Bulletin - Erie, CO News Today
Ordinance No. 035-2026 takes effect October 24 with a one-permit-per-person limit, occupancy caps, a 250-foot separation rule in Old Town and a special event permit for festival periods while voters weigh a 3.5% lodging tax
Erie Adopts Owner-Only Short-Term Rental Permits Ahead of Sundance 2027
Ordinance No. 035-2026 takes effect October 24 with a one-permit-per-person limit, occupancy caps, a 250-foot separation rule in Old Town and a special event permit for festival periods while voters weigh a 3.5% lodging tax
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Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/2xUCSTjj1Bs?t=7275
The Erie Town Council passed Ordinance No. 035-2026 on October 13, creating the town’s first short-term rental permit system and making it unlawful to operate a rental of less than 30 consecutive days without a permit. The ordinance was published on October 14 and takes effect 10 days later on October 24 ahead of the Sundance Film Festival which runs January 21 to 31, 2027 in nearby Boulder.
Erie’s Ordinance No. 035-2026 updates zoning tables to permit short-term rentals across designated residential and commercial districts. | Source: https://www.erieco.gov/
Who can get a permit
The ordinance adds a new Chapter 16 to the Unified Development Code that limits permits to the property’s legal owner and allows each person to hold only one permit. Occupancy is capped at two guests per bedroom plus two more or two guests for a unit without bedrooms, and a lot with both a house and an accessory dwelling unit can license only one of them. Each rental needs a responsible agent available around the clock who can reach the property within one hour when police request it.
Applicants must also submit notarized affidavits confirming building and fire code compliance and that no covenant or deed restriction bans rentals along with a site plan showing one parking space per bedroom. Permits run for two calendar years and end automatically when the property is sold while the application fee will be set later by council resolution after staff had floated $150 to $200 in a September draft.
Old Town spacing and festival permits
In the Old Town Residential district, rentals must sit at least 250 feet apart by walking distance, and a property closer than that to an existing rental can operate only if the Town Council approves it as a special review use. The council may also designate special event periods by resolution during which non-owners such as tenants can apply for a special event permit with the owner’s notarized consent. These permits are exempt from the Old Town spacing rule but expire when the event period ends and are revoked after a single conviction.
Enforcement
Hosts can avoid prosecution for curable violations by responding within one hour of notice although a third conviction within 12 months automatically revokes a permit and a second revocation within five years bars the owner for two years.
Lodging tax on the ballot
Voters will decide Ballot Issue 3E on November 3 which would add a 3.5% tax on stays under 30 days at hotels and short-term rentals that town staff estimate would raise about $150,000 a year from roughly 50 known rental properties.
⦾ Effective date: October 24, 2026
⦾ Permit required: Yes, two-calendar-year permit, non-transferable
⦾ Eligibility: Property owners only; non-owners only through special event permits
⦾ Permit limit: One permit per person; house or ADU, not both
⦾ Occupancy: Two per bedroom plus two; two for studios
⦾ Old Town: 250-foot separation; closer sites need Town Council approval
⦾ Penalties: Municipal code fines; revocation on third conviction in 12 months; two-year ban after second revocation in five years
⦾ Application fee: To be set by council resolution
⦾ Night cap: None in the ordinance
⦾ Platform responsibility: None in the ordinance
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