67-6539. LIMITATIONS ON REGULATION OF SHORT-TERM RENTALS. (1) Neither
a county nor a city shall enact or enforce any ordinance that has the express
or practical effect of prohibiting any type of short-term rentals in the
county or city. A county or city may enact or enforce such reasonable
regulations as are necessary to safeguard the public health and safety as
long as the reasonable regulations do not impose different restrictions
or obligations on short-term rentals than are imposed on single-family
dwellings or similar structures not used as short-term rentals, or unless
the regulations are permitted by this section. A short-term rental shall be
classified as a non-transient residential use for zoning and building code
purposes and be subject to all zoning requirements applicable thereto and
only to building codes adopted by the Idaho building code board.
(2)(a) For purposes of this section, "different restrictions or
obligations" means any requirement or regulation that would not be
imposed but for a property's use as a short-term rental and specifically
includes but is not limited to the following:
(i) Requiring owner occupation for any amount of time;
(ii) Requiring professional property management;
(iii) Requiring additional insurance;
(iv) Requiring reporting of use or other statistics;
(v) Requiring additional fire protection or fire sprinklers;
(vi) Requiring additional or improved means of ingress and
egress;
(vii) Requiring additional parking;
(viii) Requiring modification to the physical structure of the
property;
(ix) Requiring inspections;
(x) Requiring internal or external signage, notices, or dia-
grams;
(xi) Imposing a limit on the days a property can be rented;
(xii) Requiring notices to neighboring properties;
(xiii) Requiring increased sewer or other utility capacity;
(xiv) Requiring a conditional use permit in a residential zone;
(xv) Limiting proximity to other short-term rentals;
(xvi) Restricting the number of short-term rentals in a county or
city; or
(xvii) Requiring the property to be improved to meet current
building codes unless the same would be required without regard to
the short-term rental use.
(b) The terms defined in section 63-1803, Idaho Code, shall apply to
this section.
(3) A county or city may, by ordinance, require an owner of a short-term
rental to implement the following requirements only:
(a) That all sleeping areas in a short-term rental, including when ap-
plicable, basements, living rooms, and family rooms, be equipped with
functioning smoke alarms;
(b) That the short-term rental be equipped with a functioning fire ex-
tinguisher and a functioning carbon monoxide detector on each floor;
(c) That removable escape ladders be available in all sleeping areas
with a window that are located above the ground floor;
(d) That maximum occupancy limits for short-term rentals do not exceed
those non-transient residential limits as contained in the interna-
tional building codes as adopted by the Idaho building code board; and
(e) That an easily accessible informational handout be available to
tenants describing the location of exits, the location of fire ex-
tinguishers, the location of any supplied first aid kits, and a phone
number to contact the owner or manager of the short-term rental in the
case of an emergency.
(4) No county or city shall enact or enforce any covenant, condition,
restriction, or contract that regulates a short-term rental except as al-
lowed in this section.
(5) No county or city shall require a license, fee, permit, certifica-
tion, or registration to operate a short-term rental.
(6) All short-term rental properties along with their owners and ten-
ants shall be subject to all other county and city ordinances and penalties
that apply to other non-short-term rental residential uses, including but
not limited to noise, parking, nuisance, curfew, and traffic regulations.
(7) Neither a county nor a city shall regulate the operation of a short-
term rental marketplace in accordance with the provisions of chapter 18, ti-
tle 63, Idaho Code.
[67-6539, added 2017, ch. 239, sec. 2, p. 592; am. 2018, ch. 79, sec.
1, p. 179; am. 2026, ch. 22, sec. 1, p. 109.]