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Commercial / Mixed-Use / Multi-Family Building Permit (New Construction, Addition, Alteration, Tenant Improvement) in Salida, Colorado

Required for new commercial/mixed-use/multi-family construction, additions, and interior or exterior alterations (including tenant improvements) in Salida. Same two-step City-then-County model as residential: the City of Salida Community Development Department first reviews the Commercial/Mixed-Use/Multi-Family Building Permit Application for zoning compliance, fire safety, lighting (Sec. 16-4-100), and landscaping (Sec. 16-4-80) standards and collects its own City Permit Fee (20% of the county fee, minimum $100 — a higher minimum than the $50 residential floor); the application is then forwarded to Chaffee County Building Safety Department, which performs the I-Code plan review using a distinct commercial valuation table (2024 ICC Building Valuation Data, by IBC occupancy group and construction type), issues the permit, collects its county fee, and performs inspections. Salida and Chaffee County have NO separately named 'Tenant Improvement Permit' — interior tenant-improvement work (with no change to the building footprint) is processed through this SAME Commercial/Mixed-Use/Multi-Family Building Permit Application by checking 'Remodel' and 'Interior' under Work Type; a pure change of occupancy/use with NO construction at all instead uses a separate, distinct 'Change of Use Notification' (see tips/documents below), not this Building Permit.

Reviewed 2026-08-02 · Source

When you need this permit

  • STEP 1: Submit the City of Salida Commercial/Mixed-Use/Multi-Family Building Permit Application (448 E. First Street, Suite 112) — check 'Commercial,' 'Addition,' 'Remodel,' 'Accessory Structure,' 'Mixed-Use,' or 'Multi-Family' as applicable, and 'Interior' and/or 'Exterior' under Work Type; for a tenant improvement with no footprint change, check 'Remodel' + 'Interior'
  • Required City document checklist per the form itself: Site Plan(s) with utilities layout (for Public Works review), Floor Plans, Building Elevations, Drainage Study/Plan (per Sec. 16-4-30(c)), Water Tap Application, Special Flood Hazard Development Permit (if in the floodplain), the Chaffee County Building Permit Application, and Proof of Ownership
  • Pay the City Permit Fee: 20% of the county building permit fee, minimum $100 (commercial/mixed-use/multi-family — double the $50 residential minimum), due at City submittal, per the City's own Commercial/Mixed-Use/Multi-Family Building Permit Application and corroborated by the City's 2026 Fees and Charges for Community Development Services schedule
  • Larger commercial developments may ALSO require a separate City Site Plan Review or Conditional Use Permit track under Salida Municipal Code Chapter 16 (Minor Site Plan Review, Major Site Plan Review, or Conditional Use Permit), layered on top of — not instead of — the Building Permit; the City's Commercial Permit Inquiries/Major Impact Review contact is Kristen Hodges (kristen.hodges@cityofsalida.com). Which specific commercial projects trigger this additional track was not confirmed within the scope of this review — confirm directly with City of Salida Community Development before assuming the Building Permit alone is sufficient for a large-scale project
  • STEP 2 (after City review/forward): Submit the Chaffee County Commercial Permit Application (Revised April 2026) with one complete, unlocked electronic plan set (PDF or Dropbox link; no hand-drawn plans) — Site Plan, Structural & Architectural Plans (sealed/signed/dated by a Colorado-licensed architect or engineer where required), Floor Plans, Floor & Roof Framing Plans, Elevations, Sections/Details/Schedules, and the Chaffee County Commercial Energy Compliance Certificate (2021 IECC commercial path)
  • Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) plans are required for commercial buildings with an occupant load over 10, and COMcheck compliance documentation is required for the electrical and mechanical portions, per the County's own Building Permit Submittal Requirements
  • Geotechnical report required for ALL commercial projects involving excavation (no slope-percentage threshold, unlike the residential >20%-slope trigger), per the County's own Building Permit Submittal Requirements
  • A separate Fire District review applies: the County's own submittal checklist lists a 'Completed Fire Application' as required specifically for 'Commercial Projects located in Unincorporated Chaffee County Only,' while a separate 'Application for a Construction Review' packet included with the County's commercial forms names BOTH Chaffee County Fire Protection District and South Arkansas Fire Protection District as possible Authorities Having Jurisdiction — confirm which fire district has jurisdiction over your specific Salida property and that district's own plan-review/impact-fee requirements directly, since this was not resolvable from the fetched documents alone
  • Pay the Chaffee County Building Permit Fee: Total Valuation x 0.007, plus a Plan Review Fee of 10% of that Building Permit Fee ($110.00 minimum, inclusive of plan review) — same 0.7%/10% formula as residential, but valuation is computed from the County's commercial-specific 2024 ICC Building Valuation Data table (by IBC occupancy group and construction type), not the flat VB/R3 per-square-foot rate used for single-family residential
  • Both a Final Inspection AND Municipal (City of Salida) Sign-Off AND County approval are required before a Certificate of Occupancy will issue, consistent with the residential process
  • If the project involves ONLY a change of occupancy/use with NO construction and NO footprint change, do not use this Building Permit — use the separate Change of Use Notification instead (Chaffee County form, co-branded with Salida/Buena Vista/Poncha Springs, Revised April 2024), which states outright: 'If you are changing the footprint or doing any construction please fill out a Building Permit application instead of this application'

