measure t

The ban on Vacation Home Rentals (VHRs) in South Lake Tahoe is looming and the City is now working on putting holes in it. The first attempt is being presented Tuesday, Nov 3 at the City Council meeting. The City plans to allow 200 “Hosted” short term rentals in our neighborhoods. It will require a tenant or owner to host guests in their ‘homes’ to be available to respond to complaints within 60 minutes of issues being reported. On the surface this seems a reasonable alternative until we consider the realities and how this might actually be used.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce Board recently asked the nine City Council candidates ten questions they felt were of most importance to its members. The questions focused mainly on topics relating to things that will or may affect both the local small businesses and the community in general.

Their board made the decision to not endorse a specific candidate this election, but instead rank them based on how much they align with the South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce goals based on their answers to the questions below.

South Tahoe Now reached out to all nine candidates for South Lake Tahoe City Council and provided the same list of questions to each one of them. Once a day their answers will be published in the order received.

Today's candidate is Scott Robbins

Profession: National Security Analysist

How many years in SLT: 4

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There will be two new members of the South Lake Tahoe City Council after the November 3 election. In the coming weeks the pubic will have chances to hear from the candidates both via zoom, in print and possibly in person. Below are eight of the ten candidates responses to questions asked by the local #IRunWithMaud group.

I successfully have been tracking the City of South Lake Tahoe’s Vacation Rental Enforcement for well over a year and it’s a wonder why vacation rentals continue to get a bad name? Yes, there are some issues but ultimately VHR’s are a relatively minor nuisance in the scheme of things.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Tuesday's City Council meeting will include several items including a closed session at 8:00 a.m. that includes Liberty Utilities' claim that a City snowplow damaged a light pole, causing $56,883.41 in damage.

Tonight we had eight cars in the VHR across the street. The house is rated for four cars with a maximum of ten people. We reported it this time. We usually do not report violations because it makes us anxious… no one wants to be the “BAD” guy. The call was simple enough and the response was surprisingly quick. Roughly 20 minutes after our call the officer arrived to view the cars parked in the driveway, in the street, in the front yard and along the side of the house.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Heading to the polls will soon have a different meaning to the voters of South Lake Tahoe and the rest of California as the one-day voting period ends and initiation of voting centers begin.

With the passage of SB450, the 2016 Voter's Choice Act, 11-day and 4-day voting centers are planned to begin in 2020 after being started in 2018 with pilot centers in five counties: Madera, Nevada, Napa, Sacramento and San Mateo. El Dorado County will start vote centers in the 2020 election pending approval from the Board of Supervisors.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. The City of South Lake Tahoe has launched its new
newsletter - "At Lake Level." The monthly newsletter is written by City Manager Frank Rush and prepared by Communications Manager Chris Fiore in an effort to keep the community well informed about City issues and initiatives.

New Leadership

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The City and the South Lake Tahoe Property Owner's Group have reached an agreement on the enforcement of Measure T, a voter-initiated ballot measure to remove over 1,300 vacation home rentals from neighborhoods by the year 2021.

There were two major portions of the measure though that were to go into effect immediately, a change to occupancy rates and a halt to the issuing of new permits for the vacation accommodations made popular by websites like Airbnb.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A special closed session meeting has been called for City Council on Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. There are two agenda items, both involving conferences with legal counsel.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - As we say goodbye to one year, and welcome in another, I would be remiss without saying a big "Thank You" to all of the South Tahoe Now readers, contributors and advertisers!

As the only daily digital newspaper serving South Lake Tahoe and the surrounding area it is a tough job to be get everything needed to everybody, but I try! I appreciate the tips and ideas, thank you.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The South Lake Tahoe Property Owners Group has a court date Monday, December 24 to try and get a temporary restraining order against the City of South Lake Tahoe's implementation of Measure T.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There will be a special City Council meeting on Monday, December 10 at 5:00 p.m.

The councilmembers will officially accept the November 6 election results. Per Elections Code the City Clerk must certify the results of the election to the City Council.

