No. Idaho Code 67-6539 forbids counties from requiring an STR to be the owner's primary residence. Kootenai County cannot mandate owner-occupancy, so non-owner-occupied short-term rentals are lawful in the unincorporated county.
State law specifically lists a requirement that the owner occupy the dwelling among the STR-specific obligations a county may not impose. Kootenai County therefore cannot restrict short-term rentals to owner-occupied or primary-residence homes, and no such rule appears in its Land Use and Development Code. Investors renting a second home or dedicated vacation property short-term are operating within their rights in the unincorporated county. Cities within Kootenai County set their own policies, so a primary-residence or owner-occupancy rule could exist inside city limits even though the county cannot impose one.
No owner-occupancy rule exists at the county level, so there is no related penalty in unincorporated Kootenai County.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Kootenai County, ID
Kootenai County has no ordinance banning backyard composting; home composting of yard and food scraps is allowed. Compost must not become a nuisance (odor, v...
Kootenai County, ID
Kootenai County has no ordinance banning or specifically regulating artificial turf on residential lots. Standard site rules still apply near water: replacin...
Kootenai County, ID
Kootenai County does not require or prohibit native-plant landscaping generally, but along the shoreline it actively encourages native vegetation: the county...
Kootenai County, ID
Kootenai County has no ordinance banning rain barrels. Rainwater collection in Idaho is governed by state water law: Idaho allows collecting rainwater and di...
Kootenai County, ID
Kootenai County itself sets no countywide lawn-watering schedule. Outdoor watering limits, if any, come from your city or your water/irrigation provider. Und...
Kootenai County, ID
Idaho law makes weed control mandatory: every landowner must control noxious weeds on their property at their own cost (Idaho Code 22-2407). Kootenai County'...
See how Post Falls's primary-residence-only rule rules stack up against other locations.
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