Unincorporated Grand County · outside the town limits
Local emergency contact and property support in unincorporated Grand County.
Most of Grand County sits outside every town boundary, and plenty of owners with a Granby or Winter Park mailing address are on the county’s side of the line. If you are, the county’s rule applies — and it is the strictest in the valley.
See what the county requires ↓
- Grand County only
- Based in Granby
- Membership by application
The rule here
What Grand County requires
| Requirement | Unincorporated Grand County |
|---|---|
| What the code calls the role | Local emergency contacts |
| How many | Two — a primary and a secondary |
| Response standard | Within one hour or less |
| Residency test | Yes — both must be full-time Grand County residents |
| Who issues the permit | Grand County Department of Community Development |
The first question is always whether your property is inside a town or not. Grand County has six incorporated towns — Winter Park, Fraser, Granby, Grand Lake, Hot Sulphur Springs and Kremmling — and everything outside all six is unincorporated, whatever your mailing address says. The county’s GIS map shows those boundaries in yellow. We work in the first four plus the unincorporated county; Hot Sulphur Springs and Kremmling set their own rules and sit outside our service area. Requirements change; always confirm with the jurisdiction your property sits in.
The application
What the county asks for
Permits are annual and expire one year from the day they are approved. This is the county’s list, not ours.
Two local emergency contacts
The county’s wording: “the name and contact information of two local emergency contacts. The contacts must be full-time Grand County residents.”
STR safety checklist
Completed and submitted with the application.
Annual fire inspection
Where applicable. East Grand Fire, Grand Fire and Grand Lake Fire all require an annual STR inspection — which district you are in depends on where the property sits.
Bear-proof trash disposal
Proof required.
Parking plan
Required with the application.
Proof of liability insurance
Required by the county. What your policy needs to say is a question for your own agent or carrier.
Maximum occupancy
Sixteen occupants is the county’s ceiling for any permitted short-term rental.
Who to call
Short Term Rental Program Office (970) 725-3737. The county’s 24-hour STR complaint hotline is (970) 568-5344.
Services
What we do out here
Neighbor On Call
Sarah and Rodney can be named as the two contacts, because we both live in Grand County full time.
Handyman & project work
Repairs, installs and punch lists by people who know mountain construction.
STR setup & consulting
County registration paperwork, new-rental setup, or moving off full-service management.
Local knowledge
Where “unincorporated” actually is
The shape of it
Tabernash and the Pole Creek valley, Parshall and the river corridor, the ranch and forest-edge parcels between the towns, the subdivisions strung along the county roads off US-40 and US-34, and a great many properties that carry a town’s mailing address while sitting outside its limits. If you are not certain which side of the line you are on, check before you file — it changes the whole application.
What goes wrong out here
Rural infrastructure is the difference. A well pump, a septic field, a propane tank and a long driveway are all yours to maintain, and all of them fail in winter. There is no utility to call when a well line freezes — only a contractor, and only if you know which one. Add wind on open parcels, distance from everything, and long stretches between owner visits.
Reference
Emergency numbers outside the towns
Post these inside every rental and save them to your phone.
| Who | Number |
|---|---|
| Emergencies | 911 |
| Grand County Combined Dispatch — non-emergency | (970) 725-3549 |
| Grand County Sheriff — non-emergency, law enforcement outside the towns | (970) 725-3343 |
| Grand County STR Program Office | (970) 725-3737 |
| Grand County STR complaint hotline — 24 hours | (970) 568-5344 |
| Grand County EMS — non-emergency | (970) 887-2732 |
| Middle Park Health — Granby ER, 24/7 | (970) 887-5800 |
| Mountain Parks Electric — outage line, 24/7 | (970) 887-3378 |
| Grand County Animal Control | (970) 887-2988 |
| Road conditions — US-40 and US-34cotrip.org | Dial 511 |
Your fire district depends on where the property sits — East Grand, Grand Fire or Grand Lake Fire. Find out which one covers you and post that number too, because it is the district the county’s annual inspection runs through. Most properties out here are on well water, septic and propane rather than a utility, so keep your well, septic and propane contractors on the same card. They are the ones who come.
Permits
Permits & local resources
Everything here goes through Grand County — short-term rental registration, building permits and septic. Requirements change; check the county’s page before you file.
- Grand County STR registration — including the GIS map that shows town boundaries
- Grand County building & sanitation
- Grand County wildland fire mitigation
- East Grand Fire · Grand Fire Protection District No. 1 · Grand Lake Fire Protection District
- Grand County STR compliance: 2026 owner’s guide
Inside town limits instead? We also serve Winter Park, Fraser, Granby, Tabernash and Grand Lake. · See the gear we use →
Grand County, Colorado