Colorado Ordinances (2026)

Colorado House Bill 24-1152 requires Tier 1 municipalities to permit at least one accessory dwelling unit on lots zoned for single-family use, preempting local bans starting June 30…

Colorado defines a tiny home as a chassis-mounted dwelling of 400 square feet or less built for long-term residency, and regulates its manufacture, sale, and installation statewide…

Colorado's Bee and Bee Products Act (C.R.S. 35-25-101) authorizes state apiary inspection but imposes no mandatory statewide registration; the program has been unfunded since 1990…

Colorado initially preempted breed-specific bans but the Court of Appeals upheld home-rule authority. Currently, Colorado municipalities may enact or repeal breed restrictions…

Colorado's Right to Farm Act protects existing agricultural operations, including livestock and poultry, from nuisance claims when conducted on land zoned or used for agriculture…

Colorado state law sets dangerous dog penalties and leash requirements on state lands. Local leash ordinances are otherwise determined by municipalities and counties throughout…

Colorado prohibits private possession of most native and exotic wildlife under Parks and Wildlife regulations. The statewide ban preempts local permission for restricted species across…

Colorado criminalizes animal hoarding under the cruelty statute when conditions cause suffering. The law applies uniformly statewide regardless of municipal animal limits.

Colorado prohibits feeding big game wildlife including deer, elk, and bears under Parks and Wildlife regulations. The ban applies statewide and preempts permissive local practices.

Colorado requires retailers selling cigarettes, vapor products, and other tobacco items to obtain a state retail tobacco license and follow strict point-of-sale rules.

Colorado hands cannabis siting to city hall: under C.R.S. 44-10-104(3), any local jurisdiction may regulate the time, place, manner, and number of retail marijuana stores, impose a…

Colorado constitutionally permits adults to grow marijuana at home but caps the total plants per residential property regardless of how many adults live there, preempting higher local…

Commercial drone operations in Colorado are governed almost entirely by FAA Part 107, with limited state additions covering wildlife, critical infrastructure, and privacy that apply…

Colorado allows local governments to adopt minimum wages above the state rate under CRS 8-6-101, with statewide minimums adjusted annually for inflation.

Colorado requires paid sick leave under the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act and offers paid family medical leave through the FAMLI program funded by payroll premiums.

Under C.R.S. § 25-8-501, any construction site disturbing one acre or more must obtain a CDPS stormwater discharge permit (COR400000) from Colorado's Water Quality Control Division and…

Colorado's Water Conservation Board is the state authority that designates and approves storm and floodwater runoff channels and basins under C.R.S. 37-60-106(1)(c), then hands those…

Colorado administers stormwater discharge permits statewide through the Colorado Discharge Permit System, requiring construction sites and industrial activities to obtain coverage…

Colorado is a fence-out state: when two owners' agricultural or grazing lands adjoin, each must build and maintain half of the boundary line fence at joint cost. Ignore a neighbor's…

Colorado defines permissible fireworks under CRS 12-28-101 and bans all aerial and explosive consumer devices statewide, though local governments may further restrict or prohibit even…

Colorado requires permits for most open burning under CRS 25-7-123 and Air Quality Control Commission Regulation 9, with universal restrictions during high pollution advisories…

Colorado adopts NFPA 58 Liquefied Petroleum Gas Code by reference under CRS 8-20-232, applying uniform propane storage, container, and installation rules to all jurisdictions statewide.

Colorado's Wildfire Resiliency Code Board, created by SB23-166 and codified at C.R.S. 24-33.5-1236, adopts minimum statewide wildfire-resiliency building and defensible-space codes…

Colorado requires a concealed handgun permit issued by the county sheriff to carry a concealed firearm in public, with training and background check requirements.

Colorado repealed firearms preemption in 2021, allowing cities and counties to enact local gun regulations stricter than state law in most circumstances.

Colorado generally permits open carry of firearms by adults without a license, though local jurisdictions may impose restrictions in specific areas after the 2021 preemption repeal.

Colorado allows adults legally able to possess a firearm to carry a handgun in a private vehicle for lawful protection without a permit under CRS 18-12-105.5.

Colorado requires all mobile food vendors to obtain Retail Food Establishment licenses through local public health agencies under uniform state Retail Food Establishment Rules.

