There is no Washington County short-term rental rule. Every city writes its own, unincorporated county land runs on a separate ordinance, and they disagree on which zones qualify, how many days count as short term, and whether a new license is available at all. I have had buyers go under contract on a nightly rental because someone told them the area allowed it, then learn the city had stopped issuing licenses in that zone two years earlier. The rule that governs a house belongs to the jurisdiction whose line it sits inside.
Even the definition changes at the city line
Start with how each place defines the thing it regulates, because that varies before anything else does. Washington City draws its line at 27 days or less (section 9-14-25(B), Ord. 2015-03). St. George, Santa Clara, La Verkin and the unincorporated county use 29 consecutive calendar days, and Hurricane, Springdale, Ivins and Virgin use 30. A 28-night booking is a regulated rental in Washington City and an ordinary tenancy in Hurricane, ten minutes away. St. George even summarizes its own threshold as 28 days on its code enforcement page while section 10-2-1 says 29.
Where each jurisdiction stands
The pattern is that nightly rental is not a use you get by right on a subdivision lot. Most cities route it into an overlay, a resort zone, or a project-by-project approval.
| Jurisdiction | Where nightly rental is allowed | Threshold | Code sections |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. George | Resort Overlay developments. Ordinary lots must clear a two-acre, arterial-frontage and 500-foot separation test. | 29 days | 10-2-1, 10-7B-1, 10-17A-13, 10-13D, 3-2V-1 |
| Washington City | RRST overlay subdivisions and PUD-R projects. Elsewhere only by permit with notarized consent from 75 percent of nearby owners. | 27 days | 9-12E-1, 9-8F-8, 9-14-25, 3-2-13 |
| Hurricane | Recreation Resort zone only. No new whole-home licenses in single-family zones; existing ones grandfathered. | 30 days | 3-10-1, 10-26-3, 10-51-13 |
| Ivins | A licensed bed and breakfast inn, or a resort commercial mixed use overlay. | Under 30 days | 16.12.123, 16.12.116 |
| Santa Clara | Conditional use permit in the planned development residential or historic mixed use zone. | 29 days | 17.20.260, 17.68.060 |
| Springdale | Transient Lodging Overlay on commercial land. Applications open in March of even years, three per cycle. | 30 days | 10-2-2, 10-13F-2, 10-13F-5 |
| Virgin | Existing overlay developments only. Overlay closed, prohibited in residential, rural, agricultural and commercial zones. Room hosting allowed. | Under 30 days | 16.60.01, 16.60.02, Ord. 2024-05 |
| La Verkin | The Comm-T tourist and resort commercial zone. No new residential-lot licenses except detached accessory dwellings. | 29 days | 3-11-12, 10-7-20 |
| Toquerville | Licensed citywide, capped at 5 percent of eligible culinary connections, 500 feet apart. | Not verified | 10-17-4 |
| Unincorporated county | Agricultural, forest residential, residential agricultural and estate zones, OST-20 and PD-STR projects. Owner occupancy required. | 29 days | 10-13-23 |
Every section above came from each jurisdiction's own codified ordinances, read September 3, 2026, current through St. George Ord. 2026-062 (August 6, 2026), Washington City 2026-32, Hurricane 2026-14, Ivins 2026-10, Santa Clara 2026-05, Springdale 2026-12, La Verkin 2026-13, Toquerville 2025.07, Washington County 2026-1318-O and Virgin 2024-12. Virgin has ordinances adopted but not yet codified, so confirm there with the town. Leeds, Rockville, Enterprise, Hildale, Apple Valley and New Harmony are absent because I could not source them well enough to table, and a guess here is worse than a blank.
The two that catch people
St. George reads as permissive and is not. Its use tables list short-term residential rental as permitted with standards in the R-1 and residential estate zones, but section 10-17A-13 requires at least two acres, arterial or major collector frontage with a 66-foot right of way, and 500 feet of separation from another short-term rental. Very few ordinary lots clear all three. The realistic path is the Resort Overlay Zone under chapter 10-13D, which allows overnight rental inside qualifying developments of 100 or more units with unanimous owner consent and the use noted on the plat. The city publishes an approved properties list and map, both dated June 4, 2026, and I start there rather than the zoning map.
