opinion

In response to noise, trash and occupancy complaints, the City of South Lake Tahoe has adopted a new Vacation Home Rental Ordinance. The vote was 4-0 in favor since Councilman Tom Davis had to recuse himself since he is part owner of Tahoe Keys Resort.

The following is an opinion article from the Reno Gazette Journal and reprinted here:

It doesn't matter if you love or hate Democratic Sen. Harry Reid to agree that the announcement of his retirement just dramatically reduced our state's political power in Washington D.C.

Nevada will go from a state whose issues were often at the center of debate because of Reid's position as minority leader to a state without a congressional power player in either party.

An overflowing audience of South Lake Tahoe residents, home owners, vacation home owners, real estate agents, property managers, vacation rental companies, locals and city officials were on hand Tuesday night at the Vacation Home Rental (VHR) community workshop held in City Council chambers at the airport.

City Manager Nancy Kerry ran the meeting, giving everyone a chance to speak their opinion after a short presentation.

Boulder, Colorado has one. Portland, Oregon has one. Even Roseville and Truckee, California have one. If plans go as they appeared to during a presentation at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, South Lake Tahoe will soon have one.

What is it?

"It" is a combination BMX track and mountain bike skills park which will be located at the city owned Bijou Park.

Bijou Bike Park Association (BBPA) and Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA) President Ben Fish laid out the proposed plan to the Council and community.

Dan Rix, affectionately known as “Papa Dan” to his family, passed away peacefully at his home in South Lake Tahoe on February 11, 2015 at the age of 73 after a brave and courageous battle with a long illness. Dan was born December 30, 1941 in Pueblo, CO to Dorothy Mae and George Robert Rix and spent his childhood growing up in Daly City (CA). He eventually moved to Tulare (CA) with his family where he graduated from Tulare Union HS in 1959.

Vacation home rentals are an everyday part of life in South Lake Tahoe, though during weekends and holiday periods their impact is much more noticeable. With the large number of visitors "living" in the area neighborhoods next to full time residents their impact has created tension over noise, trash and parking issues.

In the City limits there are currently 1,574 houses that have a permit to be operated as a vacation home. In comparison there are about 15-20% that number in vacation cities Santa Cruz and Napa.

I want to thank all the voters who voted in the South Tahoe Public Utility District Election. That includes the voters who voted for Andy Chapman. He is a good man and would be a good board member. My intention is to listen to everyone who is willing to give me their opinion. I learned a lot of ideas from the people I met campaigning at the Post Offices. There were some really excellent ideas that I intend to introduce to the full Board. Please give me a call on my cell phone at 545-3563.If you have an idea or have a criticism just call me. I'm usually up at least until 10pm.

Known as the "Loop Road," the U.S. 50/South Shore Community Revitalization Project is about two months away from having its environmental analysis completed. Expecting that completion in January, 2015, the Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) is holding a community meeting will update people on the plan to realign traffic through the casino corridor.

Planners are working on a concept with a more walkable, bikeable and transit friendly "main street" from Pioneer Trail's intersection with Highway 50 in South Lake Tahoe to the loop road to the east side of MontBleu.

The campaign posters on Measures M, N and O that have plastered the west slope for a few months have now made their way to South Lake Tahoe. But, what are they all about?

Growth, to put it in one word.

On one side you have people who want to have control of growth in the county and not let it go to Sacramento. On the other side there is a grass roots movement to keep all growth out of the county unless Cal Trans says its okay.

Here ya go. This is my opinion of the Tahoe Chamber endorsements. Send back any thoughts or corrections. Believe it or not I tried to take the high road on this one and hope the town is smart enough to see through the endorsement process by the Tahoe Chamber. Thanks.Kenny

Have you noticed the new, blue signs placed along some of the South Lake Tahoe bike trails? They are part of a pilot way finding sign project to help cyclists between Kingsbury Grade and Meyers.

There are currently eight signs up in four locations, so people using the trails can see the directions from opposing views.

According to Steve Noll, community planning consultant with Design Workshop, “the international best practices for way finding signs consist of four elements known as 'The Four D’s: distance, direction, destination and distinction'."

