Short-Term Rentals in Douglas County, Minnesota

Every private vacation rental needs a Horizon Public Health license, not just a county permit

Douglas County's Private/Vacation Home Rental Zoning Ordinance defines a private or vacation home rental as any home, cabin, condominium, bedroom, or similar building advertised or held out as a place furnishing sleeping accommodations to the public for less than 30 days, and it excludes bed and breakfasts, resorts, hotels, and motels, which are licensed separately. Licensing and inspection for this specific category is handled by Horizon Public Health -- a joint department serving Douglas and Pope Counties as well as the City of Alexandria and the portion of the City of Osakis that sits in Douglas County -- rather than by the county's own Land and Resource Management office. That matters practically: a buyer planning a short-term rental should contact Horizon Public Health directly (809 Elm Street, Alexandria; 320-763-6018) rather than assuming the county zoning department is the point of contact, and every licensed rental must post its current license number on all advertisements and web-based reservation listings, including Airbnb and VRBO postings.

Fees are structured by bedroom count, plus a separate well/septic surcharge

The license carries a base fee of $240, plus $12 per bedroom, plus an additional $85 fee if the property relies on a private well or private septic system rather than municipal water and sewer -- which describes most lake and rural Douglas County properties. A typical three-bedroom lake cabin on a private well and septic system, for example, would run $240 base + $36 (3 bedrooms) + $85 (well/septic) = $361 for the license. These fees are paid annually, meaning the license is not a one-time purchase but a recurring line item that should be factored into any short-term-rental income projection for the property.

Occupancy caps at three per bedroom and twelve total, unless a conditional use permit says otherwise

The ordinance sets a maximum of three overnight guests per bedroom and no more than twelve overnight guests total, regardless of how many bedrooms the property has -- a five-bedroom lake home, for instance, is still capped at twelve guests under the base license, not fifteen. A property owner who wants to exceed that occupancy cap can apply for a conditional use permit through the county's land-use process, but absent one, the twelve-guest ceiling is a hard limit that should be checked against any marketing plan or booking-platform listing before it goes live, since a listing advertising more guests than the license allows is itself a compliance problem independent of anything happening on a given weekend.

What this means for a specific purchase

1. Contact Horizon Public Health (320-763-6018) before closing to confirm whether a target property already holds a current vacation-rental license, and whether that license transfers to a new owner or needs to be reapplied for -- licensing programs like this one commonly require a new application on a change of ownership rather than an automatic transfer.
2. Budget the annual license fee (base $240, plus $12 per bedroom, plus $85 if on private well/septic) as a recurring operating cost, not a one-time setup fee.
3. Check the property's bedroom count against the 3-per-bedroom/12-total occupancy cap before assuming a specific nightly rate or guest-count marketing plan is achievable without a conditional use permit.
4. Confirm separately with Land and Resource Management whether the property's zoning district and, if applicable, shoreland classification allow the intended short-term-rental use outright or require additional review -- the Horizon Public Health license and the underlying zoning approval are two different requirements administered by two different offices.
5. If buying specifically to operate a short-term rental with a larger group capacity in mind, ask Horizon Public Health and the county's land-use office directly what a conditional use permit application for exceeding the 12-guest cap actually requires and how long it takes, before committing to that business model.