Blue Earth County, MN Short-Term Rentals: Short-Term Rental Permits (2026)

Sec. 24-337(a) of the Blue Earth County Code requires any person proposing to operate a short-term rental unit to apply to the planning agency for an interim use permit. The application must include a site plan showing property lines, the dwelling proposed for rental use, accessory structures, the square footage of parking areas and driveways, shoreland recreational facilities such as gazebos, boat houses and patios, outdoor garbage and recycling storage, wells and septic facilities (including any secondary septic site), docks and pathways to a lake or river where applicable, and any recreational fire pit.

Applicants must also submit floor plans showing the number of bedrooms with dimensions, plus the required fee, a building inspection and certificate of occupancy issued by a Minnesota Certified Building Official, a business plan covering quiet hours, maximum occupancy, parking, pet policy, refuse disposal, other property rules and rental duration, any licenses required by other agencies including the Minnesota Department of Health, an SSTS commercial operating permit where appropriate, and proof of liability insurance. Existing short-term rentals operating before the standards took effect had to come into compliance by February 1, 2023, per Sec.

24-337(b)(14). The permit also carries a spacing condition: under Sec. 24-337(g)(1), no parcel within 125 feet of an existing permitted short-term rental in the rural residence or rural townsite district is eligible for its own short-term rental interim use permit.