Increased enforcement looked at for alleviating El Dorado County VHR issues

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County Vacation Home Rentals (VHRs) at Lake Tahoe are again at the forefront as neighborhood issues continue due to bad-behaving renters/homeowners.

Just as with VHR complaints in many towns, the increase in noise, trash, and vehicles continues to change the dynamics of a neighborhood, and many residents are calling for more enforcement of the rules.

Most VHRs in the South Lake Tahoe city limits are banned (except for those in the tourist core and year-round residents being able to rent for up to 30 days), but those outside the city boundaries continue to see issues that disrupt their way of life, according to residents and El Dorado County Supervisor Brooke Laine for the 5th District.

Since being elected in November 2022, Laine has been proactive with all issues surrounding VHRs in her area of the county. She has held many meetings with the El Dorado County staff, helping them to understand the variety of issues/problems that "come with" a VHR program.

"I have highlighted the lack of code enforcement specifically in the Lake Tahoe Basin from Tahoma to Meyers," said Laine.

That lack of enforcement is before the supervisors on Tuesday during its meeting. Item 25 is time certain for 1 p.m. and the hiring of two additional full-time code enforcement officers and one code enforcement supervisor is slated to be voted on. If approved, the funds for the new staff will come from Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) and Laine hopes they'll all be on duty by the end of the year.

That may not come soon enough for many residents.

Dave Norton, of the Upper Montgomery Estates neighborhood, said he has seen more houses getting permits, and more rentals in the neighborhoods, and the situation has gotten progressively worse, especially where trash and subsequent bear break-ins, noise, and excessive vehicles are concerned. There is one house in his area on Rimrock Trail that has had bears hit their trash seven times this year. He said some of the property managers are responsible and leave detailed instructions for bear boxes, but others don't and it's at those homes like the one on Rimrock that bears get into. Norton said the Allen key on many boxes is left in, allowing the bears easy access.

As a result of bears knowing where trash can be found, Norton said neighbors are seeing increased activity at their own homes where trash is not an issue. Trash is constantly being picked up by residents, and he said many homes are now being broken into by bears, putting residents and their homes in danger, according to Norton. He recently met one of those bears inside his home in the middle of the night.

"I don't understand why this isn't taken more seriously," Norton said of the bears and trash at the VHRs. "The county doesn't seem to care."

There has been a mother bear and two cubs in his neighborhood all summer, with the young ones learning how to get into the trash and break into homes.

And it's not just the trash. Noise and an excessive number of cars at home continue to be a big issue, especially noise from hot tubs. All of these things are outlined in the El Dorado County VHR ordinance, but without enforcement, many residents are left feeling very frustrated.

Laine said Host Compliance, the company hired by the County to monitor VHRs, provides reports, She said the County hasn't investigated them.

"We need code enforcement to give the time," said Laine.

She said increased fines for trash that result in marks against a permit are also necessary.

In the last 12 months, the County says they have had 67 sheriff's reports made about VHRs, 18 complaints to the VHR complaint email, and four through the general code enforcement email, according to Lynda Jorgenson, code enforcement supervisor for El Dorado County.

Last year the County assessed $64,000 in fines and collected $39,000 of them so far, said Jorgenson.

There is one code enforcement office for the lake side of the county, but not all of their work is centered at the lake and they work during normal hours Monday-Friday. The new officers, Laine said, would work evenings and weekends.

There have been 138 VHR code cases opened in the last 12 months, Jorgenson said, 80 of them were for being unpermitted. She said every one of the cases led to a notice being sent to the owner, even when it was confirmed that a renter was responsible for the violation. A few of those cases were for the same property and the same date of infraction when the local contact person did not respond to the sheriff's call to them.

Some enforcement is working, but more needs to be done so the neighbors can see progress and results, residents say. Two properties currently have suspended permits and there have been a total of 26 properties with suspended permits in the last three years. Jorgenson said there are 26 code cases currently open for unpermitted VHRs but she said there are many more unpermitted properties that we are actively researching and opening cases for each week.

In the last 4.5 months, the County said it has opened 146 investigations for unpermitted properties.

Laine is putting together an advisory committee to make recommendations on ways the VHR program can be improved. The committee will be selected this week, she said. Zephyr Collaboration, a local consulting firm, has been hired to help the advisory committee through the process.

"At this time, I expect there to be approximately five working sessions with the committee," said Laine. "Additionally, there will be at least one or two public opportunities to hear what kinds of ideas the committee has explored and to take public input."

Before the ordinance is reviewed and possibly updated, and new enforcement officers are hired, there are several things the VHR homeowners and management companies can do right away to be good and responsible neighbors, residents say: Drive by properties often; make sure renters know to pull out the Allen key; have trash removed at the change of renters and pick up trash when Clean Tahoe calls; ensure renters know the rules, especially noise; consider removing hot tubs; no busloads of people at one home, no weddings, no bachelor/bachelorette parties.