Dwelling types
What can be licensed
Allowed: single-family detached, single-family attached, duplex, and ADUs. Prohibited: RVs, detached living spaces, and accessory structures not permitted as ADUs.
Source: Section 46 PDF
Unincorporated Jefferson County · Colorado · Updated May 26, 2026
Jeffco STR Opportunity:
Foothills access, metro demand,
rules you can underwrite.
A buyer-facing brief on short-term rental potential along the West Pleasant View → Red Rocks → Morrison → Golden foothills corridor of unincorporated Jefferson County. New Section 46 rules (effective February 2, 2026) create a structured framework — clarity for the buyers willing to do the parcel-level homework.
01 · Location
The corridor: foothills doorstep, metro at your back.
Unincorporated parcels in the West Pleasant View → Red Rocks band sit roughly four miles from Red Rocks Entrance 1, with Golden, Morrison, Dinosaur Ridge, and Denver metro all on direct routes via C-470, I-70, and US-6.1a
Highways (I-70, US-6, C-470)
West Pleasant View ↔ Red Rocks Entrance 1
Demand anchor (Denver metro)
Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre
Sits at 6,450 ft, seats 9,525, and is the only naturally occurring acoustically perfect amphitheatre in the world — a 738-acre National Historic Landmark in the transitional zone where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains.10
Dinosaur Ridge
20 minutes west of Denver near Golden, Morrison, and Red Rocks. The #1 dinosaur tracksite with 250+ fossil tracks and the first-named Stegosaurus bones; free weekend shuttle every 15 minutes from Golden, Morrison, and Red Rocks.12
Jefferson County Open Space
Scenic trails, parks, wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation — hiking, biking, and horseback riding across the foothills are the core guest draw.13
02 · Section 46 Snapshot
Rules a buyer can actually underwrite.
The Jeffco Board of County Commissioners adopted Section 46 — Short-Term Rentals on December 16, 2025; applications go through the Jefferson County Citizen Portal.1 Below are the practical mechanics, drawn directly from the ordinance and county materials.
License types
Primary Residence vs. Investment
Primary Residence STR — exempt from the 750-ft separation and the 1% Fire Protection District capacity allowance. Investment Property STR — subject to both. An owner may hold ownership interest in no more than one non-primary-residence STR property at a time.
Source: Section 46 PDFScarcity screen
One per property · 750 ft · 1% FPD
Only one STR license per property at a time. Investment STRs generally cannot sit within 750 feet of another permitted STR, and up to 1% of dwelling units within a Fire Protection District may be STRs.
Source: Section 46 PDFOccupancy & parking
Cap the guest count, count the spaces
Generally 2 persons per bedroom or the OWTS limit, whichever is more restrictive — absolute max 10 occupants, ADU max 3. At least 1 off-street parking space per bedroom.
Source: Section 46 PDFApplication package
What you submit
- Floor plan
- Parking plan
- Trash plan
- Water proof
- Sanitation / OWTS proof
- WUI defensible space (where applicable)
- Fire protection statement
- Ownership proof
- Insurance
- Primary residence proof (if applicable)
- Access proof (if applicable)
- Affidavit
Operations
Local rep · neighbor notice
A local representative must be reachable 24 hours and within 30 minutes of the property. Contact information must be sent to neighbors within 7 days of license approval.
Sources: Application Process Guide · Section 46 PDFTerm & transfer
Annual · non-transferable
Licenses are valid for no more than one year, renew annually, and renewals are submitted at least 30 days before expiration. Licenses generally are not transferable and terminate automatically on conveyance of ownership unless exempt.
Source: Section 46 PDFPenalty
5-year ineligibility on revocation
If a license is revoked, the property and the owner are ineligible for a new STR license for 5 years. Operate carefully.
Source: Section 46 PDFFee
$600 Admin Review (2026)
The 2026 STR Administrative Review fee is $600, per the countywide Development Application, Permit and License Fees schedule.
Source: 2026 Fee Schedule PDFADU notes
ADU specifics
The owner must reside in either the primary residence or the ADU; ADU max 3 occupants; one ADU per property; detached ADU rules vary by lot size.
Source: Jeffco ADU page03 · Buyer Message
Rules create clarity. Clarity creates scarcity.
Section 46 doesn't pre-qualify any property — it sets a framework. For buyers willing to do the parcel work, that framework is the moat. Not every parcel will qualify; that is precisely what makes a qualifying parcel valuable.
A
Clear path
Section 46 gives you a written ordinance, an application checklist, a portal, and a fee — instead of guessing whether STRs are tolerated.
B
Scarcity screen
The 750-ft Investment-STR spacing and 1% Fire Protection District cap keep supply finite. Early, well-cited applications matter.
C
Guest-demand anchors
Red Rocks (9,525-seat amphitheatre, 738 acres), Dinosaur Ridge, Golden, Morrison, and Open Space trails sit minutes away. Metro Denver feeds weekend and event traffic.
D
Due-diligence filters
OWTS, WUI defensible space, water, fire district, HOA covenants, and parcel zoning all screen out marginal deals before you write the check.
04 · Diligence
Quick parcel checklist.
Tap each item as you confirm it on a candidate parcel. This is a screening tool, not legal advice — confirm everything with Jefferson County Planning & Zoning, the local fire district, your HOA, your tax/licensing advisor, and your insurance carrier.
05 · Buyer Script
What Greg actually says in the room.
Talking points calibrated to be honest about the framework while highlighting why the corridor matters.
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01
"Unincorporated Jefferson County now has a written STR ordinance — Section 46 — adopted December 16, 2025 and effective February 2, 2026. That's a clarity buyers didn't have before."1
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02
"You're shopping a corridor that puts Red Rocks Entrance 1 about four miles south, Dinosaur Ridge twenty minutes from Denver, and Golden, Morrison, and Open Space trails all within the same drive. Those are guest-demand anchors that don't move."1a12
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03
"The rules create real scarcity. Investment STRs need 750 feet of separation, and a single Fire Protection District is capped at 1% of dwelling units. Once a parcel qualifies, that moat works for the owner — but not every parcel will qualify, which is why we run the checklist before we write."2
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04
"Underwriting is concrete: $600 admin review fee, annual renewal 30 days before expiration, max 10 occupants, one off-street space per bedroom, and a local rep within 30 minutes — all of that is in the ordinance and the application guide."83
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05
"Before we go under contract, we'll confirm jurisdiction, zoning, OWTS/water, WUI defensible space, fire-district capacity, and HOA covenants. If any of those don't line up, this isn't the parcel — and that's the point."