El Dorado County to vote on changes to VHR ordinance including 1,050 cap of Lake Tahoe permits

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - The Board of Supervisors will consider changes to the El Dorado County Vacation Home Rental Ordinance at its November 17 meeting. The 2:00 p.m. time certain public hearing will contain consideration of a cap of 1,050 total permits issued in the unincorporated portion of the Tahoe Basin.

A waiting list would be created for those wanting a VHR permit after the 1,050 number is met. The waiting list request shall become void upon change in ownership.

Property owners found to be operating without a vacation home rental permit are precluded from applying for a vacation home rental permit for a one year period and are not allowed to be on the waiting list during that time.

Another addition to the ordinance details that property owners who have a valid VHR permit from the County must demonstrate at the time of renewal that the property was rented in the prior year if it’s not obvious in the associated Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) returns. Failure to demonstrate this may result in the permit not being renewed.

As in the South Lake Tahoe city limits the Board will also add verbiage for shared rentals.

If there are no substantial changes to the proposed changes, final passage will be at the supervisor's December 2 meeting. This wasn't a meeting originally planned but is on the consent portion of Tuesday's agenda to be added.

Supervisor Sue Novasel held Town Hall meetings on the proposed amendments and changes in May and June (can be seen here). At that time there were 792 permits and applications in process, with 492 of those being active ones and 145 applications.

In 2019, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) adopted a code amendment adding short-term VHR neighborhood compatibility as criteria for distribution of residential allocations for new buildings. This was changed to address the effects
of vacation home rentals on achieving the goals of the Regional Plan. They distribute 120 allocations each year, 30 for the El Dorado County portion of the lake. Depending on how the county scores on three areas (TMDL - Total Maximum Daily Load, permit monitoring and compliance, and VHR neighborhood compatibility), that allocation can go down.

To view the agenda, visit https://eldorado.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.

To comply with physical distancing requirements all public participation is being handled remotely. The public may call in via phone 530-621-7603 or 530-621-7610 or using ZOOM at (https://zoom.us/j/95163218724, Meeting ID is 951 6321 8724) to provide public comments. As always, written comments are also welcome and may be provided to edc.cob@edcgov.us by 4:00 p.m. on Monday 11/16. These comments will be attached to the item for public viewing and consideration by the Board.

Full details including the staff report and the proposed ordinance changes can be found here.