STRWATCH.AI 40/50 MARKETS · UPDATED 2026-07-18 · ALL CITIES
STRWATCH.AI / UT / Park City

Is a short-term rental legal in Park City, UT?

HEAVILY REGULATED

Park City allows nightly (short-term) rentals — defined as rental of a dwelling unit for less than 30 days — but only where zoning permits it, and every unit must hold a City-issued Nightly Rental Business License before it can be advertised or rented.

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Verified2026-07-18against official sources

Legality is zoning-dependent, not based on whether the host is present. Nightly Rentals are an Allowed Use in most commercial/resort-oriented zones (e.g., General Commercial per LMC § 15-2.18-2; most of Historic Recreation Commercial per LMC § 15-2.5-2, except certain Main Street/Heber Ave/Park Ave storefront properties), a Conditional Use requiring a Conditional Use Permit in some historic-residential zones (e.g., HRL western sub-neighborhood, capped at 12 CUPs, and the Lower Rossi Hill HRL sub-neighborhood per Ordinance 2021-06), and prohibited by default in zones/sub-neighborhoods where Nightly Rentals are not listed as an Allowed or Conditional Use (e.g., HRL's McHenry Avenue sub-neighborhood) or where specifically banned by ordinance (Meadows Estates Phases 1A/1B, LMC § 15-2.13-2, per Ordinance 2020-38). Occupancy is controlled by the general Noise Ordinance and building/fire code occupancy-load limits rather than a fixed numeric STR guest cap in the code sections reviewed, so max_guests is left null. A property's private HOA/CC&R rules can independently prohibit nightly rentals even where zoning allows them.

What you need to operate

Nightly Rental Business License $28.74/bedroom ($19.25 Transit Service Enhancement Fee + $9.49 Festival Facilitation Service Enhancement Fee) plus $17.00 administrative fee for new licenses/inspections or $149.00 for renewal, per license/year
Park City Finance Department
Renewal: Annual — all Park City business licenses expire September 30, with renewal payment due October 1
Required by Park City Municipal Code § 4-5-3 before any unit may be offered for nightly rental (rental for less than 30 days). The owner is the licensee; a locally-based responsible party (property manager, realtor, lawyer, owner, or individual residing within a 1-hour drive, or with Summit County offices if a company) must be designated, available 24/7, and able to respond to inquiries within 20 minutes. Applicant must hold a state sales tax number before the license is effective. Fee figures verified against the fee schedule effective October 20, 2025; the underlying legal requirement is codified at parkcity.municipalcodeonline.com § 4-5-3.
official source
Pre-Licensing Building Department Inspection Cost not verified
Park City Building Department
Renewal: Required before initial licensing; re-inspection may be required by the Building Department
Park City Municipal Code § 4-5-3: 'All nightly rental Units must be inspected by the Building Department and issued a license before being offered for rent.' No separate inspection fee was located beyond the $17.00 new-license administrative fee in the fee schedule; set to null rather than guessed.
official source
Zoning Eligibility / Conditional Use Permit (zone-dependent) Cost not verified
Park City Planning Department / Planning Commission
Renewal: N/A for Allowed-Use zones; Conditional Use Permits run with the zoning approval, not on a fixed renewal cycle, per the districts reviewed
Whether a Conditional Use Permit (and associated Planning Commission review/fee) is needed depends on the property's zoning district. Confirmed as Allowed Use in General Commercial (LMC § 15-2.18-2) and most of Historic Recreation Commercial (LMC § 15-2.5-2); confirmed as Conditional Use in the HRL district's western sub-neighborhood (12-permit cap) and Lower Rossi Hill sub-neighborhood (LMC § 15-2.1-2(B)(1), footnote 2, as amended by Ordinance 2021-06); confirmed prohibited in HRL's McHenry Avenue sub-neighborhood and in Meadows Estates Phases 1A/1B (LMC § 15-2.13-2 per Ordinance 2020-38). CUP application fee amount was not verified against an official source and is left null.
official source
Utah State Sales & Use Tax Account (TC-69) Cost not verified
Utah State Tax Commission
Renewal: N/A — one-time registration; returns filed periodically via TAP
Nightly Rental License application will not become effective until a state sales tax number is provided, per Park City Municipal Code § 4-5-3. No state registration fee was identified on the official TC-69 form/instructions, so cost is left null rather than assumed to be $0.
official source