Required documents

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Fee schedule

City of Salida Permit Fee (commercial/mixed-use/multi-family)City of Salida Commercial/Mixed-Use/Multi-Family Building Permit Application, Updated 1/15/2026 ('City Permit Fee (20% of the county permit fee, minimum of $100)'); corroborated by the City's 2026 Fees and Charges for Community Development Services schedule, effective 03/17/26 ('Building Permit (Commercial & Multi-family) — 20% of Building Dept or $100 Minimum')
20% of the Chaffee County building permit fee, minimum $100.00
Chaffee County Building Permit FeeChaffee County Commercial Permit Application, Revised April 2026. Valuation is set by the form's own 2024 International Building Code Building Valuation Data table, broken out by IBC occupancy group (A-1 through U) and construction type (IA/IB/IIA/IIB/IIIA/IIIB/IV/VA/VB) — e.g., Group B Business, Type VB construction = $213.27/sq ft per that table. NOTE: the same form's own worked example ('Commercial permit for a B-Business with a Square Footage of 2000 Sq. Ft. ... = 2,000 Sq. Ft. X $164.34 = $328,680.00 Valuation') uses a $164.34/sq ft rate that does NOT match the $213.27/sq ft figure printed in the Group B/Type VB cell of that same table — an internal inconsistency observed directly in the County's own document as fetched, not resolved by any other source found; confirm the currently correct per-square-foot rate directly with Chaffee County Building Safety Department at time of submittal.
Total project valuation x 0.007
Chaffee County Plan Review FeeBuilding Permit Fee + Plan Review Fee = Total due to Chaffee County; $110.00 minimum fee inclusive of plan review, per the form's own header
10% of the Building Permit Fee
Chaffee County School Fee-in-Lieu (Multi-Family Unit component, if applicable)Chaffee County Commercial Permit Application, 'Zoning Office Use Only' block; the same block also lists Single-Family Attached Unit ($480.00) and Detached ADU ($569.00) rates carried over from a shared County zoning-fee block, though those categories would not typically apply to a purely commercial project
$212.00 per unit
Fire District Plan Review Fee / Fire Protection District Impact FeeThe County's Commercial Permit packet includes a Chaffee County Fire Protection District Impact Fee acknowledgment form ('See Attached Impact Fees Schedule to Determine Amount Owed') and a separate Application for a Construction Review stating a 'Plan Review fee due upon application submittal' for whichever fire district (Chaffee County FPD or South Arkansas FPD) has jurisdiction — but the referenced Impact Fees Schedule was not included in the fetched packet, and a direct attempt to reach the fee page at chaffeecountyfire.org returned only a JavaScript-rendered page with no extractable dollar figure. No fee amount is asserted here; confirm directly with the applicable fire district.
UNCONFIRMED — GAP
City Development-Review Fees for larger projects (if a Site Plan Review or Conditional Use Permit track is triggered, layered on top of the Building Permit fee)City of Salida 2026 Fees and Charges for Community Development Services, effective 03/17/26. Which specific commercial projects require one of these additional tracks (versus the Building Permit alone) was not confirmed within the scope of this review.