For South Lake Tahoe this means certifying the fact that three councilmembers, Cody Bass, Devin Middlebrook, and Tamara Wallace, won the election along with Sue Blankenship as city clerk, Dave Olivo as city treasurer, and Measure T passed.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - What should be the final count of ballots for the November 6 election in El Dorado County was released today, giving clarity to a hotly contested ballot measure in South Lake Tahoe. The citizen generated Measure T calls for a ban of all vacation rentals in South Lake Tahoe except for those in what is called the "tourist core."

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Another round of votes were released Friday, narrowing the gap between yes and no on Measure T once again. The citizen generated measure call for a ban of all vacation rentals in South Lake Tahoe except for those in what is called the "tourist core."

49 votes were added to the Measure T count, 19 "for" and 30 "against."

There were approximately 2,600 vote by mail ballots still to count this week for all of El Dorado County which includes provisional ballots and 160 conditionals ballots from South Lake Tahoe.

That leaves about 1,800 left to tally.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Measure T, the South Lake Tahoe ballot measure that proposed a ban on all vacation rentals outside of the tourist core area starting in 2021 is a bit closer to passing.

In the second incremental release of votes counter after Tuesday, November 6, the Yes on T vote is at 3265, with No on T counts at 3207 - less than one percent difference. 267 ballots were tallied in this last release for Measure T.

The gap between the yes and no votes on Measure T in South Lake Tahoe got much smaller, with the measure now passing by just 25 votes. The South Lake Tahoe City Council and El Dorado County Supervisor results remain the same.

El Dorado County had over 24,000 votes to count after election day, and they have now counted 16,919 of them. 1,655 of those were from the City of South Lake Tahoe and 2,907 for the Area 5 Supervisor district.

As a recap, here are the results on election night: http://southtahoenow.com/story/11/08/2018/over-24000-ballots-yet-be-counted-el-dorado-county

With a narrow margin in the ballot measure concerning the future of vacation rentals in South Lake Tahoe, and other races still close, everyone is awaiting the release of more results from Tuesday's election.

You'll still have to wait a bit longer.

On Friday, November 9, El Dorado County Elections will post the next round of results, but it won't be the last as there are over 24,000 ballots yet to count.

13,372 mail-in ballots were dropped off at the polls
2,614 provisional ballots

Election season can be an exciting time of year with anticipation of the possibilities, but this year in South Lake Tahoe election season is full of negativity that has pitted neighbor against neighbor. One year ago I wrote an editorial "Use the election to create a community of collaboration and teamwork," and today I urge continuance of community, collaboration and teamwork.

Desperation – a state of despair, typically one that results in rash or extreme behavior.

This must be the mental state of those opposed to Measure T. The fear mongering they are resorting too has reached an all-time low. They are claiming voting YES on Measure T will: Cost us hundreds of million in lost revenue, the loss of the entire VHR TOT, cancel the Recreation Center project, cause the fire department to respond less quickly, etc… These people apparently have no shame in their desperation to sway the local voters from forcing VHRs to operate in areas where they are zoned.

As a full-time resident of South Lake Tahoe for the better part of 20 years, I write today to share why I am voting No on Ballot Measure T this November - a measure to ban vacation rentals within the city limits.

At the first required filing of campaign paperwork, South Lake Tahoe City Council candidates raised just over $47,000 for the 2018 election season. Mayor Wendy David's $13,499 led candidates, which included a $10,000 loan to get her campaign started. Funds raised by a group formed to challenge Measure T, which bans vacation home rentals in the City outside the tourist core area, has raised $270,112.77 with most of it coming from the National Association of Realtors, local realtors and companies associated with the rentals.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Each of the nine candidates for City Council answered the same ten questions that were given to them by South Tahoe Now. For nine consecutive days the candidate's responses will be shared in the order received.

Today, the current Mayor Pro Tem Tom Davis gives his responses as he seeks re-election to the South Lake Tahoe City Council: