Building permits, zoning and land rules in Chaffee County, Colorado

Yes. Chaffee County requires a residential building permit in the unincorporated county¹. Inside Salida the city requires building permits under its own code³, and inside Poncha Springs the town does the same⁴; the county rules below cover unincorporated land. The county currently enforces the 2021 residential, building, fire, plumbing, mechanical, fuel-gas, energy-conservation and existing-building codes, along with the 2025 Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code and local amendments¹³.

A zoning signoff is required before the county issues a building permit². Use the current application because the county warns that an outdated form may lead to denial¹. The county lists separate residential, commercial and on-site wastewater applications and accepts submissions by mail or email¹. Building Safety is the contact for the building-permit side of the project¹⁴. Colorado's county-contractor licensing law exempts an owner working on the owner's property only for repair or maintenance; it does not create a blanket exemption for building a new home¹¹. Ask Building Safety what inspections and owner-builder documents apply¹⁴.

Chaffee County Building Safety handles county building permits and building-safety questions from its Development Services office in Salida¹⁴. The office is at 104 Crestone Ave., Room 125; call (719) 539-2124 or email bdepartment@chaffeecounty.org¹⁴.

Planning & Zoning should be the first land-use stop because development in unincorporated Chaffee County must comply with the Land Use Code⁸. The county publishes land-use application fees and escrows by application type, so confirm the required application and current charge before budgeting². For the building package, download the current residential or commercial form and follow the county's mail, email and credit-card instructions¹. Building Safety also provides an online permit search for existing records¹⁴.

Yes. Chaffee County's Land Use Code applies to private property in the unincorporated county, and the current zoning plan took effect in 2025². The county publishes district-specific use and dimensional tables².

Residential zones in unincorporated Chaffee County require a front setback of 50 feet on major roads and 25 feet on other roads, a 20-foot rear setback and a 15-foot side setback, and some subdivision plats set stricter setbacks⁷. Setbacks for nonresidential and mixed-use lots vary by district, and a larger use-specific setback controls when standards conflict⁸. Height also depends on district and use, with a 35-foot maximum listed for multifamily buildings on urban and suburban lot types⁸.

The county Land Use Code covers unincorporated land only. Salida and the Town of Buena Vista set zoning under their own codes^5,6, and the county reports that Salida, Poncha Springs and Buena Vista administer their own zoning and approval requirements². Ask Planning & Zoning to confirm jurisdiction, the mapped district and any plat restrictions before designing the site⁸.

Chaffee County administers on-site wastewater treatment systems under county regulations, and an OWTS permit must be approved before a building permit can be issued^7,13. Engineer design is required for listed situations including commercial systems, floodplain sites, shallow groundwater or bedrock, certain subdivision conditions, some soil types and lots smaller than one acre⁷.

Colorado law has the local public health agency issue the OWTS permit under local board-of-health rules⁹. Septic stays with the county even inside Poncha Springs, whose code points private sewage work to the county⁴. For a parcel inside Salida or Buena Vista, ask the county contact below which authority covers septic, since the towns' zoning does not decide that¹³. The county contact is (719) 539-2124 and bdepartment@chaffeecounty.org¹⁴. Colorado requires a final inspection after permitted work and before the system is used⁹. Site feasibility deserves early attention because only about 0.5% of mapped county soils avoid a “very limited” rating for conventional drain fields¹⁵. Treat that countywide soil figure as an early warning and obtain the parcel evaluation before fixing the house site or budget⁷.

An RV cannot be used as permanent habitation on private land in unincorporated Chaffee County, though it may serve as temporary camping equipment⁸. Camping on vacant property is allowed for up to 90 cumulative days in a calendar year without prior county approval; a longer stay requires a landowner camping permit with a six-month term that may be renewed twice⁸.

A tiny home intended for long-term living follows a different route. Colorado-regulated tiny homes need state plan approval before construction and must satisfy local zoning and applicable codes¹⁰. Chaffee County treats a tiny home not installed to Colorado Division of Housing requirements as camping equipment rather than a permanent dwelling⁸. A short-term rental is another regulated use: the county's current code includes a licensing program, but the available material does not establish its caps, fees or occupancy limits².

1. Confirm that the parcel is in unincorporated Chaffee County and ask Planning & Zoning for its district, allowed use, setbacks, height limit and development review^2,8.
2. Establish legal access; driveway/access permits are required on all single-family dwellings in unincorporated Chaffee County, a connection to a county road needs a right-of-way or driveway permit from Road and Bridge, and direct residential access to a state highway needs a state access permit^7,8,16.
3. Document water service; a well permit is accepted for the residential building package, as is proof of municipal or central water service, and every new well in Colorado needs a state well permit^7,12.
4. Obtain county OWTS approval before applying for the building permit when the site will use septic⁷.
5. Submit the current residential application to Building Safety by the county's listed mail or email route^1,14.
6. Complete the required OWTS final inspection before use⁹.

Check zoning, recorded plat restrictions, legal access, water, wastewater and flood status before treating a parcel as buildable. Residential setbacks in unincorporated areas run 50 feet on major roads and 25 feet on other roads in front, 20 feet in the rear and 15 feet at the sides, and a county-road connection requires a right-of-way or driveway permit through Road and Bridge^7,8. Major subdivisions proceed through sketch-plan, preliminary-plan and final-plat or development-agreement stages unless a minor process or exemption applies². An agricultural subdivision exemption can create one new lot when the property remains in agricultural or ranching use, but the retained agricultural tract must be at least 35 acres and the new lot must meet applicable area, setback, easement and access requirements⁸.

Floodplain construction requires an elevation certificate and foundation plans stamped by a Colorado-licensed architect or engineer⁷. About 23.3% of the county is at a slope of 15% or less, while about 79.3% is federal land¹⁵. Only about 0.5% of mapped soils avoid a “very limited” rating for conventional septic drain fields, making early OWTS feasibility work especially valuable^7,15.