Minor Site Plan Review $300; Major Site Plan Review $1,500; Conditional Use Permit (Site Plan Required) $1,500; Conditional Use Permit (No Site Plan Required) $750
Building Permit Plan Change fee (if approved plans are later revised)City of Salida 2026 Fees and Charges for Community Development Services schedule
Commercial & Multi-Family $100.00
Change of Use fee (separate process — NOT this Building Permit; only when occupancy/use changes with no construction)Chaffee County Change of Use Notification (Revised April 2024) states the County fee verbatim ('Fee: $100.00'); the City's 2026 Fees and Charges schedule separately lists 'Change of Use — $100'; the form's own 'Municipality' and 'Fire Department' sign-off fee lines are left blank/staff-determined on the blank form, so no additional dollar figure is asserted for those
$100.00 Chaffee County + $100.00 City of Salida, plus a separate unspecified municipality/fire sign-off fee
Additional City fees (project-dependent)Determined by City staff based on project scope, per the City's own Commercial/Mixed-Use/Multi-Family Building Permit Application and the 2026 Fees and Charges for Community Development Services schedule; System Development fees and the Inclusionary Housing fee-in-lieu are half due at permit, half at Certificate of Occupancy
System Development (water/wastewater tap) Fees, Inclusionary Housing Fee-in-Lieu (Sec. 16-9-40; commercial for-sale-unit base rate $13.98/sq ft of principal unit, scaled down by unit count per the City's own fractional table), Open Space Dedication Fee-in-Lieu, School Siting Fee-in-Lieu, Special Flood Hazard Development Permit fee, Sidewalk Construction Fee-in-Lieu ($55/linear ft), Business Occupier Parking Fee-in-Lieu for the MD District ($5,000/required parking space or $750/space/year for 10 years)
Credit Card Transaction Fee (County)Chaffee County Building Department; credit card info must be submitted separately from the application
2.5%

Review timeline

Plan reviewTypical estimate — confirm current times with the Salida building department
~42–56 business days

How long did your Commercial / Mixed-Use / Multi-Family Building Permit (New Construction, Addition, Alteration, Tenant Improvement) permit actually take in Salida?

Anonymous — one question, no email. Answers are combined and only shown once at least 5 people have reported.

Inspection process

  1. 1

    City Zoning / Fire Safety / Site Plan Review Sign-off

    Pre-construction review by City of Salida Community Development for zoning compliance, fire safety, and (for larger projects) Site Plan Review or Conditional Use Permit compliance under Chapter 16 — required before the application is forwarded to the County

  2. 2

    Fire District Plan Review

    Separate review/inspection track by Chaffee County Fire Protection District or South Arkansas Fire Protection District depending on jurisdiction, per the County's own Application for a Construction Review

  3. 3

    Foundation / Footing

    Performed by Chaffee County Building Safety Department before concrete pour

  4. 4

    Framing

    Performed by Chaffee County

  5. 5

    MEP Rough-In

    Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing rough-in; commercial buildings with occupant load over 10 require full MEP plans and COMcheck; each trade requires its own separate permit

  6. 6

    Final Inspection (County) + Municipal Sign-Off (City of Salida) + Fire Department Final

