Douglas County again looking for task force members as they revamp VHR ordinance

STATELINE, Nev. - Vacation Home Rentals (VHRs) in Douglas County were on last Thursday's agenda for the Board of County Commissioners, leading them to seek additional representatives for their newly appointed VHR Task Force.

Douglas County uses the services of Host Compliance, the same company hired by the City of South Lake Tahoe to seek out unlicensed VHRs and under-reported Tourist Occupancy Tax (TOT). They charge the County $94,000 annually for their services.

Since the County revised their VHR ordinance in September, 80 letters were sent out by Host Compliance to suspected unpermitted vacation homes. 66 of those are now compliant. The other 14 receive a second request letter that gives them until January 31 to be compliant or they will be fined $5,000.

They estimate 456 homes being used for vacation rentals are operating illegally without a permit.

Since November, 65 properties have applied for new VHR permits as well as renewals and inspections, resulting in $27,040 in collected fees. All vacation properties must now pass an inspection before paying the $400 permit fee. In November there were also 1290 non-compliant properties in County, that has been reduced by 294 due to field verifications and compliance efforts and 460 inspections have been completed.

Currently, there are 546 permitted VHRs in Tahoe Township. In Genoa (East Fork Township) Host Compliance has identified 19 unpermitted VHRs. Of those, four removed their listing and three applied for a Bed & Breakfast special use permit ($2,600 each) and 12 will get second notice and be subject to same $5,000 fine. Those requesting a Special Use Permit cannot operate until it is approved.

At this time it is unknown how much money in TOT the vacation rentals collect annually. The County combines the VHRs tax income with hotels and motels but that is changing with better record keeping, officials said.

On January 13, 2019, the commissioners announced the appointment of 11 community members to the task force after they received 34 letters of interest from people both at the lake and in the Carson Valley. 31 of those initial letters said they were for a balanced solution while the other three did not state their intentions.

The commissioners voted Thursday to add members to the task force after many thought it didn't include enough anti-VHR participants.

"I got comments from the public that they were frustrated that no local homeowners were part of the task force," said Commissioner Wesley Rice. "Just many with skin in the game. I hope for a resolution that will satisfy both parties."

Commissioner Larry Walsh echoed those comments.

So far, the six Lake Tahoe members are:
Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority’s Carol Chaplin
Zephyr Cove GID Chairman Mickie Hempler
Glenbrook Rental Program LLC’s Kevin Kjer
Summit Village HOA President Lauren Romain
Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce Director Steve Teshara
Sierra Nevada Association of Realtors representative Natalie Yannish.

Carson Valley members are:
Genoa Lakes HOA’s Dan Aynesworth
Carson Valley Golf Course owner Tom Brooks
Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce Director Bill Chernock
Business owner Dan Reed
Carson Valley Visitors Authority Director Jan Vandermade

Recruitment is re-opened for the purpose of offering recommendations to the County Manager on the permitting, management and/or limitation of vacation home rentals. This group will be advisory only and they are looking for a broad-based cross-section of residents. The commissioners decided to have the group be a task force and not a commission so they wouldn't have to adhere to the Open Meeting law requirements like creating, and sticking to, and agenda. They will be open to the public though.

The goal of this task force will be to come up with balanced recommendations on VHRs for the board to vote on. One that will bring relief to impacted residents while also being fair to the people who bought homes as investments and/or live in the homes part-time.

Interested individuals should be full-time residents of Douglas County and should submit a letter of interest including the reason(s) they would like to participate as a member of the task force, qualifications, and area of expertise. Letters of interest may be mailed to:

Douglas County Community Development
Attn: Dave Lundergreen
P.O. Box 218
Minden, NV 89423

Or they may be submitted via electronic mail to dlundergreen@douglasnv.us.

Letters of interest are due by February 8, 2019, at noon. A panel will be selected and meetings will be scheduled after that date.