbish…

Mesa County has no stand-alone bed bug ordinance, but its Infestation and Rodent Harborage Code lists bed bugs among the "Insects" it regulates and requires occupants to eliminate…