Sign Permit in Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Steamboat Springs requires a sign permit for: A Sign Permit is required for any placement or construction of a permanent, historic, or temporary sign except as exempted, limited, or prohibited in CDC Section 504, including erection, alteration, installation, relocation, reconstruction, enlargement, lighting, addition of color, color differentiation, or display of a sign not previously visible, and painting/application of wall or window signs, per CDC §711.A.1; A Sign Permit is also required for any sign approved by Minor or Major Adjustment, any sign included in a Sign Plan, alterations to a sign inconsistent with sign maintenance (CDC §508.D), and any addition/modification of a differentiated background, per CDC §711.A.1; Three Sign Permit types are established for review purposes: Permanent Sign Permit, Temporary Sign Permit, and Historic Sign Permit, per CDC §711.A.2; Review is prior to or concurrent with review of a building permit, if applicable, and may be concurrent with Sign Plan review, if applicable, per CDC §711.B; A Permanent Sign Permit approval remains effective for one year from the date of approval; a Temporary Sign Permit remains effective for the term specified on the permit, per CDC §711.D; Certain sign types are exempt from a Sign Permit and from all Article 5 standards, as listed in CDC §504; If the sign is a structure requiring structural design (e.g., a freestanding monument or pole sign), Structural Plans are also required and a separate RCRBD Building Permit must be obtained, with the standard RCRBD valuation-based building permit fee applying in addition to the City's Sign Permit fee. If your project isn't listed, confirm with Routt County Regional Building Department (RCRBD) — City of Steamboat Springs jurisdiction at 970-870-5566 before starting work.

The City's flat Sign Permit fee is $150 for one permit covering up to 4 signs ($50 for each additional sign), per the City's Development Application Fee Schedule effective June 17, 2024. A Temporary Sign Permit is $50. Structural signs also incur a separate RCRBD valuation-based Building Permit fee.

Steamboat Springs's published plan-review target for a sign permit is 14–14 business days.

You'll need: Sign Permit Application. Depending on your project, Steamboat Springs may also ask for: Structural Plans (if applicable). See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Apply through Routt County Regional Building Department (RCRBD) — City of Steamboat Springs jurisdiction at Routt County Courthouse Annex, 136 6th Street, Suite 201, Steamboat Springs, CO 80487. Phone: 970-870-5566, email: Building@co.routt.co.us. Office hours: Monday-Friday 7:30 am-4:00 pm. Building Official: Todd Carr (tcarr@co.routt.co.us). Fax 970-870-5489. No voicemail inspection requests accepted by phone — inspections must be requested through the CityView Portal. Note: an alternate phone number, 970-879-5566, also appears in some third-party directory listings for this same office; 970-870-5566 is used here as it appears verbatim and consistently across every RCRBD-authored PDF (fee schedule, permit processes, de-construction policy) pulled directly for this file.. Official information: https://www.co.routt.co.us/583/City-of-Steamboat-Springs.

Steamboat Springs, Colorado has adopted: 2021 International Building Code (IBC), including Appendix Chapters C, E, and J — City of Steamboat Springs Building Code Ordinance, Sec. 5-2/5-3 (adopted by reference, RCRBD-enforced); 2021 International Residential Code (IRC), including Appendix Chapters B, C, E, F, and Q — Sec. 5-4/5-5; 2021 International Existing Building Code (IEBC) — adopted per the ordinance preamble; National Electrical Code (NEC) as adopted by the State of Colorado Electrical Board; 2021 International Mechanical Code (IMC); 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) — Sec. 1148 area of the ordinance; 2021 International Plumbing Code (IPC); 2021 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC); 2021 International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC); 2021 International Wildland-Urban Interface Code (IWUIC) — Sec. 5-22/5-23, adopted with Chapters 3, 4, and 6 plus Appendices A, B, C, D, F, G, H, and I explicitly DELETED; only specific Chapter 5 sections retained (all other Chapter 5 sections not enumerated in the ordinance are deleted) — this is a narrower, more surgical WUI adoption than Breckenridge's town-wide full-CWRC approach in the same corpus; Colorado State Model Electric and Solar Ready Code — Sec. 5-24, adopted city-wide for new construction meeting the code's square-footage thresholds; Countywide RCRBD adoption of the 2021 ICC series (IBC/IRC/IECC/IEBC/IFGC/IPC/IMC/IPMC) plus portions of the 2021 IWUIC and the 2023 Colorado State Model Electric and Solar Ready Code, effective January 1, 2024, applies uniformly across all RCRBD-served jurisdictions including Steamboat Springs — verified via the City's own separately-numbered ordinance adopting the identical 2021 edition set, so city and county codes are aligned rather than divergent; Full ordinance text: City of Steamboat Springs Building Code Ordinance (adopting the 2021 IBC/IRC/IEBC/NEC/IMC/IECC/IPC/IFGC/IPMC/IWUIC + Colorado Electric/Solar Ready Code), hosted via Routt County DocumentCenter. Local amendments apply — see the Steamboat Springs overview page for the full list.

Yes. CDC §711.A requires a Sign Permit for placement or construction of most permanent, historic, or temporary signs, with limited exemptions listed in CDC §504. The City's Planning and Community Development Department administers Sign Permits; a separate RCRBD Building Permit is also required if the sign is a structure needing structural review.