Months after Ouray city councilors agreed to require an application and licensing process for vacation rentals, very few people are complying with the rules.

With the city’s Oct. 20 application deadline only a month away, city planners have received just five applications from property owners seeking to obtain licenses so they can legally operate vacation rentals. City officials estimated there 125 property owners running short-term rentals at the time the city was developing the regulations....