Colorado's constitution confines all commercial casino gaming to the historic commercial districts of Central City, Black Hawk, and Cripple Creek: nowhere else in the state is a casino…

Colorado bars all lotteries and games of chance except licensed bingo and raffles run by charities. The Secretary of State issues bingo-raffle licenses only to religious, charitable…

Colorado's criminal code doesn't reach purely social gambling. C.R.S. section 18-10-102(2)(d) carves any game, wager, or transaction incidental to a bona fide social relationship out…

Colorado legalized sports betting statewide in 2020 under C.R.S. section 44-30-1505, but the state issues a "master license" only to holders of an existing retail gaming license -- the…

Under the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act, C.R.S. § 38-33.3-316, an association has a statutory lien for unpaid assessments. After HB22-1137 (2022) it may foreclose only once…

Colorado law entitles any unit owner in a common interest community to examine and copy the association's records without stating a reason. C.R.S. § 38-33.3-317 bars boards from…

C.R.S. § 38-33.3-302 lets a Colorado association enforce covenants and 'levy reasonable fines' only 'after notice and an opportunity to be heard.' Architectural and landscaping…

Colorado bars homeowners associations from effectively prohibiting six specific energy efficiency devices: a retractable clothesline, evaporative cooler, garage or attic fan…

Colorado law limits how homeowners' associations regulate yard landscaping, but the strongest protections in C.R.S. § 38-33.3-106.5(1)(i.5) apply only to single-family detached homes…

Colorado's flag protection applies only inside common interest communities, HOAs, condos, and co-ops governed by the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act, not to every property…

Colorado's Common Interest Ownership Act sets statewide due-process and dollar limits on how condo and homeowner associations fine owners and collect delinquent accounts, with one…

A Colorado association's assessment lien attaches automatically the moment the declaration is recorded, but foreclosing it has become the hardest remedy in the association's toolkit…

Colorado lets you bake, jar and dehydrate for sale out of your own kitchen with no license, no plan review and no routine inspection. C.R.S. § 25-4-1614, the Colorado Cottage Foods…

Colorado requires state licensing for any home caring for more than a small number of unrelated children, with uniform health, safety, and capacity rules that override local zoning…

Colorado has no microenterprise home kitchen permit and no exemption that lets you cook meals to order at home for the public. The state food code closes the question from both…

Colorado never passed a law creating sobriety checkpoints. The word "roadblock" does not appear anywhere in the Colorado Revised Statutes, and "checkpoint" appears in the statutory…

Colorado is one of the few states that put the right to film officers into its own sentence of statute. C.R.S. § 16-3-311(1) says a person "has the right to lawfully record any…

Colorado writes the demand into statute and then declines to punish the refusal. C.R.S. § 16-3-103 lets a peace officer who reasonably suspects you of a crime stop you and require your…

Colorado is one of a small group of states that requires the advisement out loud. Under C.R.S. § 16-3-310, before a peace officer may conduct a consensual search of a vehicle, of a…

Colorado law universally permits residential rooftop rainwater collection up to two rain barrels totaling 110 gallons, overriding the state's strict prior-appropriation doctrine that…

Colorado's Noxious Weed Act, C.R.S. § 35-5.5-104, makes it the duty of every landowner to use integrated management on noxious weeds likely to damage a neighbor's land. The county or…

Colorado runs two separate regimes. A low-speed electric vehicle is a motor vehicle under C.R.S. § 42-1-102 (58)(a), so it is titled, registered, plated and driven on a licence, and…

Colorado treats unreasonably loud amplified music as a public nuisance enforceable statewide under the Noise Abatement Act, while leaving venue licensing and event permits to local…

Colorado's Noise Abatement Act does not exempt construction. Under C.R.S. 25-12-103, construction noise is measured against the higher industrial-zone limits during the permitted…

Colorado fixes industrial noise ceilings at 80 decibels daytime and 75 decibels nighttime statewide under the Noise Abatement Act, with stricter local rules permitted but state…

Colorado defines and regulates abandoned vehicles under a uniform statewide statute that controls tow authorization, owner notice, auction procedures, and lien recovery for towing…

Colorado law prohibits HOAs and common-interest communities from banning electric vehicle charging stations and protects owners' rights to install them on their property.

