Short-Term Rentals in Washington County, Utah

Unhosted rentals are banned -- owner-occupancy is required

Washington County's short-term rental ordinance, adopted in October 2021, applies to unincorporated areas of the county and requires owner-occupancy: it bans unhosted short-term rentals, meaning a property being marketed as a pure investment rental with no owner living on-site is not permitted under the county's rules. This is a meaningfully stricter position than many resort-market jurisdictions take, and it directly affects the financial model for a buyer planning to purchase unincorporated county land purely as a hands-off, whole-home nightly-rental investment -- that model isn't available here without an owner actually residing at the property.

A short-term rental is defined under the ordinance as a property occupied for transient lodging for compensation where the stay is 29 consecutive days or less. That definition, and the owner-occupancy requirement, apply specifically to unincorporated county land -- St. George, Hurricane, Ivins, Washington City, and the county's other municipalities each administer their own separate short-term rental rules, which can differ substantially, so confirming whether a parcel is inside or outside a city boundary comes first.

Licensing: a $50 annual fee, a $160 application with a Health and Safety Check

A valid Washington County Short-Term Rental License is required for every short-term rental in the unincorporated county, renewed annually. The documented fee structure is an annual license fee of $50, plus a $160 application fee for an existing dwelling that includes a Health and Safety Check as part of the approval process. The application itself calls for a site plan of the property, a copy of the property's septic permit, photos of the dwelling, and proof of insurance with a landlord endorsement specifically covering short-term rental use -- documentation that takes real lead time to assemble, particularly the septic permit if the property doesn't already have one on file.

Processing an application takes roughly 10 to 14 business days after a complete submission, per the county's own guidance -- worth building into your timeline if short-term-rental income is part of a purchase decision with a specific closing or listing date in mind, rather than assuming approval happens immediately upon application.

Zone-by-zone dwelling-size caps determine whether a house can be a short-term rental at all

Beyond owner-occupancy and licensing, Washington County's ordinance ties short-term rental eligibility to both the property's zoning district and its dwelling's square footage, with specific caps by zone: in the OST-20 (Open Space Transition) zone and the county's agricultural zones (A-5, A-10, A-20, and A-40), a dwelling can be used as a short-term rental only if it's 3,500 square feet or less; in the Forest Residential FR-13.5 and FR-0.5 zones, the cap drops to 1,500 square feet or less; and in the FR-1 (Forest Residential, one-acre minimum lot size) zone, the cap is 2,500 square feet or less. A larger home in one of these zones -- even one otherwise well-suited to nightly rental -- is not eligible for a short-term rental license under the ordinance as documented.

This means the dwelling-size question needs to be checked before, not after, a purchase or build decision if short-term-rental use is part of the plan: a buyer intending to build a large custom home on agricultural or forest-residential zoned land in unincorporated Washington County could unknowingly design past the square-footage threshold that would have qualified it as a short-term rental. Confirm both the parcel's current zoning district and the applicable size cap directly with Washington County Community Development before finalizing house plans around a rental-income assumption.

Before buying with a short-term-rental plan in mind

1. Confirm the parcel is in unincorporated Washington County, not inside St. George, Hurricane, Ivins, Washington City, or another municipality -- each city administers its own separate short-term rental rules.
2. If it's unincorporated county land, confirm you're prepared to meet the owner-occupancy requirement -- a pure, non-owner-occupied investment-rental plan isn't permitted under the current county ordinance.
3. Confirm the parcel's zoning district and the applicable dwelling-size cap (3,500 sq ft in OST-20 and the A-zones, 1,500 sq ft in FR-13.5/FR-0.5, or 2,500 sq ft in FR-1) before finalizing house size if short-term-rental eligibility matters to your plan.
4. Budget for the $50 annual license fee, the $160 application fee (which includes a Health and Safety Check), and the site plan, septic permit, photos, and STR-endorsed insurance the application requires -- and plan for a roughly 10-14 business day processing window.
5. Check for any HOA or subdivision-level rental restriction recorded against the property, since meeting the county's zoning, size, and licensing requirements doesn't override a private restriction.