Residents chime in on El Dorado County VHR ordinance

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - Supervisor Brooke Laine held a Vacation Home Rental (VHR) update meeting with El Dorado County staff Wednesday night in Meyers. On the agenda was a presentation from the county's VHR Program Manager, Brendan Ferry.

Laine said the meeting was to "start the conversation" as the county reviews the current ordinance and looks for possible updates.

Originally scheduled for a March Board of Supervisors' meeting but postponed due to heavy snow, Ferry gave attendees the same presentation he'll give to the board on May 2.

There is a cap of 900 permits for the Lake Tahoe portion of El Dorado County, with 827 currently issued. 718 of those permits are on the South Shore (not including the City of South Lake Tahoe) with the remaining 109 on the west shore portion of the county in the Meek's Bay/Tahoma area. Due to a 500-foot clustering policy (new VHRs cannot be within 500 feet of an existing VHR), a waitlist has been formed and there are currently 166 applicants on it. West Slope VHRs are not included in this cap. They currently have 122 active permits with a waitlist of 34.

In 2022 there were 212 complaints filed through the VHR program's website and the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office (EDSO). Of those, 97 cases were opened: Administrative 15, Noise 42, Occupancy 2, Signs 7, Unpermitted 31. 71 of those cases resulted in fines of a total of $36,250.

The County's VHR website (see here) wants neighbors with complaints about a VHR, be it noise, parking, garbage, occupancy, or other issues, to reach out to the home's local contact on file as they are required to respond immediately to complaints.

These calls do not end up in recorded complaints.

If the local contact does not fix the problem within 30 minutes, residents can then turn to call the non-emergency line for EDSO. They can also fill out a complaint form found on the VHR webpage.

If a problem with a neighboring VHR has reached this point, the resident has been disturbed and had to deal with the problem for a period of time.

Several of those in attendance Wednesday said they were concerned about the violations of the ordinance, the lack of care and concern from the local contacts, and asked for more enforcement.

They are also concerned that the character of their neighborhood continues to change, and not for the better.

Many agree that most renters are respectful as they are in town and can live like a local for a weekend or a week. It is the bad apples in both renters and property managers that add to problems, they say. Stories were shared about the bad behaviors including strippers on outside decks for all to see, loud parties, and many more cars than permitted. Some said renters in their neighborhoods asked the locals to put snow chains on for them, shovel or snowblow their driveways, tow them out of the snowbanks, and do other jobs even a full-time neighbor would never think of asking.

Laine and Ferry took all public comments and will keep them part of the conversation as any possible changes to the ordinance are made. Laine said she will keep the process transparent and all discussions will be made in public, whether it is at a board meeting or other forums.

Many ideas came from the public:
Create an app where a complaint can be lodged with photos, video, and sound uploaded so there is proof of a violation.
Have an office in the county dedicated solely to VHRs.
Increase code enforcement staff.
Raise fees and fines.
Tighten up language in the ordinance, using "will" instead of "may" result in fines so discretion is eliminated and it is cut and dry.
Eliminate loopholes for "hosted rentals." It has been found that hosted rentals that don't need to fit in the cap are actually full VHRs.
Ban fire pits that burn wood and require them to be propane or natural gas.
Require snow removal contracts and shovels on site for each licensed property.
Eliminate the ability for large parties and weddings at VHRs. Make daytime occupancy limits match the overnight occupancy and parking limitations.
Add complaint tracking so the person filing one knows the status.
Limit permits to two per homeowner.
Require VHRs to complete vegetation management.
Allow local contacts to be decertified if they fail to manage properties as required.

"Approach this with a scalpel, not a hacksaw," said local resident Lisa O'Daly as they look at the ordinance. She gave Laine and the staff several ideas for improving the ordinance including a requirement of informing renters of how to act with wildlife nearby.

There are currently six code enforcement officers in the whole county, with one assigned to Lake Tahoe. She has been on the job for a few months and covered all codes, not just those of vacation homes.

County staff will be conducting an analysis of VHR fees and penalties to see what other regions are doing and if El Dorado County could make adjustments to be more in line with neighboring jurisdictions and are actually cost recovery (and as the public suggested, pay for enforcement officers through these fees).

Laine also received information from VHR owners. They gave input on how the ordinance works for them and they too asked to weed out the bad apples.