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

" The code defines an "owner-occupant" as someone who holds the primary residential exemption on that lot or parcel from the Washington County Assessor's office and is a "permanent, full time resident at the same address," not simply the titleholder. The license is self-terminating: under the same subsection, a Short Term Rental License "automatically expires if the primary residential exemption is denied, lost, removed or revoked for any reason," with no separate notice or hearing required to end it. Two carve-outs exist. Section B exempts existing nonconforming short-term rentals from the owner-occupancy requirement, so STRs already operating before the standard applied are grandfathered on this point specifically.

k separately creates a PD-STR (Planned Development Short Term Rental) zone whose units "do not have an owner occupancy requirement," though they must still meet the size and other standards approved in that project's plan. For everyone else, the Community Development Department verifies the occupancy status as part of the licensing and annual renewal process, and an applicant denied a license on this ground may appeal the final administrative decision to a hearing officer under Title 10, Chapter 2.