The City of South Lake Tahoe imposed a single use, plastic bag ban for grocery stores in the city limits in October of 2013. The original ordinance was for grocery stores to implement the new policy on January 15, 2014 and for all other retail outlets to begin on October 15. During the June 17th City Council meeting, three Council members decided that the ban on all other retail outlets should be postponed and the final vote on that will be during this week's Council meeting.

After lengthy debate during Tuesday's South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting, a 3-2 vote changed the direction of the second phase of the plastic bag ban.

In January, 2014, a ban on single use bags was implemented for all grocery stores and food vendors in the city limits. That portion of the ban has not changed. What has changed is the second phase which was going to expand the ban to retail stores starting on October 15, 2014.

The following is an opinion article and does not necessarily reflect the views of South Tahoe Now:

The following is an opinion article and does not necessarily reflect the views of South Tahoe Now:

As we all know, the economy and our environment are fundamentally intertwined. If we ever doubted the connection, those doubts should have been erased through the impacts of the Great Recession on our local economy. We need revenue from tourism to sustain our economy, which in turn helps to fund environmental projects that protect the natural beauty, which draws millions of visitors every year. We cannot have a thriving economy without protecting the environment and we cannot have a beautiful natural environment without money to protect and properly sustain it.

Several South Lake Tahoe residents showed up at the presentation of the Tahoe Area Plan at the airport on Thursday. Most agreed that the area known as the "Y" needs to be changed with an area plan, but which direction to a take to a final plan is where people differ.

The evening consisted of a presentation by John Hitchcock, who is on loan to the city from the TRPA for this project as Planning Project Manager. After he spoke the group broke out into three breakout sessions, each focuses on one of three choices presented as the future concept for "Y" area.

Lake Tahoe is one of California’s greatest natural treasures. It is a beauty to behold, with forested mountains surrounding the deep blue shimmering surface. It is famous for many recreational activities- snowboarding, skiing, hiking, mountain biking, boating, fishing, and sunbathing. But the clear blue waters of Tahoe are in trouble. Invasive species, climate change, and sedimentation all threaten the unique ecosystems of the lake.

Paid parking remains a hot topic in the city which was proven by the packed house at Tuesday's South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting. On the agenda was discussion and possible action on an initiative to prohibit paid parking on city streets.

Tahoe 4 Tahoe (T4T), a local group organized to fight paid parking, gathered more than the required signatures to get the initiative put on the ballot, but legal precedence and unforeseen consequences of the proposed initiative led the city council to vote unanimously to have a Fiscal Impact Report completed in the next 30 days.

Outdoor displays in front of South Lake Tahoe businesses will be the topic of a workshop on January 30 at 5:30 pm in the City Council Chambers at the airport.

Should additional commercial area be allowed in front of businesses? If so, how much? Should any types of commercial retail products be allowed? Should the products be related to the business or ancillary to the business?

Your input is needed to help formulate recommendations to the City Council for changes to the City's Code. Come and voice your opinion!

The State of the City address by the Mayor was upbeat, informative and a real pat myself on the back (if any of them actually could) and see all the positive things we have done to improve the city while sugarcoating on how we actually got to a balanced budget.

With a vote of 3 to 2 in favor, the City Council today voted to ban single use carry out plastic bags in the South Lake Tahoe city limits. This issue was passionately debated by council members and the 8 citizens that offered their comment during today's City Council meeting. The city council is expected to finalize the ordinance later this month. The ban will take effect in grocery stores and farmers markets three months after adoption and will apply to all retail establishments after one year. Pharmacies,restaurants, and non-profits are exempted.

TahoeChamber is now accepting nominations for the 6th Annual Blue Ribbon Awards. After six years, this prestigious awards program has grown from three key awards to eight including Tourism, Geotourism, Entrepreneur, Experience, Large & Small Green Business, and Customer Service.

Emerging from political sequestration on his way to a convention of conservative also-rans, former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., is out there condemning President Obama for dealing with our nation's b...