Ogden, UT Short-Term Rentals: Primary-Residence-Only Rule (2026)

Ogden City Code § 15-13-38 builds 'owner-occupied' into the zoning itself: Subsection C(1) permits short-term rentals only where the applicable zoning district allows them, and in R-1 zones restricts that use to owner-occupied short-term rentals alone. Subsection B defines an owner-occupied short-term rental as a dwelling that is the person's primary residence, shown by valid documentation submitted with the license application, with title held in that person's own name or in a living trust where the person is both trustor and beneficiary. To prove that primary-residence status, § 15-13-38(F)(4) requires evidence the property is taxed as the applicant's primary personal residence plus three matching documents, such as the address on a driver's license, voter registration, tax return, or a utility bill or bank statement.

Outside R-1, a non-owner-occupied short-term rental is allowed only if the applicant has owned the dwelling continuously for three years before starting operation, per Subsection E, and it cannot be located on the same linear block as another non-owner-occupied rental or a residential facility for people with disabilities or the elderly, per Subsection C(2). The rule reaches beyond licensing paperwork: § 15-13-38(M)(4) treats it as a 'sham transaction,' just cause for revocation, whenever a short-term rental in a residential zone is occupied for more than 30 consecutive nights, or by anyone who does not actually have a primary residence somewhere else.