tourist

Holiday traffic leaving South Lake Tahoe this weekend created another bottleneck in Meyers as well as on side roads throughout the area from those attempting to find a quicker getaway. The choices they made Monday created a three-hour drive from the Y in South Lake Tahoe to areas in Meyers.

Highway 50 over Echo Summit is designed to handle 1,200 cars per hour without any issues, but those numbers dropped Monday, February 19. Just how much they dropped is unknown as the traffic counters normally placed over the roadway are removed for snow removal.

In Response to Mr. Scott Ramirez’ Letter to the City Council 01/21/2018

Dear Mr. Ramirez,

My name is Joshua Priou and I manage the property that is located directly across the street from you, I have been the sole property manager since it became a Vacation Home Rental in 2012. After reading your article I became quite saddened to hear of your concerns and I felt it was necessary to clarify and shed some light on your comments.

Over the first weekend of enforcement of the new South Lake Tahoe Vacation Rental Ordinance, eight violations were issued at a price tag of $8,000.

Parking was the biggest offense with renters having more cars than allowed, something that caught many by surprise as they thought noise would bring in the most violations for vacation home rentals (VHR). Four citations were issued for parking, two for exceeding occupancy, one for parking and noise combination and one for being an unpermitted VHR.

The SLT City Council voted in the new ordinance to take effect December 22, 2017.

"We need the community to get together and collaborate," said SLT Councilman Jason Collin during Tuesday's Council meeting. "Its polarized the community."

Collin was discussing the South Lake Tahoe Vacation Home Rental Ordinance after another full day of a City Council meeting focused on the subject of vacation homes in the community.

To our South Lake Tahoe community,

Investment in South Lake Tahoe roads is a matter of safety. A proactive plan for financing maintenance of City roads, Measure C is vital to our community.

All of us living in this tourist town understand a simple truth: our infrastructure is burdened with more than it can handle. Specifically, our roads. Each year, millions of visitors drive to Tahoe to enjoy the natural beauty of our home, but the damage this causes to our roadways is a serious problem. We need help making our community safer for driving, walking, and biking.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Eight hours, and testimony from 29 people later, the City Council has crafted a new ordinance that attempts to strike a balance between locals and vacation home rentals (VHRs).

"While tourism is the lifeblood in our town, the residents are the heart and soul," said SLT City Councilman Jason Collin.

Passionate testimony from all sides was presented at Tuesday's meeting as has been the case for the 20+ meetings on the subject of VHRs.

The direction from the City Council to staff is to create an ordinance that will contain the following:

Renting a home while on vacation is the trend in many tourist destinations, not only in Lake Tahoe, but across the globe. This new way of vacationing has not come without issues so many towns are creating ordinances or, like in Anaheim and other cities, banning them.

Is SnowGlobe an event that should stay in South Lake Tahoe?

The answer is "yes" according to the City Council, but exactly how the future working and financial relationships between the City and SnowGlobe will look still needs to be worked out.

Chad Donnelly, founder of SnowGlobe, made a presentation at the SLT City Council meeting Tuesday, outlining a plan to keep the annual December 29-31 music festival in the community.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - "We've been waiting to be in South Lake Tahoe for a long time," said R. Adam Smith, Executive Director of Store Development for Whole Foods in Northern California. "Couldn't be more thrilled than to be here today."

Smith took part in Monday's groundbreaking at the new Bijou Marketplace along with the Jim Halferty and Chris Peto of Halferty Development Ground, the owners of the property along Highway 50 and the corner of Ski Run Boulevard, and local officials.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - What does a win-win-win vacation home rental (VHR) ordinance look like?

It may not yet be known after today's workshop held during the South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting in front of a full house, but all sides appear to be committed to creating something that works for everyone in the community.

Cities across the country are grappling with their own ordinances for VHRs as the new trend towards vacationing centers around renting a home instead of staying in a motel or hotel.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - In the works since 2002, construction has begun on a new housing development project underneath the gondola in South Lake Tahoe.

When the South Lake Tahoe City Council voted on a new Vacation Rental Ordinance in 2015 they also promised to hire a consultant to prepare a socioeconomic study on the impact vacation home rentals (VHRs) have on the community.

