Short-term rentals in Woodland Park, explained properly.

Sec. 5.22.020(f) says a license may be issued to owners of properties, as evidenced on the recorded deed, who are a natural person, a trust whose trustee is a natural person, or a business entity legally registered with the Colorado Secretary of State. The applicant's name must match the deed owner, the trustee of the owning trust, or the person controlling the corporate owner, and a copy of the recorded deed showing the Teller County recording data must be submitted (Sec. 5.22.020(j)). The application form says the applicant and property owner must be the same.

The 2026 application (revised 12/10/2025) is headed "Fee $100 + Short-Term Rental Business License Fee, Non-Refundable." Sec. 5.22.020(b) says the initial license fee, renewal fee and the penalty for operating without a license are set by resolution of City Council, payable annually in advance. We did not read the fee resolution, so the license fee amount is open. The City's Finance page lists a separate general business license for all businesses operating in the city at $35.00 a year (ending December 31); that page does not say it is the short-term rental license fee, and we add no total. Applicants must also show tax receipts with no overdue balance with the Treasury Department, and a license may be issued only after all taxes and fees owed to the City have been paid.

Sec. 5.22.030(c) requires annual renewal on conditions: a complete renewal application; payment of renewal fees and all applicable taxes for the previous year, including sales and lodging tax, and all taxes and fees owed to the City; no outstanding health and safety violations related to the unit or habitability violations under Title 15; no more than one cited violation, and no more than one violation of the license or application requirements, in the last twelve months; and continued compliance with permitted zoning uses, Sec. 5.22.020 and Sec. 18.78.050. Licensees must keep application information up to date and give updates to the City within thirty days after information stops being accurate. The 2026 application asks renewing applicants for a copy of the advertisement for each listing platform showing the City license number in the title, and for a list of the prior year's bookings with dates and rates per booking.

The 2026 application requires a copy of the deed, a site diagram showing delineated off-street or off-right-of-way guest parking (primary residence rentals must also show the owner's parking; the form gives a typical parking space size of 9 feet by 18 feet), and tax receipts showing no overdue balance with the Treasury Department. The owner and the local contact person sign certifications. In one, the owner acknowledges that the owner is responsible for getting any HOA or association approval and that the City does not have legal authority to enforce recorded covenants, restrictions or conditions. In another, they confirm they have read the Good Neighbor Guidelines, which must be given to all guests and made available in the unit. The City's form is a Zoning Development Permit and its approval certificate marks the unit as a Primary Residence or Non-Primary Residence STR Unit. Questions go to 719-687-5202 per the form.

Sec. 5.22.020(k) requires a designated local contact person for each short-term rental unit, responsible for ensuring compliance with the Code, including snow and ice removal, trash and refuse removal and other property maintenance. During periods of applicable occupancy the contact must be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond within sixty minutes to property code violations or complaints about the condition, operation or conduct of occupants, and to take remedial action. The application asks for the contact's details and signature.

Sec. 5.22.020(h) requires short-term rental businesses to include their license number in the title of the listing for all public advertising, including web hosting services. The City will issue a license number specific to the property and licensee (Sec. 5.22.020(g)). Advertising before the license is issued is not permitted (Sec. 5.22.030(a)).

Sec. 18.78.050(B)(4) sets the maximum occupancy of a short-term rental at two people per legal bedroom plus an additional two people, and in all cases no more than twelve occupants. Large events, such as concerts, parties and weddings, that exceed the maximum number of permitted occupants are prohibited (B)(5). No short-term rental may be operated in a way that constitutes a nuisance (B)(3). The application asks for the number of legal bedrooms and the maximum number of guests.

Sec. 18.78.050(B)(6) applies to all short-term rental units in the city: at least two off-street, on-site guest spaces, and a total of one space per bedroom for units with more than two bedrooms, with off-street, on-site parking used first and no overnight, overflow parking on the street. Sec. 5.22.020(m) requires a delineated parking plan at the time of application and renewal.

Sec. 5.22.050 says that operating a short-term rental business or renting out a unit without a license subjects the property owner to a fine in an amount set by resolution of City Council, with a graduated financial penalty for each subsequent violation and as provided in Chapter 1.04, or denial of a license altogether. We did not read the penalty resolution or Chapter 1.04.

Under Sec. 5.22.040, City Council may suspend or revoke a license after a public hearing, on ten days' written notice by U.S. Postal Service, for failure to pay lodging tax, any other tax or the annual license fee; a false statement of material fact in the application; failure to file required reports or information; a fact that would have warranted refusing the license; or two cited violations within the last twelve months of the chapter, of laws or regulations pertaining to the application, at the property, or of the license terms. A revocation for two cited violations is in effect for a minimum of two years.

Sec. 3.38.010 levies a tax of 5.7% on the purchase price paid for the short-term (less than thirty consecutive days) leasing or rental of any hotel room, motel room, apartment, lodging or inn room, guest house, mobile home, bed and breakfast or any other place that furnishes sleeping accommodations within the city. The City's Finance page lists a lodging tax of 5.7% and sends operators of a temporary lodging home to its MUNIRevs site. Failure to pay the lodging tax is a ground for suspension or revocation of the license. State and county taxes are separate and the City's tax is not totalled with them here.

The City's Finance page says all businesses operating in the City must obtain a Business/Sales and Use Tax License, applied for and renewed through the MUNIRevs online system, with an annual fee of $35.00 for the year ending December 31, and lists City sales tax at 3.00%, use tax at 1% and lodging tax at 5.7%. The page shows no date, so the rates are marked for review. We do not know whether the City applies its sales tax to short-term rentals in addition to the lodging tax and we add no combined total.

Colorado charges its 2.9% state sales tax on the entire amount charged for rooms and accommodations. A stay may also owe local sales taxes that the Colorado Department of Revenue collects for counties and special districts, and any sales tax of a home-rule city that collects its own tax (see below).

State sales tax does not apply to a room or accommodations rented to a person who is a permanent resident of it and has a written agreement to occupy it for at least 30 consecutive days. Shorter stays are taxed.

The Colorado Department of Revenue says anyone who offers rooms or accommodations for rent must get a Colorado sales tax license and collect sales tax on taxable rentals. A seller who makes sales only through a marketplace may be exempt from licensing, collection and filing if the marketplace collects all state and state-administered local sales taxes for them. The license costs $16 (prorated) plus a $50 deposit, a separate license is needed for each business location, and licenses expire on December 31 of odd-numbered years.

For rooms rented through a marketplace (including online platforms), the marketplace facilitator must collect and remit the state sales tax and the local sales taxes the state collects, plus any county lodging tax and local marketing district tax. City taxes in home-rule cities are separate (see below).

Colorado counties may add a county lodging tax, regional transportation authorities a visitor benefit tax, and local marketing districts a marketing tax on rooms subject to state sales tax. County lodging and visitor benefit taxes are filed quarterly with the Department of Revenue on form DR 1485; the Department's DR 1003 publication lists the rates.