    A County final inspection, City of Salida municipal sign-off, and (where applicable) a fire district final inspection are required before a Certificate of Occupancy is issued

See the full Salida inspection guide — scheduling & re-inspection fees →

Tips

  • There is NO separately named 'Tenant Improvement Permit' in Salida or Chaffee County. Interior tenant-improvement work with no change to the building footprint is processed through this same Commercial/Mixed-Use/Multi-Family Building Permit Application by checking 'Remodel' + 'Interior' under Work Type — the same two-step City-then-County process and the same fee formulas described above apply.
  • If the ONLY thing changing is the occupancy/use of an existing space — no construction, no footprint change — do not file this Building Permit at all. File the separate Change of Use Notification instead ($100 County + $100 City, plus fire sign-off): the County's own form states outright, 'If you are changing the footprint or doing any construction please fill out a Building Permit application instead of this application.'
  • The City's commercial permit minimum fee ($100) is double the residential minimum ($50) — don't assume the residential fee floor applies when estimating costs for a small commercial/mixed-use project.
  • Confirm early whether your project also needs a City Site Plan Review (Minor $300 / Major $1,500) or Conditional Use Permit ($750-$1,500) — these are separate City of Salida development-review fees layered on top of, not instead of, the Building Permit fee, and were not fully scoped in this review; contact Kristen Hodges (kristen.hodges@cityofsalida.com), the City's own listed contact for 'Commercial Permit Inquiries, Major Impact Review.'
  • A geotechnical report is required for EVERY commercial project involving excavation in Chaffee County — unlike residential, there is no slope-percentage threshold that must be exceeded first.
  • MEP (mechanical/electrical/plumbing) plans and COMcheck documentation are specifically required once a commercial building's occupant load exceeds 10 — confirm your occupant load calculation early, since it determines this submittal requirement.
  • Fire District review is a genuinely separate track from both the City's zoning/fire sign-off and the County's building-code review: confirm whether Chaffee County Fire Protection District or South Arkansas Fire Protection District has jurisdiction over your specific Salida address, and get that district's own plan-review and impact-fee amounts directly — they were not resolvable from the fetched application packet.