The full picture

Park City allows nightly (short-term) rentals — defined as rental of a dwelling unit for less than 30 days — but only where zoning permits it, and every unit must hold a City-issued Nightly Rental Business License before it can be advertised or rented. Whole-home nightly rentals are an outright Allowed Use in most commercial/resort zones (e.g., General Commercial, most of Historic Recreation Commercial), a Conditional Use requiring a Planning Commission permit in some residential-historic districts (e.g., the western and Lower Rossi Hill sub-neighborhoods of the Historic Residential Low-Density (HRL) zone, capped at 12 permits in the western sub-neighborhood), and prohibited outright in most other residential zones and in specific HOA-petitioned subdivisions such as Meadows Estates Phases 1A/1B (Ordinance 2020-38, effective July 30, 2020). Licensees must pass a Building Department inspection, designate a locally-based 24/7 responsible party (within a 1-hour drive, or with Summit County offices if a company, required to answer calls within 20 minutes), and hold a state sales tax number before the license takes effect. As of the fee schedule effective October 20, 2025, the Lodging business-license fee is $19.25/bedroom (Transit Service Enhancement Fee) plus $9.49/bedroom (Festival Facilitation Service Enhancement Fee) — $28.74/bedroom combined — plus a $17.00 administrative fee for new licenses/inspections or $149.00 for annual renewal; all Park City business licenses expire September 30 each year with renewal due October 1. Rentals under 30 days owe combined Utah state/county/city sales & use tax of 9.55% (Park City location code 22-030, rate in effect April 1, 2026) plus combined transient room tax of 5.07% (1.07% state + 3.00% Summit County + 1.00% Park City municipal, rates in effect January 1, 2026) — a total of roughly 14.62% in taxes on the rental amount. Marketplace facilitators (Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.) are required by the Utah State Tax Commission to collect and remit both sales tax and transient room tax on facilitated bookings. Violating noise, occupancy-load, parking, or sales-tax-collection rules is grounds for license revocation, and Utah Code § 10-8-85.4 bars the City from using a website listing alone (without other supporting evidence) as proof of an ordinance violation, and bars the City from fining a host solely for listing a property online.

Taxes on guests & hosts

TaxRateApplies toPlatform collectsOfficial source
Utah Combined State, County & Municipal Sales and Use Tax 9.55% Gross rental proceeds for stays under 30 days (Park City location code 22-030) Yes source
Combined Transient Room Tax (State + Summit County + Park City Municipal) 5.07% (1.07% state + 3.00% Summit County + 1.00% Park City municipal) Rental of a dwelling/lodging unit for stays under 30 consecutive days, in addition to the combined sales and use tax Yes source

Enforcement

PenaltiesUnder Park City Municipal Code § 4-5-3, violation of the Noise Ordinance, occupancy-load violations, failure to use designated off-street parking, illegal conduct, or failure to collect and deposit sales tax are each grounds for revocation of the Nightly Rental License. Separately, per the Park City Finance Department's business-license FAQ, late renewal of any business license (including nightly rental licenses) is penalized $25 or 25% of the fee (whichever is greater) after October 15, an additional $25 or 50% (whichever is greater) after November 15, and 100% after January 1; operating without a valid license 'may result in citation.' Exact fine/citation amounts for operating an unlicensed nightly rental (as opposed to late renewal of an existing license) were not located in an official source and are noted below under needs_review.
Platform liabilityUtah Code § 10-8-85.4 (effective 11/6/2025) prohibits Park City from enacting or enforcing an ordinance that bars a person from listing a short-term rental on a listing website, and bars the City from fining, charging, or prosecuting someone solely for listing a property online. The City may still use a listing as one piece of evidence of a violation if it has additional supporting information, and may request a listing site remove a listing that is operating in violation of business-license or zoning requirements, provided the request identifies the listing URL and the reason. The City may also forward listing information to the Summit County Auditor as evidence relevant to transient room tax compliance.
NotesMarketplace facilitators (e.g., Airbnb, Vrbo) are required by the Utah State Tax Commission (Pub 71) to collect and remit both sales tax and transient-room-related taxes on facilitated bookings, but the underlying host is still required to hold a valid City Nightly Rental Business License and a state sales tax number regardless of platform tax collection.

What we could not verify (4)

  • Exact fine/citation dollar amount for operating a nightly rental without a license (as distinct from the documented late-renewal penalty schedule) was not located in an official source fetched during this task.
  • The Conditional Use Permit application fee for nightly rentals in zones where CUP is required (e.g., HRL western/Lower Rossi Hill sub-neighborhoods) was not located in the fee schedule reviewed and is left null rather than guessed.
  • A comprehensive, zone-by-zone list of every Park City zoning district's nightly-rental status (Allowed/Conditional/Prohibited) was not compiled — only General Commercial, Historic Recreation Commercial, and Historic Residential Low-Density were directly verified against the code. Hosts should confirm their specific parcel's zoning via the City's zoning map/Land Management Code before relying on this profile.
  • Whether Park City's Nightly Rental License is formally distinct from (vs. a sub-type of) the general Business License for fee/renewal purposes was inferred from the fee schedule's 'Lodging' category; an explicit official statement equating the two was not independently located.

Sources

A markdown mirror of this page lives at /park-city-ut.md for AI tools and researchers.

STRWatch publishes educational information about short-term rental regulation, verified against the official sources linked above as of the date shown. It is not legal advice, and rules change — a city can move between our verification passes. For decisions with money at stake, confirm with the authority linked above or a local attorney.