Colorado's Towing Bill of Rights, C.R.S. 40-10.1-405, governs only nonconsensual ("predatory") tows that PUC-permitted towing carriers pull from private property and common parking…

Colorado's Premises Liability Act sets statewide landowner duties regarding snow and ice. Specific clearing timelines remain a local ordinance matter under home rule across Colorado.

Before filing an eviction for nonpayment of rent, a Colorado landlord must serve a standard residential tenant with 10 days' written notice to pay or quit under Colo. Rev. Stat. §…

Colorado law implies a warranty of habitability in every residential lease. A landlord must respond within 24 hours to conditions that materially interfere with life, health, or…

Colorado HB23-1171 created a statewide for-cause eviction standard requiring landlords to cite specific statutory grounds, such as nonpayment or lease violations, before terminating…

Colorado caps residential late fees at the greater of $50 or 5% of the past-due rent. No late fee may be charged until rent is at least seven days late, and only if disclosed in…

To end a no-fault tenancy, Colorado requires written notice scaled to the tenancy length under Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-40-107: 21 days for a month-to-month tenancy, 28 days for…

Colorado prohibits rent control statewide. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-12-301 declares rent control a matter of statewide concern and bars any county or municipality from enacting an…

For residential tenancies with no written agreement (including month-to-month), a Colorado landlord must give at least 60 days' written notice before raising rent. Statewide, a…

Colorado caps residential security deposits at two months' rent. Landlords must return the deposit, with an itemized written statement of any deductions, within 30 days of lease…

Colorado's general adverse possession period is 18 years of open, continuous, hostile possession under Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-41-101. The period shrinks to 7 successive years where the…

Colorado's Right to Farm Act under CRS 35-3.5-102 shields agricultural operations from nuisance lawsuits when they follow generally accepted practices and predate complaints.

Colorado requires short-term rental operators to collect 2.9 percent state sales tax plus any local lodging taxes, with marketplace facilitators like Airbnb collecting on behalf of…

Colorado state law prohibits homeowner associations from banning political signs on member property during election periods, preempting any conflicting HOA covenants statewide.

Colorado banned single-use plastic carryout bags and polystyrene foam containers statewide under the Plastic Pollution Reduction Act, fully effective in 2024.

Colorado prohibits retail food establishments from using expanded polystyrene foam containers for ready-to-eat food and beverages under the Plastic Pollution Reduction Act.

This is a statewide protection against private restrictions, not a local mandate: Colorado voids any deed, contract, or HOA covenant blocking a renewable energy device wherever one…

Colorado caps solar permit fees and prohibits restrictions on solar access easements. The law preempts local efforts to block residential solar installations across all Colorado.

A posted no-soliciting sign alone generally is not enough for criminal trespass in Colorado. Under C.R.S. 18-4-503, second-degree criminal trespass of residential premises requires…

Colorado requires state plan review and permits for public swimming pools through the Department of Public Health. Residential pools follow local building codes throughout Colorado.

Colorado prohibits the sale and furnishing of cigarettes, tobacco, and nicotine vapor products to anyone under age 21 statewide under CRS 18-13-121.

HB22-1355 created the Colorado Producer Responsibility Program under CRS 25-17-701 requiring producers of packaging and paper to fund universal curbside recycling access for residents…

Colorado permits four categories of extra forward lighting and caps each at two lamps: spot lamps, fog lamps, auxiliary passing lamps and auxiliary driving lamps, under C.R.S. §…

Colorado has no statute naming dash cameras and no list of permitted windshield attachments, so two general rules decide where one may go. Section 42-4-201 (4) requires the driver’s…

Riding between lanes of traffic is illegal in Colorado. C.R.S. § 42-4-1503 (3)(a) forbids driving a motorcycle or autocycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows…

Colorado writes its plate-cover ban around machine readability. C.R.S. § 42-3-202 (2)(b) makes it unlawful to operate a motor vehicle with an affixed device or substance that causes…

A passenger-car driver in Colorado may use a radar detector. Nothing in title 42 regulates one: the word "detector" does not appear anywhere in the Vehicles and Traffic title. What…

Colorado puts no calendar on studded tires. C.R.S. § 42-4-228 (3) lets single-tired passenger vehicles, and other single-tired vehicles rated up to and including three-fourths of a…

Colorado sets a single light transmittance figure for every window except the windshield. Under C.R.S. § 42-4-227 (1)(a)(I) no window other than the windshield may allow less than…