The results of the study were presented to the City Council and the public during a special meeting on Tuesday.

The much anticipated socio-economic study of the impact vacation home rentals (VHR) have on South Lake Tahoe has been released.

Michael Baker International was hired by the City to complete the study and create the report to identify emerging impacts of a growing industry, particularly impacts that may be directly affecting residents and persons who work in the city. They teamed with California State University, Sacramento on the project.

Every two years a new business plan is presented to the South Lake Tahoe City Council, outlining goals, the vision and strategic priorities. This is done after each election.

In February, City staff, Council and community members got together for a two-day strategic planning session, and the results that came out of that were put into the 2017/18 South Lake Tahoe Business Plan.

The South Lake Tahoe City Council made it official Tuesday and unanimously approved the purchase of the Knight's Inn for $5,935,000, paving the way for the 850-acre Bijou Park Creek Watershed Restoration Project. The 110-unit Knight's Inn, a motel built in 1956 on Highway 50 near Ski Run Blvd., has been owned by the Patel family since 1994.

"This project has been in the works for 10-12 years," said Pradip Patel. "This is the best for me, my family, and the community."

The City of South Lake Tahoe now has a new vision statement to guide all of their decisions: "We will reflect the national treasure in which we live."

During a two-day long retreat and strategic planning session, the City Council and staff leaders met to discuss their strategies over the next two years, something they do right after every Council election.

City leaders will now get other agencies on the South Shore to join them in this mission, as well as the community. The vision will be reflected on City materials, a new logo, and be the "guiding principle in decision making."

Transient Lodging License taxes may soon be increased one percent at properties in the Lake Tahoe portion of Douglas County (Lake Tahoe Township) to fund redevelopment projects including the addition of an event/convention center.

Overwhelming support for the tax increase was evident at the Douglas County Commissioner's meeting Thursday, where the elected officials voted 4-1 to approve the increase which would go into effect May 1, 2017.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board on Wednesday unanimously approved Placer County’s Tahoe Basin Area Plan and the Tahoe City Lodge Project.

“This is the fourth area plan approved at Lake Tahoe and an important milestone for implementing the 2012 Regional Plan,” said Joanne S. Marchetta, executive director of TRPA. “With this plan, we can take significant steps to improve the environment and strengthen communities on Lake Tahoe’s North Shore.”

The City of South Lake Tahoe promised to hire a company to provide a socio-economic study on the impacts of vacation home rentals (VHRs) on the city. Michael Baker Incorporated, a company that has studied the same impacts at Big Bear Lake, Morro Bay, Monterey and Avalon on Catalina Island, was hired to do the job.

Wednesday night, representatives from Michael Baker had stations around a room at the Senior Center to determine what the almost 100 people who were at the meeting thought was important, and not important, of several aspects of both the study and VHRs.

The monthly meeting of the South Lake Tahoe Planning Commission on November 10 will have four major projects to consider, along with hearing an appeal of a vacation rental permit denial.

All candidates for South Lake Tahoe City Council were given the same questions. With just one day to go to the elections, we will be featuring their answers and a video of their interview with Tahoe Regional Young Professionals through the day.

Brooke Laine, 52, Branch Manager, US Bank, Born and raised in SLT

Discuss your interest in serving on City Council. What is your prior experience in working with civic, community or governmental organizations?

Every new parent in Tahoe knows that finding quality childcare is a struggle. Facilities have long waiting lists; and only a few can offer State subsidies to low-income families.

According to Choices for Children a healthy childcare vacancy rate is 15%. That gives parents choice in where to put their child based on location, costs or personal preferences. Here in Tahoe our vacancy rate is just 5% and as our population continues to grow that percentage is likely to decrease further.

A prime piece of real estate in Tahoe City that was originally built in 1957 for housing during the 1960 Olympics has never lived up to its potential, and is now proposed for destruction to make way for a 118-room hotel.

Sold at the end of 2013, the property known as the Hendrickson Building located at the west end of Tahoe City at 255 North Lake Blvd. is being transformed into the Tahoe City Lodge.