Hurricane is the second trap, because its zoning table is out of step with the rule that governs. Table 10-13-1 still shows short-term rental as permitted in the R1-15, R1-10 and R1-8 zones. Section 10-51-13(D) then says no new or additional whole-home vacation rentals shall be permitted or licensed within any single-family zone, a freeze from Ordinance 2023-20 carried forward by Ordinance 2026-14 on June 4, 2026. Existing licenses are grandfathered. Nightly rental in Hurricane is a Recreation Resort zone question now, which is much of why the resort communities near Sand Hollow carry the premium they do. I covered that in my Sand Hollow vacation rental guide and on my Hurricane Valley page.
What decides it before the zoning does
Unincorporated county land is the surprise, because it is more open than most of the cities. Section 10-13-23(E)(3) permits short-term rental in the agricultural, forest residential, residential agricultural and estate zones plus OST-20, subject to a dwelling size cap of 1,500 to 3,500 square feet by zone, owner occupancy, and a 10 percent cap per subdivision. The license application fee is $160. A rural parcel outside every city line is often the easiest place in this county to do this legally, which is the opposite of what most buyers assume.
Then I look at the license, and I treat it as non-transferable, because it usually is. A seller's active license does not convey with the house, and in a frozen zone that one distinction is most of what you are paying for. The Utah State Tax Commission rate chart in effect July 1, 2026 puts the combined transient room tax at 6.57 percent in St. George and the other county towns, 5.57 percent unincorporated. Utah Code 10-8-85.4, effective November 6, 2025, bars a city from punishing someone solely for advertising a rental online, but subsection (3) lets the city use that listing as evidence once it has other information.
The last layer gets checked the least and decides the most cases. City zoning can permit nightly rental while recorded covenants forbid it, and as to your house the covenants win. I read the declaration before the zoning ordinance every time. For current pricing, my St. George market summary is updated monthly, and you can browse St. George homes for sale and condos and townhomes from there.
Common Questions About Short-Term Rental Rules in Washington County
Can you short-term rent a house in a St. George, Utah neighborhood?
Almost never on a standard subdivision lot. St. George lists it as permitted with standards in the R-1 and residential estate zones, but section 10-17A-13 requires at least two acres, arterial or major collector frontage with a 66-foot right of way, and 500 feet of separation from another short-term rental. The workable path is a home inside a Resort Overlay Zone development under chapter 10-13D, and every unit needs its own license under section 3-2V-1.
How many days counts as a short-term rental in Washington County, Utah?
It depends on the city. Washington City uses 27 days or less (section 9-14-25(B)). St. George, Santa Clara, La Verkin and unincorporated Washington County use 29 consecutive calendar days or less (sections 10-2-1, 17.20.260 and 10-13-23). Hurricane, Springdale, Ivins and Virgin use 30 days. A 28-night booking is a regulated short-term rental in Washington City and an ordinary tenancy in Hurricane.
Which Washington County cities still issue new short-term rental licenses?
New licenses are available where zoning already allows the use: St. George's Resort Overlay developments, Washington City's approved RRST subdivisions, Hurricane's Recreation Resort areas, Santa Clara's planned development residential district by conditional use permit, and unincorporated county land under section 10-13-23(E)(3). The door into ordinary neighborhoods has closed in Hurricane (10-51-13(D)), Virgin (Ordinances 2023-07 and 2024-05) and La Verkin (3-11-12(K)(1)). Springdale approves at most three applications per two-year cycle.
Does a short-term rental license transfer to the buyer when the home sells?
Assume it does not. St. George makes its license non-transferable in section 3-2V-1, Washington City does the same in 3-2-13, and Virgin requires a new permit within 45 days of a transfer of ownership. In a city that has frozen new licenses, that decides whether you are buying a rental or just a house, so it belongs in your due diligence.
Looking at a Southern Utah rental?
If you have an address in mind, call or text me at 435-200-5508 and I will tell you which jurisdiction it sits in and what that code says before you write anything. You can also send me a note here. I have sold real estate in St. George for 13 years, and I would rather answer this before an offer than after a citation.