Frequently asked questions

Salida requires a commercial / mixed-use / multi-family building permit (new construction, addition, alteration, tenant improvement) for: STEP 1: Submit the City of Salida Commercial/Mixed-Use/Multi-Family Building Permit Application (448 E. First Street, Suite 112) — check 'Commercial,' 'Addition,' 'Remodel,' 'Accessory Structure,' 'Mixed-Use,' or 'Multi-Family' as applicable, and 'Interior' and/or 'Exterior' under Work Type; for a tenant improvement with no footprint change, check 'Remodel' + 'Interior'; Required City document checklist per the form itself: Site Plan(s) with utilities layout (for Public Works review), Floor Plans, Building Elevations, Drainage Study/Plan (per Sec. 16-4-30(c)), Water Tap Application, Special Flood Hazard Development Permit (if in the floodplain), the Chaffee County Building Permit Application, and Proof of Ownership; Pay the City Permit Fee: 20% of the county building permit fee, minimum $100 (commercial/mixed-use/multi-family — double the $50 residential minimum), due at City submittal, per the City's own Commercial/Mixed-Use/Multi-Family Building Permit Application and corroborated by the City's 2026 Fees and Charges for Community Development Services schedule; Larger commercial developments may ALSO require a separate City Site Plan Review or Conditional Use Permit track under Salida Municipal Code Chapter 16 (Minor Site Plan Review, Major Site Plan Review, or Conditional Use Permit), layered on top of — not instead of — the Building Permit; the City's Commercial Permit Inquiries/Major Impact Review contact is Kristen Hodges (kristen.hodges@cityofsalida.com). Which specific commercial projects trigger this additional track was not confirmed within the scope of this review — confirm directly with City of Salida Community Development before assuming the Building Permit alone is sufficient for a large-scale project; STEP 2 (after City review/forward): Submit the Chaffee County Commercial Permit Application (Revised April 2026) with one complete, unlocked electronic plan set (PDF or Dropbox link; no hand-drawn plans) — Site Plan, Structural & Architectural Plans (sealed/signed/dated by a Colorado-licensed architect or engineer where required), Floor Plans, Floor & Roof Framing Plans, Elevations, Sections/Details/Schedules, and the Chaffee County Commercial Energy Compliance Certificate (2021 IECC commercial path); Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) plans are required for commercial buildings with an occupant load over 10, and COMcheck compliance documentation is required for the electrical and mechanical portions, per the County's own Building Permit Submittal Requirements; Geotechnical report required for ALL commercial projects involving excavation (no slope-percentage threshold, unlike the residential >20%-slope trigger), per the County's own Building Permit Submittal Requirements; A separate Fire District review applies: the County's own submittal checklist lists a 'Completed Fire Application' as required specifically for 'Commercial Projects located in Unincorporated Chaffee County Only,' while a separate 'Application for a Construction Review' packet included with the County's commercial forms names BOTH Chaffee County Fire Protection District and South Arkansas Fire Protection District as possible Authorities Having Jurisdiction — confirm which fire district has jurisdiction over your specific Salida property and that district's own plan-review/impact-fee requirements directly, since this was not resolvable from the fetched documents alone; Pay the Chaffee County Building Permit Fee: Total Valuation x 0.007, plus a Plan Review Fee of 10% of that Building Permit Fee ($110.00 minimum, inclusive of plan review) — same 0.7%/10% formula as residential, but valuation is computed from the County's commercial-specific 2024 ICC Building Valuation Data table (by IBC occupancy group and construction type), not the flat VB/R3 per-square-foot rate used for single-family residential; Both a Final Inspection AND Municipal (City of Salida) Sign-Off AND County approval are required before a Certificate of Occupancy will issue, consistent with the residential process; If the project involves ONLY a change of occupancy/use with NO construction and NO footprint change, do not use this Building Permit — use the separate Change of Use Notification instead (Chaffee County form, co-branded with Salida/Buena Vista/Poncha Springs, Revised April 2024), which states outright: 'If you are changing the footprint or doing any construction please fill out a Building Permit application instead of this application'. If your project isn't listed, confirm with Two-agency split: City of Salida Community Development Department (zoning/fire/Land-Use-Code review and City permit fee, first step) + Chaffee County Building Safety Department (I-Code plan review, permit issuance, fees, and inspections, second step) at City of Salida: 719-539-4555 (fax 719-539-5271). Chaffee County Building Safety Department: 719-539-2124 (Option 1 for inspections, Option 2 for applications/fees); fax 719-530-9208 before starting work.

Both use the same 0.7% valuation formula plus a 10% plan review fee at the County level, and the same 20%-of-county-fee formula at the City level — but the commercial process uses a different valuation table (the 2024 ICC Building Valuation Data table, broken out by IBC occupancy group and construction type, versus a flat VB/R3 residential rate) and a higher City fee minimum ($100 vs. $50).

Plan review for a commercial / mixed-use / multi-family building permit (new construction, addition, alteration, tenant improvement) in Salida typically runs 42–56 business days. This is an estimate, not a published figure — confirm current review times with Two-agency split: City of Salida Community Development Department (zoning/fire/Land-Use-Code review and City permit fee, first step) + Chaffee County Building Safety Department (I-Code plan review, permit issuance, fees, and inspections, second step) at City of Salida: 719-539-4555 (fax 719-539-5271). Chaffee County Building Safety Department: 719-539-2124 (Option 1 for inspections, Option 2 for applications/fees); fax 719-530-9208.

