Letter: A temporary VHR moratorium in the County is the answer

Editor,

We are a community divided. Even among the varying factions involved in the Vacation House Rental (VHR) issue [in El Dorado County], there is division and contention. There are those who want total bans, and those who want to buy up groups of houses to create VHR clusters. Some want to enjoy the financial benefits of renting their homes out to visitors, and others want the reassurance of a peaceful neighborhood again. We need to come together and find a solution to the problem that now plagues our neighborhoods and dominates the conversations over coffee.

The immediate answer is a temporary moratorium on the issuance of any new VHR permits by El Dorado County. I know that VHR managers and realtors will argue that this doesn’t solve the problems with current VHRs, and they’re right…it doesn’t. It does, however, accomplish a few things:

- It would stop the significant influx of new VHRs in our neighborhoods until we can design a new ordinance that has enforcement teeth and a division within the County to handle the current situation. In four months, we've seen 109 new permits approved – a 14% increase.
- It would make it easier for the County to create a cap on the numbers of VHRs when the time comes if the numbers stay as they are.
- And finally, it will increase the speed in which we deal with this issue. The pressure of a moratorium will work for all sides. The residents will want to work towards a solution because the moratorium will be temporary, and the realtors/management companies will endeavor to create a better way to keep things in check because the potential for new properties will have stopped. The Board of Supervisors will be urged to create a new ordinance because new revenues will cease until a solution is reached.

VHRs may not be going away, but neither are the residents whose lives have been upended. We will see this through until we get some peace in our neighborhoods and stop having to be the enforcement arm for the County. And keep in mind – this issue serves to damage the VHR industry significantly. The negative publicity is bad for business, and I’m afraid that the neighbors of VHRs are none too friendly towards the visitors when they show up. Word will get around that Tahoe is not a nice place to visit.

And remember, all of the residents complaining about VHRs are voters in El Dorado County. The same cannot be said for all of the VHR owners, realtors and management companies.

Leona Allen
El Dorado County native