City proposes changes to the Vacation Home Rental ordinance

Submitted by paula on Wed, 04/06/2016 - 10:03pm
Paula Peterson

As a follow-up to their February 16 meeting, the South Lake Tahoe City Council Tuesday looked at proposed changes to the Vacation Home Rental Ordinance that are meant to streamline City Code, remove duplicate language and make it easier to read.

Hilary Roverud, the SLT Deputy Director of Development Services, made the presentation that covered self-limiting occupancy, parking standards and apartments being used as vacation rentals.

Self-Limiting: Some homeowners have asked to self-limit and not allow the maximum number of guests in their vacation rentals, thus paying a lower fee. The proposal states that all owners may self limit the number of guests they want in their homes, but their fees are based on the number of bedrooms.

Parking: Parking must be paved for the vacation homes, and the maximum occupancy would be based on the number of paved spaces. A 400 square foot parking pad, enough for two cars, could be added to a home without requiring the permit process and without triggering TRPA coverage issues. The number of spots needed would be one parking space for a studio/one bedroom (sleeps up to 4), two parking spaces for a 2 bedroom (sleeps 8), three parking spaces for a 4 bedroom (sleeps 12) - based on four people per car.

VHRs in apartment/multi-family units: To address affordable housing in the City, Roverud said they want to prohibit vacation rentals in apartment building and multi-family units (six or more units per parcel). There are currently 42 permits issued to owners of apartments.

Trash: Trash is still an issue and JoAnn Conner, Councilmember, suggested the verbiage be changed to not allow garbage to be placed out at 6:00 p.m. the night before pickup. With garbage pickup times now at 7:00 a.m. or later, she said there is no need to put it out prior to the morning of.

No changes were voted on but the City Council voted to send them over for further fine tuning to a committee that would include industry experts as well as City staff and Councilmembers.