Short-term rental rules · Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Short-term rentals in Steamboat Springs, explained properly.
Steamboat Springs licenses short-term rentals under a three-zone system: unrestricted in Zone A, capped by sub-zone in Zone B (5 to 20 licenses each), and prohibited for new standard STRs in Zone C (hosted and temporary rentals still allowed there). A voter-approved 9% short-term rental tax, adopted in November 2022 to fund affordable housing, stacks on top of standard sales and accommodations taxes for a combined rate around 18.4%.
At a glance
What you need to know before you buy or list
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Three STR license types | Standard Short-Term Rental (STR) licenses are subject to zone caps; Hosted STR (owner present during the stay) and Temporary STR licenses are permitted in all zones, including Zone C where new standard STR licenses are prohibited [1] |
| Zone A: no cap | There is no limit on the number of standard STR licenses allowed in Zone A [1] |
| Zone B: capped by sub-zone | Zone B is divided into six sub-zones, each with its own numeric license cap: B1: 5, B2: 20, B3: 18, B4: 17, B5: 12, B6: 10 licenses [1] |
| Zone C: new standard STRs prohibited | New standard STR licenses are prohibited in Zone C, except for certain exempt properties; Hosted and Temporary STRs remain allowed [1] |
| Occupancy limit | A minimum of 2 and maximum of 16 guests, calculated at 1 person per 150 square feet of floor space; outdoor gatherings may include up to twice the permitted number of occupants [1] |
| Parking limit | A maximum of 6 vehicles may be parked overnight outside a garage, only on an all-weather drivable surface and not in a public right-of-way or emergency access easement [1] |
| 24-hour local responsible party required | Operators must designate a local responsible party available 24 hours a day, who must respond to any complaint within one hour, and post visible notice at the property with contact information and house rules [1] |
| Voter-approved 9% STR tax funds affordable housing | Steamboat Springs voters approved a short-term rental tax of up to 9% in November 2022, and city council set it at the full 9%; it applies to reservations made on or after January 1, 2023 (with an exemption for pre-January-1 bookings for the current ski season), and proceeds fund affordable and attainable housing projects including the Yampa Valley Housing Authority's Brown Ranch project [2] [3] |
| Combined tax rate on STRs | Standard accommodations tax combines to 9.4%; adding the 9.0% STR-specific tax brings the total combined rate to approximately 18.4%. Rentals within the Local Marketing District (LMD) face a further 2.0% LMD accommodations tax, for a combined rate of approximately 20.4% [2] |
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Detailed rules
The full picture, section by section
Eligibility & zoning
| STR licensing program enacted June 2022 | Steamboat Springs' short-term rental licensing program, including the three-zone cap system, was enacted on June 7, 2022 [1] |
|---|
Licensing & application
| License must be displayed at the property | The STR license must be displayed in a visible location inside the rental [1] |
|---|
Taxes & fees
| City sales tax | The municipal sales tax rate is 4.0%, plus an additional 0.5% school tax, for a combined city rate of 4.5%. This is a component of the 8.4% general sales tax (with the 2.9% state tax and the county tax) and is already included in the 9.4% combined accommodations rate, not added on top of it [2] |
|---|
Operations & complaints
| One-hour complaint response requirement | The designated local responsible party must respond to any complaint about the property within one hour [1] |
|---|
Changes
Recent and pending changes
The City of Steamboat Springs' own Rules and Regulations webpage and Municipal Tax webpage are the primary official sources to monitor, along with Article IX of the city's Municode ordinances (Short-Term Rental Licensing) for the full legal text of zone boundaries, caps, and penalties. This research pass did not locate specific penalty amounts or a detailed fee schedule on the summary webpage, so those should be confirmed against the Municode ordinance text directly. Any change to zone boundaries, sub-zone caps, or the STR tax rate would be a high-impact update for subscribers watching this market. We re-checked the Municipal Tax page was re-read (rates unchanged at 9.4% accommodations, 9% STR tax, 18.4% combined STR, 20.4% combined LMD); the Rules and Regulations page, Short-Term Rentals page, Licensing page and Municode Article IX could not be loaded by our fetcher and are queued for a browser check. A news search of 2025-2026 coverage found enforcement-policy debate (fines, notices of violation) but no fetched report of changes to zones, sub-zone caps, license fees or the STR tax rate.
City council passed on second reading (6-1) an ordinance creating a one-time 60-day window for certain owners whose STR licenses lapsed to reapply, and giving first-time Zone A (green) violators 15 days to fix noncompliance before a court summons. Zone B and C owners who never held a license remain ineligible and still face direct court action. No changes to zones, caps or fees.
Sources
Every rule above links to one of these
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This page is general information compiled from public sources, not legal or tax advice. HOA rules, deed restrictions and zoning for a specific property can be stricter. Confirm with the local permitting office and a qualified professional before buying or listing a property.