Summit County, CO Ordinances (2026)

Summit County (home to Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper Mountain, Frisco, Dillon, and Silverthorne) operates one of Colorado's most regulated short-term rental markets. The County's STR Ordinance 20-C, adopted by the Board of County Commissioners on February 15, 2023, divides unincorporated Summit County into a Resort Overlay Zone (ROZ) and a Neighborhood Overlay Zone (NOZ). Every property rented for fewer than 30 consecutive days must obtain a Summit County STR license before advertising or operating. Type II licenses in the NOZ are subject to numeric basin caps (Lower Blue, Upper Blue, Snake River, Ten Mile) that are currently full or nearly full, generating multi-year waitlists; Type I 'Qualified Occupant' exception licenses (uncapped) are available only to applicants who can prove primary residency AND local workforce employment of at least 30 hours/week in Summit County for at least 9 months/year. The County eliminated the Type III 'unlimited nights' license when Ordinance 20-C took effect. Resort Licenses (uncapped) cover Copper Mountain, Tiger Run Resort, parts of Keystone, and unincorporated parcels at the base of Peak 8. Ordinance 22 (adopted September 24, 2024) requires every advertisement to display the valid Summit County STR license number. Operators must also collect Colorado state-administered sales tax (combined 6.375% in unincorporated Summit County) plus the 2% Summit County Short-Term Rental Lodging Tax approved by voters as Ballot Issue 1A on November 8, 2022 (effective January 1, 2023). The Town of Breckenridge runs a separate, even stricter regime: a town-wide hard cap of 2,200 non-exempt accommodation-unit licenses (Ordinance No. 29, Series 2021, effective November 2, 2021, modified by Ordinance No. 28, Series 2022) split across a Resort Zone (uncapped), Tourism Zone 1, Downtown Core Zone 2, and Residential Zone 3 — Zones 2 and 3 are over-cap with multi-year (5-20 year) waitlists and an annual regulatory fee of $756 per bedroom in addition to the base license fee.

Summit County enforces the 2018 ICC code series, including the International Residential Code (IRC) and International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC), with local amendments adopted by the Board of County Commissioners. Residential pool and spa barriers must be at least 48 inches tall with self-closing, self-latching gates that open outward away from the pool. Public and HOA pools must additionally meet Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment regulations under 5 CCR 1003-5, which require a 60-inch barrier with the latch at 54 inches.

Summit County, Colorado is one of the most fireworks-restricted areas in the state. Colorado law (CRS 24-33.5-2001 et seq.) bans all aerial and audible-ground fireworks statewide; only ground-based 'permissible fireworks' (fountains, sparklers, ground spinners, snakes, smoke devices) are legal. Roughly 80 percent of Summit County is White River National Forest, where 36 CFR 261.52(h) bans every type of firework year-round. The Town of Breckenridge bans all fireworks except July 3-5 under Town Code 6-3C-11, and Stage 1 or Stage 2 county fire restrictions routinely ban even permissible fireworks countywide.

Unincorporated Summit County (the resort corridor outside Breckenridge, Dillon, Frisco, and Silverthorne town limits) allows accessory dwelling units in most residential zoning districts under the Summit County Land Use and Development Code, subject to a recorded restrictive covenant requiring the occupant of either the ADU or the primary residence to work in Summit County at least 30 hours per week on average. Summit County has deed-restricted ADUs to the local workforce since 1984. The approval process has been streamlined to require only a building permit in most cases (no separate planning approval), although Class 2 planning review is still triggered on duplex lots and in PUDs that specify it. The County waives all county-administered fees (building permit, planning, engineering) for at least 10 years if the covenant is honored, and the Summit County Housing Department's ADU Assistance Program reimburses up to 25% of construction cost. Inside the Town of Breckenridge, the Town's Development Code Policy 51 (Section 9-1-19-51A) caps an ADU at the lesser of one-third the density of the primary unit or 1,200 square feet, with its own Town deed restriction. Summit County is a mountain county outside any of Colorado's five metropolitan planning organizations, so HB24-1152 (the 2024 statewide ADU law effective June 30, 2025) does not preempt local rules here.

Summit County, Colorado regulates floodplain development under Chapter 4 of the Summit County Land Use and Development Code, with permit procedures governed by Section 4110 (Floodplain Development Permit). The Summit County Engineer serves as the NFIP Floodplain Administrator for unincorporated Summit County. FEMA has identified more than 1,000 properties in Summit County as being located in a regulatory floodplain. Special Flood Hazard Areas are mapped along the Blue River, Ten Mile Creek, Snake River, Swan River, Straight Creek, and other tributaries draining the Continental Divide and Tenmile Range, where steep terrain, snowmelt runoff, and ice jams produce high-energy flood risk. The county participates in the National Flood Insurance Program in good standing, in accordance with FEMA regulations under Title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations and Colorado Water Conservation Board floodplain rules (2 CCR 408-1).