Letter: Local tired of VHRs in neighborhood

Twelve years of Vacation Home Rentals (VHRs), what a sad place So. Lake Tahoe residential neighborhoods have become. Thanks go to local Realtors, out of town owners, and VHR rental agencies, who care mostly about money, not about the peace and tranquility of the local residents. But they’re not alone, we also have City and County officials that don’t represent the locals that elect them, instead it’s all about the tourists and their friends in the VHR business, some of those friends are elected officials. I’ve been told that if we don’t have VHRs “ the tourists won’t come”, Let us be realistic’ even if only for just a moment. I have lived here since August 1960, where did all the tourists stay from then until say 2004 or so? We all know it was VHRs that brought them all along, right?

Well they all of a sudden showed up in our neighborhoods , so maybe one day we can get them all to go away!

I for one, am tired of coming around the corner on my way home on Friday night and seeing cars at the VHR across the street from my home. Wondering what kind of weekend I’m going to have, it feels like Russian Roulette.

So much for my peaceful neighborhood! Now it starts, the stress and anxiety of waiting to see if the strangers across the street are a normal family or a bunch of jerks? Are they already drunk or just getting started? Will they keep us up until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning? How many times will I have to call the Sheriff’s Dept.? And will they come and the big question is 'will they do anything'?

I have another VHR next to me now also, and when the cleaners come, they spend 1,2 or 3 nights at the rental. Just a guess, but I don’t think the out of town owner knows they are staying there. Another guess is they stay at the rentals they clean because they can’t find housing of their own. Makes one think his neighborhood is going down the toilet.

So for me and my house, we’ve had enough, time to start working on some change. The question is, how many locals are as fed up as I am? I would like to know who is willing to join the fight against the destruction of our neighborhoods?

Well moving forward, the idea of a VHR BAN is sounding very good, considering the interaction I have had with County Supervisors. I must say that they are going to drag their feet on new VHR restrictions. District 5 Supervisor Novasel is not interested in a moratorium, for reasons I won’t discuss until further investigation has been finished. But a MORATORIUM is exactly what we need until the VHR problem has been addressed to the residents satisfaction, period.

If you are interested in what’s happening with regards to these issues, try the Facebook pages of “Tahoe Residents First” and “Tahoe VHR Watchdog”.

- Rick Mapes, So. Lake Tahoe, Calif.