Temporary moratorium on VHR permits in South Lake Tahoe

The South Lake Tahoe City Council voted Tuesday night to stop issuing permits for vacation home rentals (VHRs), at least temporarily.

By a 4-0 vote during the special October 24 meeting, the Council voted for an urgency ordinance that freezes the number of VHRs in the City at 1,847 until they can figure out what the number should be. The Tourist Core Area currently has 450 permitted VHRs with the balance in other areas of the City. The approximately 70 pending applications will remain in that status until the moratorium is lifted. 16 people had scheduled permit hearings in the next two weeks.

The moratorium can go for the full 45 days it was approved for, be renewed and go longer, or be repealed at the Council's November 7, 2017 meeting.

"To be honest this meeting tonight has made me very sad," said Mayor Pro Tem Wendy David. "We are so divided. We have let the VHRs take away our sense of community, perhaps we do need to take a break."

David said she wants to find out why a VHR is a menace to some residents as she remembers a time when nobody thought kids playing in the street or people having barbecues was a bad thing.

Some of the Council wanted to amend the urgency ordinance to allow for those in the pipeline to be allowed to get their permits, but City Attorney Nira Dougherty said they couldn't change it and vote on that document Tuesday as the changes would be too great.

Palm Desert, Mendocino County, Santa Cruz and other cities across the state have either issued temporary moratoriums or complete bans on VHRs as they try and figure out how to deal with the popular way of vacationing in homes and not hotels.

"We understand the Council’s desire to have more time to research the data, but we wish an exception had been made for those in line waiting for a permit, and those in escrows," said Michelle Benedict, President of the South Lake Tahoe Association of Realtors. "Some of those not in escrow have been waiting since summer."

Mayor Austin Sass announced at the end of the meeting that he was given notice of intent to circulation a petition for the November, 2018 election. Dan Brown and Dr. Ken Weitzman presented the notice to the City. They stated in the notice they want a complete ban of vacation rentals with a couple of exceptions. All VHRs would be banned except for those who rent a room in their home while they are present, and for locals who live in a home that is sometimes rented out.

Even with over a dozen public meetings about VHRS in the last two years, and over 40 since 2002, the subject is far from a conclusion where both sides are satisfied.

"Many just want this resolved, we’re tired of talking about it," Councilwoman Brooke Laine said of what she hears from the public. She also said a new ordinance could be presented to the Council as early as the November 7 meeting with a first reading at that meeting.

"Lets figure it out and make it a high priority," said Laine. "We've spent a lot of time listening and talking, but no decisions, lets make some decisions."