S. Tahoe council pushes back on vacation rental changes
By Kathryn Reed
Normally when anything having to do with vacation rentals is on the South Lake Tahoe City Council agenda, the room is packed, emotions run high and colorful descriptions of tourists’ antics are relayed.
June 7 was a little different.
Council members and the public were a bit miffed to know nothing about the proposed changes until the agenda was released late last week. And then the council was not eager to pass what staff brought forward.
Vacation rentals run the gamut in Lake Tahoe.
When Councilmember Bruce Grego asked Community Police Officer Bob Albertazzi if anyone had asked him to rewrite the ordinance, he said no. All he was tasked to do was make administrative changes so all issues except the transient occupancy tax came under the purview of the police chief.
Albertazzi explained while he was in the ordinance he came across things he thought should be changed – like eliminating the need to post the sign on each vacation rental, how parking is handled, and putting a fixed number on how many people can ever be in a vacation rental.
Councilwomen Claire Fortier and Angela Swanson admitted their children might have been at one of those vacation rentals when the senior class at South Tahoe High School had a party. They would have been violating the rules if Albertazzi had his way.
He had proposed the limit be double the number of people allowed to sleep at a rental.
Mostly the council did not like what Albertazzi proposed. They asked for staff to bring back another proposal in two weeks, at the June 21 meeting. Councilman Tom Davis recused himself from the discussion because of his ownership in the Tahoe Keys Resort.
The vacation rental ordinance has been around since 2003. It’s been tweaked at different times.
Jim Morris, president of Lake Tahoe Accommodations, spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, saying what the city really should be looking into is vacation rentals by owners not collecting transient occupancy tax. He contends the city is losing out on a half million dollars a year on the rentals not paying the tax.
All rentals are supposed to apply for vacation home rental permit. Then they are supposed to collect the appropriate tax.
Individual property owners don’t need a business license for this. Property managers, though do.
This is a list of the 1,239 vacation rentals the city has on record.
In other action:
• South Tahoe is continuing its agreement with Lake Tahoe Unified School District for the 2011-12 school year to have an officer at the school act as the school resource officer. The district will reimburse the city about $52,105 a year for an officer to be on the campus.
• The council approved the city’s Business Plan – the first of its kind. This gives the city an action plan to carry out the Strategic Plan that was approved earlier this year.
• Delayed the workshop on the sign ordinance until June 21.
• Agreed to keep the Latino Affairs Commission at five members unless that commission asks to increase its board. Only five people applied for the position last go-round. One commissioner, at least, believes it should be expanded to seven members. The City Council wants that commission to think about expanding its representation to all ethnicities so it is more of a cultural affairs group.
• Heard a presentation from Sue Rae Irelan of the California Tahoe Conservancy about the South Tahoe Greenway bike trail. Mayor Hal Cole had to recuse himself because the CTC is seeking a right-of-way for the route to go through his property.
Thank you for not changing the rules for vacation homes. I cannot even think about how many people would be next door to me and behind me, screaming, drinking, in the hot tubs. Not only that, parking wherever they want. Most vacationers really don’t care about the people around them. I guess by the way I am sending this, I have had my share of problems. Many. With these rules that are in place now, it is pretty much under control.
Kitten, you are mistaken. As the rules are now, the vacation rentals can have as many people there as they want during an “event”. Just as in the parties the two council members kids went to. The only restriction is on the number of overnight “guests”. We need to make the number of guests at any time be equal to the number of overnight people permitted. After all, this is OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, OUR HOME, not a commercial event area! Better yet eliminate vacation rentals completely and give us back our neighborhoods!!
Thank you Steven for clearing that up. I agree with you, this is our neighborhood and our home. I wish we could eliminate vacation rentals, but I suppose they are here to stay. As always, I will keep my eyes and ears open for any broken rules. The sun is out, have a wonderful weekend.
Why would locals rent a vacation home to hold a high school party? To avoid disruption to their own neighborhood?
TRPA should have kept intact original zoning which kept these businesses out of single family, residential neighborhoods and more appropriately directed such use to commercial areas such as casinos, hotels, motels, inns, meeting rooms, lodges, golf courses, pavilions, and similar more suitable venues.
I wonder if this list includes the Vacation entals By Owner sight which has over 515 rentals where you deal directly with the owner.
Steve, excellent point about why would people rent a house for their kids party?
If it were me: maybe my house is not big enough?, but also I wouldn’t want kids partying in my house, I’d pay some to put them up elsewhere, but I might not think about the people that live near that house.