You'll need: City of Salida Commercial/Mixed-Use/Multi-Family Building Permit Application; Chaffee County Commercial Permit Application; Chaffee County Building Permit Submittal Requirements (Commercial); Site Plan, Structural & Architectural Plans, Floor Plans, Building Elevations; Proof of Ownership (Warranty Deed, etc.). Depending on your project, Salida may also ask for: Change of Use Notification (Chaffee County; co-branded Salida/Buena Vista/Poncha Springs). See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Salida requires 6 inspection(s) for a commercial / mixed-use / multi-family building permit (new construction, addition, alteration, tenant improvement), in order: City Zoning / Fire Safety / Site Plan Review Sign-off, Fire District Plan Review, Foundation / Footing, Framing, MEP Rough-In, Final Inspection (County) + Municipal Sign-Off (City of Salida) + Fire Department Final. Schedule each through Two-agency split: City of Salida Community Development Department (zoning/fire/Land-Use-Code review and City permit fee, first step) + Chaffee County Building Safety Department (I-Code plan review, permit issuance, fees, and inspections, second step) (City of Salida: 719-539-4555 (fax 719-539-5271). Chaffee County Building Safety Department: 719-539-2124 (Option 1 for inspections, Option 2 for applications/fees); fax 719-530-9208).

Apply through Two-agency split: City of Salida Community Development Department (zoning/fire/Land-Use-Code review and City permit fee, first step) + Chaffee County Building Safety Department (I-Code plan review, permit issuance, fees, and inspections, second step) at City of Salida Community Development Department: The Touber Building, 448 E. First Street, Suite 112, Salida, CO 81201. Chaffee County Building Safety Department: 104 Crestone Ave., Room 125 (2nd Floor), Salida, CO 81201 (mailing: P.O. Box 699, Salida, CO 81201). Phone: City of Salida: 719-539-4555 (fax 719-539-5271). Chaffee County Building Safety Department: 719-539-2124 (Option 1 for inspections, Option 2 for applications/fees); fax 719-530-9208, email: City of Salida (zoning/land use/building permit inquiries): planning@cityofsalida.com; Commercial Permit Inquiries/Major Impact Review: kristen.hodges@cityofsalida.com. Chaffee County Building Safety Department: bdepartment@chaffeecounty.org (electronic plan submittals: eplans@chaffeecounty.org). Office hours: City of Salida Community Development: Monday-Thursday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (per the City's own Contact Information block on the Building Permit Review page). Chaffee County Building Safety Department: operates on a 4-day work week (Monday-Thursday), inspections performed Monday-Thursday excluding federal holidays; inspection requests must arrive by 4:00 p.m. the business day before the desired inspection date (Friday afternoon requests roll to Tuesday).. Official information: https://www.cityofsalida.com/commdev/page/building-permit-review and https://www.chaffeecounty.org/departments/building_department/index.php.

No — this is a confirmed absence, not a gap. Neither the City of Salida nor Chaffee County publishes a distinct 'Tenant Improvement Permit' application or process. A genuine TI project (interior build-out/remodel of existing commercial space, no footprint change) is processed through the same Commercial/Mixed-Use/Multi-Family Building Permit Application used for new commercial construction, by checking 'Remodel' and 'Interior' under Work Type, and follows the identical two-step City-then-County review and fee structure described in this entry. A pure change of occupancy/use with absolutely no construction instead uses the separate Change of Use Notification, which explicitly redirects any project involving construction back to the Building Permit application.

Neither alone, and in that order. The City of Salida Community Development Department reviews the Commercial/Mixed-Use/Multi-Family Building Permit Application first for zoning, fire safety, and (for larger projects) Site Plan Review compliance, and charges its own fee (20% of the county fee, minimum $100). Only after City sign-off does the application go to Chaffee County Building Safety Department, which performs the substantive I-Code plan review using a commercial-specific valuation table, issues the actual permit, collects the county fee, and performs inspections — the same two-agency sequential model used for every other permit type in Salida.

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