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Mesa County, CO Short-Term Rentals: Repeat Violator Strikes (2026)

Significant Restrictions
Compiled from the official code textEditor Martyn O'NeillLast verified September 2026

Key Facts

Governing section
LDC Section 6.02 BB.11 & BB.11.a
Strike threshold
3+ verified complaints per calendar year
Complaint types counted
Nuisance, health, and/or safety
Decision-maker
Mesa County Planning Director
Consequence
Revocation of site plan approval

Summary

Mesa County runs a complaint-based strike system for vacation rentals. Three or more verified nuisance, health or safety complaints against the same rental in a calendar year gives the Planning Director authority to revoke its site plan approval outright.

These county ordinances apply to unincorporated areas of Mesa County. Incorporated cities within the county may have their own rules that take precedence over county-level regulations.

11. Failure to maintain compliance with the aforementioned standards shall result in revocation of approval.

a. Should a vacation rental receive three (3) or more formal, verified nuisance, health and/or safety complaints in a calendar year, the Planning Director may revoke the site plan approval.

Full Breakdown

" Two qualifiers matter for how this is enforced. First, complaints must be formal and verified, meaning an anonymous tip or an unsubstantiated call does not count toward the three-strike threshold; Code Compliance Services has to confirm the complaint before it is logged against the property. Second, the count resets on a calendar-year basis, so complaints from a prior year do not carry forward indefinitely into a new year's tally. 1, a revoked property cannot simply keep operating under a different name; it would need to reapply and again satisfy the full BB series of standards, including occupancy, parking, and local-representative requirements, before it could legally rent again. This ties the strike system directly back into the same site plan mechanism that governs every other vacation rental standard in the section.

Violations & Fines

Three or more formal, verified nuisance, health, or safety complaints against a vacation rental within a calendar year authorizes the Planning Director to revoke the property's site plan approval under Section 6.02 BB.11.a, ending its legal operation as a vacation rental until a new site plan is approved.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many complaints does it take to shut down a Mesa County vacation rental?
Three or more formal, verified nuisance, health, or safety complaints in a single calendar year gives the Planning Director authority to revoke the site plan approval under Section 6.02 BB.11.a.
Does an anonymous complaint count toward the three strikes?
The code specifies the complaints must be formal and verified, so an unconfirmed or anonymous tip alone would not satisfy the threshold in BB.11.a.
Can a revoked vacation rental reopen?
Only by going back through the full Site Plan Review process under Section 6.02 BB.1 and again meeting every standard in the BB series, since revocation eliminates the approval that authorized the rental use.

Sources & Official References

Other rules in Mesa County

All Mesa County rules

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