South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County prepare to enter reopening stage

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Plans for the partial reopening of South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County are in the works, with the Board of Supervisors voting on a plan during a special meeting Friday, May 8, starting at 8:30 a.m.

During a Special City Council meeting Wednesday, the council put their support behind what the county decides so all can be on the same page and not confuse residents and visitors with separate rules.

El Dorado County, City of South Lake Tahoe, and the City of Placerville have been meeting to work on coordinated reopening plans, and those will resemble neighboring counties of Sacramento, Placer and Amador since residents in those areas tend to visit the others.

There has been a division in the community created with second homeowners wanting to come to their South Lake Tahoe home, the governor's stay-at-home orders with no nonessential travel, and locals abiding by the rules and not leaving their homes except to shop for groceries. The division has been tearing "tearing us apart in a time we need to be together," said Councilmember Brooke Laine.

The Council voted to relax administrative fines and enforcement of second homeowners. The use of a second home and/or vacation rental usage was subject to a $1,000 fine to enforce the state and county's stay-at-home orders. To date, three fines were issued and they were all vacation home rental related. They could not vote to remove the fine as it was not on the agenda, a Brown Act issue.

"We will eventually get back to a new normal," said Mayor Pro Tem Tami Wallace. "With the $!000 fine it inhibits our ability to get there."

The El Dorado County Public Health Officer Dr. Nancy Williams participated in the council meeting along with the County CAO Don Ashton.

Williams said allowing second homeowners back to town will help bring back the economy slowly while moving towards a full opening of the town. She said there would still be no short-term rentals at the beginning of the next phase.

The Council voted to send a letter similar to the ones sent by the county and Placerville, asking Governor Newsom to allow South Lake Tahoe to move towards reopening. That letter says that since South Lake Tahoe is a tourist-based economy and the Council wants Newsome to understand that these types of economies should be treated differently than other areas that several different types of economies.

The closures of lodging properties, dine-in restaurants, and retail have brought a halt to the local economy with many business owners facing devastating effects.

Going forward, all agreed to educate the public so residents and visitors understand the rules in each phase. Over the past six weeks, many assumed it was the City who banned travel to other than one's primary residence when it was the state.

"We have not been targeting business owners or second homeowners, the goal has been to decrease the influx of people and decrease the rate of transmission of COID-19," said Mayor Jason Collin. "This was even for people leaving Tahoe and going elsewhere. It is important to know we value our second homeowners, visitors, and locals," Collin added of their protection directives.

Several members of the community called in or submitted letters during the public comment period of the Council meeting. Many supported continued closure to keep COVID-19 cases out of the area while others pleaded that everything needs to open and travel bans should be lifted so South Lake Tahoe could get back to normal.

Since the ban on travel is from the state level, neither the County or the City can create rules that overrule the higher rules.

The Board of Supervisor meeting Friday will set the opening phase guideline that will also be adopted by the City.

Dr. Williams said the county will be educating and not enforce the rules, which has been their direction so far. She will outline the rules Friday.

"Businesses will have to check off the boxes and have procedures in place prior to opening," said Williams. "A lot will be on the honor system at the beginning."

“We are miles ahead of where we were when people traveling to other countries came back [with the coronavirus] and didn’t even know they had it,” said Williams.

She said the opening of lodging will be phased in gradually, perhaps some forms in the next phase. She didn't want to send the wrong signal that the town is opening for nonessential travel.

The Board of Supervisors will hear from Williams Friday as she shows how the county has meet necessary criteria and is ready to move through Stage 2 of Newsom's roadmap to reopening to modify the stay-at-home order.

Phase 2 will not be a return to normal, but steps towards that goal.

The Board of Supervisors' meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. Friday. Once they vote, the guidelines for South Lake Tahoe and the rest of the county will be released. The public can participate by visiting https://eldorado.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx and watching the meeting.