New rules for South Lake Tahoe vacation home rentals

There was standing room only at Tuesday's City Council meeting as changes to the current Vacation Home Rental (VHR) ordinance were on the agenda.

Most of the audience was from the real estate and home rental management companies, both of whom felt there would be a lot of loss should a stricter policy be enforced.

"We don't feel there is a big problem," said Joshua Priou, a local vacation rental manager and a member of a group of ten such managers who meet in South Lake Tahoe. He told Council that all they should do is enforce what is already in the ordinance and that "you're just not doing your job."

Others disagreed and say there is a big problem as their quality of life is changed because of an overabundance of vacation homes and the "mansionization" of many new homes being built in the city limits that are being built for the sole purpose of rentals (like the pictured in this story).

City Manager Nancy Kerry laid out ten points the Council had to review, discuss and vote on concerning the ordinance. Since 2012 there has been an increase in VHR use and increase in large size homes have raised concerns about neighborhood impacts.

The following is the item discussed and the result. The City Attorney Tom Watson and staff will write the new code and bring it back to council for final vote in about two months:

1) Split the code so vacation rentals operating in locations authorized for Tourist Accommodation Units (TAUs) are treated differently than those in neighborhoods. TAU units include vacation rentals inside the Marriott and Lakeland Village where full time staff is present to monitor situations such as noise and trash.

2) Annual Permit Fees - Change the permit fees based on whether the home has has violations of the ordinance. The Council said they wanted the violations to rest on the renters from the first offense, but the homeowners can have a couple of violations until financially impacted.

HR Annual Fee Based on Violations
Occupants....No Violations....Three (3)Violations
4 or less.......$150...............$300
5 to 8..........$300...............$600
9 to 12.........$600..............$1,200
13 or more......$800..............$1,600

3) Occupancy - Studios can have 2 people, 1 bedroom up to 4, 2 bedrooms and up, 2 people per bedroom plus 4.

4) Noise - the number one issue of residents impacted by VHRs. No noise is permitted after 10 p.m. The discretion of the police officers responding is taken away...if there is any noise, it is a violation. This includes talking over hot tub jets.

5) Parking - people can park legally at the home. The City can not make streets only for residents unless a neighborhood petitions to have them permitted. Locals living in that neighborhood would have to abide by that rule as well should that action be taken.

6) Trash - The Solid Waste JPA which has members from Douglas County, El Dorado County and the City of South Lake Tahoe as well as Clean Tahoe and South Tahoe Refuse. They are meeting on April 17 to come up with a equitable rule all areas would have to follow and the City Council will go by what they come up with.

7) Room Rentals and Couch Surfing as advertised on websites such as AirBNB. This was decided to be a non-issue.

8) Fine and Penalties - If a homeowner and their vacation rental has never had a problem then they won't have anything to be worried about. The Council voted to crack down on "bad apple" renters.

VHR Annual Fee Based on Violations
# Violation......... Violator.........Property Owner
1st Violation.........$250..................No Fine, notification of citation
2nd Violation.........$500..................Warning
3rd Violation........$1,000..................$500, plus warning about renewal fee
4th Violation........$2,000..................$1,000, plus higher renewal fee

9) Hot Tubs will fall under Federal, State and County Codes. If they have been deemed safe under those guidelines, then a permit will be issued.

Rental homes need to have someone that can be reached by text 24/7 in case of an issue at the home.

The City will hire two full time code enforcement employees as well as one full time auditor. They will be paid from monies earned through VHR fees.

10) A moratorium on VHR permit issues - this was the hotbed of concern from the real estate and property manager professionals in attendance. Vacation homes are being operated as a business and Council members said they had an issue with businesses operating in residential zones.

While the moratorium was not established on Tuesday, this can happen in two months when the code amendment comes up for final vote.

In the meantime, the current rules for VHRs in the City will be enforced.

South Lake Tahoe is not alone in this issue as it has been a hot bed in Napa, Santa Cruz, Long Beach, Mammoth Mountain and many other cities where popular home rentals are operating as weekend vacation homes in neighborhoods among full time residents.