Change of Use / Change of Occupancy in Estes Park, Colorado

Estes Park requires a change of use / change of occupancy permit for: No standalone change-of-use permit, application, or fee line by that name is published by the Town — absent from both the Planning Forms and References page and the Fee Schedule (Development Review Fees, effective January 2024); The Estes Park Development Code (EPDC) Chapter 4 (Zoning Districts) contains the use tables listing which land uses are allowed by right, allowed only as a conditional/special-review use, or prohibited within each zoning district; Where a proposed use does not clearly fit an existing EPDC use classification, EPDC Section 3.12 (Use Classification) provides a formal determination process: a voluntary but Town-encouraged pre-application conference, followed by a staff review that must reach a final written determination within 30 days of a complete application being submitted — see the Town's own 'Use Classifications' guide (Planning Division, revised April 2020); The staff determination weighs factors including the proposed use's actual/projected characteristics against the use classifications already permitted in the zoning district, site area/floor space devoted to the use, relative sales and employee counts, hours of operation, vehicle trips generated, signage, and consistency with the Code's stated intent; an official record is kept on file with the Community Development Department; A Use Classification determination may be appealed to the Town Board; If the proposed use requires approval as a conditional or special-review use rather than being allowed by right in the applicable zoning district, a Conditional Use Permit application and $900.00 fee is required ($250.00 if the conditional use is specifically an accessory dwelling unit). The Town's Fee Schedule lists this fee, but its public Development Review Guides list includes no dedicated Conditional Use Permit or Special Review process guide, so the hearing, notice, and timeline steps for this stage are not published — ask the Town what they are before scheduling around them; Existing nonconforming uses (legally established before the current use regulations took effect, but no longer matching them) are separately governed by EPDC Chapter 6: they may continue and be repaired/maintained, but generally cannot be altered or extended, and a nonconforming use that is abandoned or discontinued for 12 consecutive months permanently loses its nonconforming status; If the change of use is accompanied by construction, remodeling, or a formal occupancy-classification change requiring building-code compliance work, the ordinary Town Building Permit process applies (see the commercial-building-permit and commercial-tenant-improvement-permit entries), billed under the general valuation-based Table 1-A fee schedule (Ordinance 03-16) — no distinct change-of-use fee line exists on the Building Division's own side; Unlike Berthoud, the codesAdopted list for Estes Park includes no adopted International Existing Building Code (IEBC). Estes Park's 2021 IBC adoption (Municipal Code Section 14.12.010) carries only the standard IBC Section 101.4 secondary-code references with the fire-code subsection stricken, and names no IEBC-specific change-of-occupancy provision.. If your project isn't listed, confirm with Town of Estes Park Community Development Department — Division of Building Safety (administered by SAFEbuilt Colorado) at (970) 577-3735 before starting work.

In Estes Park, the published Land Use and Zoning Determination — Standard is: $75.00. Additional published fees: Land Use and Zoning Determination — Complex — $100.00 + $50.00 per hour; Conditional Use Permit — $900.00; Conditional Use Permit — Accessory Dwelling Unit — $250.00; Building Permit Fee (if construction/alteration accompanies the use change) — Valuation-based per Table 1-A, Ordinance 03-16 — same schedule documented elsewhere in this record. These are the jurisdiction's own published figures — see the fee schedule table and source citations on this page.

The Town's own EPDC Section 3.12 guide states a 30-day turnaround, from a complete application to a final written staff determination, for the Use Classification step specifically. No separate numeric timeline is published for the Conditional Use Permit hearing process itself.

Depending on your project, Estes Park may also ask for: Land Use and Zoning Determination Application (Community Connect / Community Core, PLANNING tab); Conditional Use Permit Application; Building Permit Application (Community Connect Portal). See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Estes Park requires 2 inspection(s) for a change of use / change of occupancy permit, in order: Use Classification / Zoning Compliance Review, Building Division Inspections (if construction accompanies the use change). Schedule each through Town of Estes Park Community Development Department — Division of Building Safety (administered by SAFEbuilt Colorado) ((970) 577-3735).

Apply through Town of Estes Park Community Development Department — Division of Building Safety (administered by SAFEbuilt Colorado) at 170 MacGregor Avenue, Room 230, PO Box 1200, Estes Park, CO 80517. Phone: (970) 577-3735, email: building@estes.org. Office hours: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:00pm, second floor of Town Hall. Official information: https://estespark.colorado.gov/building-safety.

No standalone change-of-use permit exists. A change in use is evaluated under the Estes Park Development Code's Chapter 4 use tables, and, where the use doesn't clearly fit an existing classification, through the EPDC Section 3.12 Use Classification determination process. If the use requires zoning approval beyond a use allowed by right, a $900.00 Conditional Use Permit ($250.00 for an ADU) is required.

Per EPDC Chapter 6, a legally nonconforming use can continue and be repaired/maintained, but generally cannot be altered or extended. If the use is abandoned or discontinued for 12 consecutive months, its nonconforming status permanently terminates and any further use of the property must conform to current regulations.