Jefferson County rolls out tighter short‑term rental rules, application portal and 5‑year penalties

Planning staff presented Jefferson County’s updated short‑term rental rules and a new licensing process that launched Feb. 2.

The county now classifies eligible short‑term rentals by structure type and residence status and sets separate rules for primary residences and investment properties, planning staff said. Under the new code, a primary‑residence short‑term rental — a home lived in at least nine months of the year — is exempt from the 750‑foot spacing rule and does not count toward a 1% cap of short‑term rentals permitted per fire‑protection district. Investment properties are subject to both limits.

“There's not a zoning regulation requirement or a zone district that you can be in. It's a type of structure,” the planning presenter said, summarizing the change away from the old district‑based rules.

The county set occupancy and safety standards. Occupancy is typically two people per bedroom with a 10‑person maximum for single‑family homes; accessory dwelling units have lower caps (for example, two bedrooms and a three‑person maximum for an ADU). Safety requirements include UL‑listed smoke and carbon‑monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers and prohibitions on wood or charcoal outdoor fires. Gas fireplaces and fire pits must have automatic timers, and mountain‑area properties must use bear‑resistant trash receptacles.

Applications require a notarized affidavit that the operator will follow county rules, a floor plan identifying bedrooms, a parking plan with one off‑street space per bedroom, proof of water or septic capacity (an OWTS record for septic), a defensible‑space permit if in the Wildland‑Urban Interface, a letter from the local fire protection district, proof of liability insurance (the affidavit requires a minimum of $500,000), and proof of ownership. For primary‑residence licenses, two proofs of residency are required (for example, voter registration and motor‑vehicle registration).

“The portal is on our website; you upload all the documents and then it goes into a queue,” the planning presenter said. The county’s GIS team checks spacing and the 1% cap before case managers issue licenses.

Enforcement is complaint‑driven, county staff said, but officials have sent outreach letters to verified listings and plan further follow‑up. Jeremy Cohen, who handles zoning enforcement, said the county will first ask neighbors to contact hosts and will operate a hotline for unresolved complaints; if that fails, staff can issue zoning violations and pursue license revocation. Cohen said about 90–100 owners had applied by mid‑February and some applications were already approved.

Violations can carry steep consequences. County staff said licenses are annual and nontransferable; if a license is revoked for cause the individual and property are barred from short‑term rental operation for five years unless narrowly permitted (for example, transfers to a trust or a same‑owner LLC with county approval).

The new rules and the licensing portal are posted at planning.jeffco.us under the short‑term rental section, county staff said. The county encouraged neighbors to use the complaint form online if problems persist.

Next steps: staff will continue processing the current intake of applications, roll out the hotline for complaints and begin enforcement on properties that do not come into compliance after outreach.