Short-Term Rental Rules in Unincorporated Chaffee County, Colorado

The cap, the fee schedule, and what happens when the cap is full

Chaffee County's short-term rental ordinance caps licenses in unincorporated areas at 6% of the countywide housing stock, which works out to a current maximum of 310 licenses. The application fee is $250, with a $150 annual renewal fee; if the structure is new, requires a septic inspection, or the STR use represents a change of use for the property, an additional $100 fee applies. Only one STR license is available per property -- a parcel with both a primary residence and an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) can license one or the other for short-term rental use, not both.

When the 310-license cap is reached, the county creates a waiting list rather than simply closing applications outright. That waitlist matters in practice: a Chaffee County resident owner is prioritized ahead of any out-of-county resident already on the list, meaning an out-of-county buyer hoping to license a newly purchased property for STR use could wait behind resident applicants indefinitely if the cap is full when they apply.

Residency requirements and why a license doesn't transfer with the sale

New STR license applicants in unincorporated Chaffee County generally must be full-time residents of the county -- establishable in practice through documentation such as tax returns -- a real eligibility filter that rules out a purely out-of-county investment purchase from getting a new license under ordinary priority, absent an open cap position and waitlist clearance. Licenses are also non-transferable: buying a property that currently operates as a licensed STR does not mean the license passes to the new owner at closing, so a buyer relying on STR income from day one needs to apply for a new license and clear whatever cap/waitlist status exists at the time of purchase, not assume continuity from the seller's operation.

Renewals are being moved onto an annual schedule with renewals due February 1 each year -- worth checking directly with the county on a specific property's renewal status and standing, since a lapsed license is not automatically reinstated ahead of new waitlist applicants.

One more layer: municipal rules differ from the unincorporated county

• These figures (310-cap, $250/$150 fees, residency requirement) apply specifically to unincorporated Chaffee County -- Salida and Buena Vista each run their own separate STR licensing programs with different rules, including differing residency-requirement postures (Salida has partially lifted its owner-residency requirement in some form), so confirm which jurisdiction actually governs a specific parcel before assuming the county's rules apply.
• Ask the seller for the license number and current renewal status directly, and confirm both independently with the county or municipality rather than relying on a listing's claim that a property 'comes with' an active STR license.
• If buying specifically for STR income, get the current waitlist position and realistic timeline from the county before finalizing a purchase decision built around immediate rental income.