Boulder County, CO Short-Term Rentals: Permit Requirements (2026)

Boulder County Ordinance 2023-02 (adopted September 2023) requires all rentals offered to a single booking party for fewer than 30 days at a time in unincorporated Boulder County to be licensed, regardless of any prior Limited Impact Special Use Review (LU/LUW) or Special Use Review (SU). A Short-Term Rental License covers the operator's primary residence (where they live more than six months per year), with the owner or tenant typically present during rentals; up to 45 nights per year may be rented while the operator is absent. A Vacation Rental License covers non-owner-occupied stays and is restricted to Forestry (F) and Mountain Institutional (MI) zone districts, with a hard countywide cap of 194 licenses in the Upper St. Vrain area, 83 in the Bald Mountain area, and no vacation rentals allowed in the Plains. Maximum overnight occupancy is 8 people or the septic system's permitted capacity, whichever is fewer. Two on-site parking spaces are required. An owner or entity may hold no more than one short-term and one vacation rental license. Licenses are valid for two years. Every advertisement must display the license number, whole-home or private-room designation, occupancy limit, and parking spaces. Applications go through Boulder County's online permitting portal; staff review zoning, parking, access, septic, building safety, and occupancy compliance. Colorado HB23-1287 limits certain local STR taxation methods but does not preempt Boulder County's licensing scheme.