The City of South Lake Tahoe has a moral and legal obligation to reinstate the permits and waiting list existing at the time the unconstitutional measure passed. The former City Council could have postponed enactment of the measure until the legal issues were resolved, but chose to support a progressive democrat platform instead of our local small investors.

Now that it is settled that Measure T was unconstitutional, everything should be restored as closely as possible to how it existed at the time it passed. The interruption in the permits is not the fault of the permit holders; they did nothing wrong and suffered enormously. Any other action would be immoral and a breach
of contract with the permit holders. As constructed, the permits are automatically renewable contracts which are binding under California law. The permit holders who were forced to sell their properties because of Measure T should be afforded an opportunity to re-establish in a new location.

Also, as I have previously documented, Measure T was not only unconstitutional because of the preference for residents the court cited for invalidating it, the measure also violated the “California Constitution, ARTICLE II VOTING, INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM, AND RECALL [SECTION 1 – SEC. 20] SEC. 11.
(a) Initiative and referendum powers may be exercised by the electors of each city or county under procedures that the Legislature shall provide. Except ….(b) A city or county initiative measure may not include or exclude any part of the city or county from the application or effect of its provisions” (applicable to South Lake Tahoe because it is not a Charter City). Because Measure T only applied to specific sections
of the city. The City should have prevented the measure from being placed on the ballot in the first place.

There has been some rumors about mythical problems re-issuing the permits from the pro Measure T factions, it is all nonsense. All 1,400 permits were re-evaluated, inspections made and new permits issued every year in the past, so it is obviously not that big a deal.

It would save time in processing renewal of the permits if the City would recognize that those in good standing at the time Measure T took effect should be considered to still be in good standing now, as its invalidation should return everything to the point where it took effect. And there would be no need to process all of the future renewals on the same day as alleged if the City would simply maintain the permits
original anniversary dates for renewal and simply pro-rate their first permit fees for the number of months it will be valid – thereafter, they will automatically be staggered the same as they were prior to the illegal interruption.

VHRs are really no different than any other home; people stay there, eat there, sleep there – the same as every other residence in the city. The rules should be the same for all residences and enforced the same too.

The new rules should prevent any parties are other disturbances for both.

There is also nothing wrong with operating them as a business. State, Federal and even the IRS recognize the right to operate a business in a residence. Accountants, contractors, writers, artists and many other professions routinely operate a business in their homes.

Measure T had a devastating effect on the local economy and employment and the City needs the TOT revenue that the VHRs would provide. Let’s get SLT working again – Restore the VHR Permits Now.

-John Messina, South Lake Tahoe