Licensing
A local license issued by Boulder County Community Planning & Permitting is required to operate any Short-Term or Vacation Rental in unincorporated Boulder County. A Short-Term or Vacation Rental (such as VRBO or Airbnb) is a rental that is offered to a single booking party for a rental duration of fewer than 30 days at a time. Boulder County does not issue licenses for the incorporated cities and towns (e.g., Boulder, Nederland, Longmont) located in Boulder County. Find out which rental types may be permitted on your property and which type may be right for you.
There are two types of licenses:
- Short-Term Rental License: A Dwelling Unit offering transient lodging accommodations to a single booking party at a time within that dwelling unit for a rental duration of fewer than 30 days. A Short-Term Rental is the primary residence—the dwelling unit in which a person resides for more than six (6) months out of the year—of an owner or tenant and generally rented while the owner or tenant is residing and present at the property. There is an exception of up to 45 nights per year where the entire Dwelling Unit may be rented while the owner or tenant is not present.
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- Short-Term Rentals are allowed in subdivisions and all zone districts.
- Historic Accessory Dwelling Units are the only type of Accessory Dwelling Unit eligible for this use.
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- Vacation Rental License: A single-family Dwelling Unit offering transient lodging accommodations to a single booking party at a time within that dwelling unit for a rental duration of fewer than 30 days where the entire dwelling unit is solely occupied by the rental party during the duration of the rental period.
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- Vacation Rentals are limited to the Forestry (F) and Mountain Institutional (MI) zone districts, which are mostly located in the mountainous areas of the county.
- Vacation Rentals are allowed in subdivisions in the Upper St. Vrain Census County Division (CCD) but are prohibited in subdivisions in the Bald Mountain CCD.
- The number of Vacation Rental Licenses are limited based on three geographic areas of the county:
- Upper St. Vrain CCD: 194 Licenses
- Bald Mountain CCD: 83 Licenses
- Plains CCD: Vacation Rentals are not allowed in the Plains
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