It’s accepted by most, that a party in your neighborhood once in awhile, that doesn’t get too out of hand, is tolerated, but imagine if it won’t stop, and you had to live with it weekend after weekend, that could be a very hellish existence.
The reality is there’s not enough enforcement of the rules looks good on paper but doesn’t work in the real world.
Parking, Noise, Trash, underage drinking binge parties, Along with harder drugs that tend to make people feel like the only world out there is theirs at the moment without control, burning tires, screaming, broken beer bottles in the street, your yard, in the late hours. And it’s not always kids.
Makes you wonder if the COUCIL GIVES A S–T ABOUT ANYTHING BESIDES THEIR OWN, A few bucks made AT other peoples Despair.
Sometimes the rules of not letting these people have a place to raise hell, you closed their party beaches only drives them into your Neighborhood zone.
3 times week in your neighborhoods tends to get old, real fast. Police come, but later that week, a whole new bunch seeing tall trees thinks they are in the woods, “party time raise hell, we won’t be here Monday”.
Ski Run, our so called community Golden Project for a few sure the hell wouldn’t put up with it, So Why SHOULD THE REST OF HAVE TO?
Councilwomen Claire Fortier and Angela Swanson admitted their children might have been at one of those vacation rentals when the senior class at South Tahoe High School had a party. They would have been violating the rules if Albertazzi had his way.
So you want send your spoiled kids into our area to raise hell, then sit there be a Big Shot Hypocrites.
Sure doesn’t say much for your integrity or why the residents voted for you to hold polices that reflect the good of the community.
Clear Water, you are so right. Thank you. Sometimes I feel like I am alone regarding vacation homes. I hope the city council reads these comments. But as you said do they really care?
Kitten, I assure you, you are not alone with vacation rental problems. The biggest problem is, people will not complain. When there are problems/violations, the sheriff or police must be called, day or night! This leaves a record of the problems. So when the city council asks if there have been any problems, a record exists.
The council itself is another problem. Davis owns vacation rentals, Cole, a developer probably owns them, and Fortier and Swanson are clueless.
If you are not clear on rules governing vacation rentals you can get a copy of the “laws” from either the county or city. They do have different rules. Also, you can get a copy of the permit for any rental that shows how many people are allowed there, and how many cars. Just give the address of the property. You can also check to see if a property is licensed in this way.
The only way to crack down on the vacation rentals is to complain. Call the sheriff or police, leave your name and number and ask to be contacted after the authorities have visited and then ask if the officer found a valid violation. Don’t complain if there isn’t a violation. But at the same time, call if they are bothering you day or night. When you get results from the authorities hopefully your neighbors will complain too. Stand up for your right to peace and quiet in your neighborhood. So, complain and then check with the city/county to see if a citation had been issued. If the responding officer said there was a violation, then a citation should be issued. After 3 citations in the county and I think 5 in the city, the property loses its permit. So COMPLAIN!! I could go on forever Kitten, stand up for yourself, it’s your HOME!!
Kitten, another important point, do not call the property manager or owner. You must call the sheriff or police to get a record of the violation. Let me tell you, it gets real easy to call the authorities and complain once you do it a couple of times. They are your friend! They will help you, many of them hate vacation rentals too!!
Hi Steven, Just to let you know I have called the police several times in the years. I have also called Bob. I will continue to do so whenever I need to. I wish everyone would do the same.
Steve is so right. Read the ordinance for SLT or the county. Know your rights. I have made 2 complaints in the last week but the officers didn’t follow through with a report. The county tax collector – Janet, says since she received no report – no warning is given – which is BS. The only way to get rid of VHRs is to call the sheriff, make sure a report is filed and contact Janet in Placerville or the contact in SLT. I’d like to start a group to make sure the city or county is doing their job. If not – then a class action suit against the city or county is warranted for not protecting citizen rights.
In my view the shift to allowing vacation rentals throughout the community was the single most destructive decision that has contributed to the erosion of our local residents’ quality of life experience, and has also detrimentally impacted the City’s bottom line.
It’s a shame that long ago the City Council made decisions that effectively changed our residential neighborhoods into motel districts. The Council Chambers was packed with people who wanted the “right” to use their residential property for commercial purposes, and so now those who own these residential properties view it as a right, which it is not.
Folks, this is a zoning issue. You can’t use all commercial property for any purpose you want, so why on earth would people think you should be able to use residential property in any way they want.
It would take guts, but the Council could take action to “downzone” areas where vacation rentals should be eliminated to restore them to the neighborhoods they were intended to be.
Vacation rental ownership should not be viewed as a property right, because it is not a RIGHT!