Empire is a 0.271-square-mile town on US-40 at the foot of Berthoud Pass, and it permits its own construction. For a town of roughly 345 people, that independence is the practical fact that matters most: your project is reviewed at Empire Town Hall, not at the Clear Creek County annex in Georgetown.
Who Permits Your Project in Empire
The Town of Empire runs its own applications and permits office through Town Hall, separate from the Clear Creek County Building Department. Projects inside the town limits go through the town. Projects on the unincorporated land immediately outside — and Empire’s footprint is small enough that the boundary is close to almost everything — go to the county, along with the county’s GovBuilt portal, its Monday-through-Thursday inspection schedule and its wildfire mitigation requirements.
Clear Creek County’s onsite wastewater regulations still apply countywide, including inside incorporated towns, so septic work on an Empire property remains a county Environmental Health matter regardless of who issues the building permit. On a lot this size, in a town this old, that distinction comes up more often than you would expect.
A Small, Dense, Growing Town
Empire recorded 179 housing units at the 2000 census, at an average density of about 708.9 units per square mile on a 0.271-square-mile footprint — one of the denser small-town layouts in the county. Population reached 345 in 2020, up 22.34% from 282 in 2010, so the town is growing on a fixed and very small land base.
Density on that scale changes how a remodel is executed. Lot lines are close, staging space is limited, and material deliveries have to be planned around a single main corridor. Additions are frequently constrained by setbacks rather than by budget. When we scope work in Empire, access and staging get priced honestly rather than buried, because on these lots they are a real share of the job.
A Standing Nineteenth-Century Commercial Core
Empire’s commercial corridor along US-40 still contains its historic landmarks, including the Peck House — a nineteenth-century hotel and restaurant — and the Hard Rock Cafe, a local establishment operating since 1934 and unrelated to the international chain. Those buildings anchor a streetscape that was laid out in the mining era and never substantially rebuilt.
The residential stock around that core was built by the same trades in the same period, with the same characteristics: non-standard lumber, foundations that predate any engineered standard, and generations of alterations layered on top of one another. We open these houses expecting to find at least one structural surprise, and we tell owners that before the contract rather than after.
Building Conditions on the Berthoud Pass Approach
Empire sits at the base of the US-40 climb toward Berthoud Pass, and Clear Creek County’s design criteria govern structural design here. Frost depth is 42 inches generally and 36 inches for deck piers. The county is a severe-weathering jurisdiction requiring ice-shield underlayment. Snow load and wind exposure are assigned per parcel through the county’s ClearMap system with no snow load reductions permitted. We pull those values by address before any roof, deck or addition is engineered.
Services We Provide in Empire
All work below is permitted and inspected under the authority with jurisdiction over Empire.
- Kitchen Remodeling in EmpireLayouts, cabinets, counters, full gut rebuilds
- Bathroom Remodeling in EmpirePrimary baths, guest baths, wet-area rebuilds
- Basement Finishing in EmpireEgress, ceiling height, permits, finished space
- Home Additions in EmpireBump-outs, second stories, whole-room additions
- Roofing in EmpireReplacement, storm damage, Class 4 options
- Deck Building in EmpireComposite and wood decks, rails, structural repair
- Fencing in EmpireWood, composite and metal fence installation
- Framing in EmpireStructural framing, walls, load-bearing changes
- Drywall in EmpireHang, tape, texture, repair and patching
- Tile Work in EmpireFloors, showers, backsplashes, waterproofing
- Painting in EmpireInterior and exterior, prep and finish work
- Demolition in EmpireSelective interior demo and full teardowns
Nearby in Clear Creek County
We work throughout Clear Creek County. Nearby communities:
Common Questions
Does Empire or the county issue my permit?
The Town of Empire issues permits for work inside the town limits through its own Town Hall permit office. Work outside the boundary goes to the Clear Creek County Building Department. Because the town covers only about a quarter of a square mile, that boundary is worth confirming by address rather than by assumption.
Is septic handled by the town too?
No. Clear Creek County’s onsite wastewater regulations apply countywide, including inside incorporated towns, so septic permitting and use permits run through Clear Creek County Environmental Health even for a property Empire is permitting for construction.
Can I build an addition on a small Empire lot?
Often the limiting factor is setbacks and available lot area rather than structure or budget. That is the first thing we check, because a design that cannot meet the town’s dimensional requirements is not worth drawing. Where an addition does not fit, reconfiguring inside the existing footprint frequently gets most of the way to the same result.
Do you work in Empire on smaller jobs?
Yes. In a town of this size most work is remodel, repair and addition rather than new construction, and we schedule it alongside our other Clear Creek County projects so a small job does not wait on a crew being mobilized for it alone.
Talk to Us About Your Project in Empire
Give us the address and the scope. We will confirm whether the town or the county reviews it, check the setbacks against what you want to build, and pull the parcel’s snow and wind values before anything gets engineered.