Title
Planning and Building Department, Tahoe Planning, Stormwater, and Vacation Home Rental Division, recommending the Board consider the following:
1) Receive and file a presentation on the Vacation Home Rental Program; and
2) Provide direction to staff regarding potential Program adjustments and/or amendments to the Vacation Home Rental Ordinance.
FUNDING: N/A
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
On May 2, 2023 (File No. 23-0436, Item No. 45), staff provided a presentation to the Board of Supervisors on the County’s Vacation Home Rental (VHR) Program and received direction to move forward on four (4) VHR Program adjustments. These VHR Program adjustments include: 1) requiring compliance with the County’s Vegetation Management Ordinance prior to issuing or renewing a VHR Permit; 2) increasing fine amounts for violations of the VHR Ordinance per Senate Bill 60; 3) expanding VHR Permit suspension options; and 4) allowing Local Contacts to be decertified for not performing their duties.
At the same meeting, the Board also recommended that Supervisor Laine convene an Advisory Committee (AC) to meet and deliberate on additional VHR Program recommendations to consider. Following that, Supervisor Laine and a facilitation consultant, Zephyr Collaboration, created an application process for the AC and ultimately selected 13 members with a variety of viewpoints on VHRs. The AC met beginning in September 2023 and had a total of six (6) meetings over the following months to produce a final Recommendations Report (Report) (Attachment B). Many of the summary recommendations within that Report are contained herein and were evaluated by staff below.
The AC Report focused primarily on the theme of enhanced enforcement and had the following major recommendations for action by the County. The following recommendations received consensus from the entire AC.
A. Prioritize VHR Complaint Management and Enforcement
1. Invest in a dedicated VHR enforcement unit
2. Develop a centrally managed complaint tracking and response system
3. Enhance illegal rental enforcement
4. Modify Local Contact requirements
B. Reduce the cap for VHR Permits in the Tahoe Basin
C. Develop regulations for accountability of Hosted Rentals
D. Strengthen compliance standards in the VHR Ordinance
E. Adjust fines and penalties for VHR and Hosted Rental code violations
F. Request to establish a VHR Commission
Based on the AC Report - staff recommends the following VHR Program enhancements for the Board to consider. It should be noted that the Report is highly detailed, and staff is still evaluating the ability to and the merits of accomplishing all recommendations in the Report. Staff, however, agrees with all of the high-level recommendations within the Report.
If the Board agrees to the following changes, staff proposes a phased implementation approach, where new VHR Ordinance amendments and VHR Program adjustments will be made and then analyzed in a continuous feedback cycle. Data will be collected and used to inform our decisions on how well the VHR Program is operating. This will then inform future decisions on any additional modifications or adjustments to achieve the Board’s and the community’s VHR goals.
1. Invest in a dedicated VHR enforcement unit.
Staff agrees with the AC and recommends that the Board direct staff to create a dedicated VHR enforcement unit within the Code Enforcement Unit. The Board has previously authorized funding for three (3) new positions to focus on VHR and Ranch Marketing enforcement, and staff feels these resources are currently sufficient to make the recommended enhancements to the VHR Program. No changes to the VHR Ordinance are needed to implement this recommendation.
2. Develop a centrally managed complaint tracking and response system.
Staff agrees with the AC and recommends that the Board direct staff to develop a centrally managed complaint tracking and response system. VHR staff, in concert with the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office, is moving to a new VHR complaint tracking and enforcement vendor called Rentalscape on July 1, 2024. The new system will have a 24/7 hotline with texting and dispatch capabilities along with an online complaint form. New internal procedures will be created for responding to citizen complaints and providing verified violation data back to the general public. No changes to the VHR Ordinance are needed to implement this recommendation.
3. Enhance illegal rental enforcement.
Staff agrees with the AC and recommends that the Board direct staff to increase the pace of enforcement and fines on illegal rentals. This will be accomplished by using data generated by Rentalscape to issue notices of violation and preclude illegal rentals from applying for, or being on the Wait List for, a VHR Permit. No changes to the VHR Ordinance are needed to implement this recommendation.
4. Modify Local Contact requirements.
Staff agrees with the AC and recommends that the Board direct staff to develop new Local Contact standards, including issuing penalties to and decertifying Local Contacts that are found to be failing to do their duties. This will require amendments to the VHR Ordinance to implement this recommendation.
5. Reduce the cap for VHR Permits in the Tahoe Basin.
Staff agrees with the AC and recommends that the Board direct staff to modify the VHR Ordinance to lower the cap in the Tahoe Basin from 900 to 600 VHR Permits. The proposed 600 VHR Permit cap equates to the estimated number of VHRs that could legally exist if they were spaced at 500 feet apart, per the VHR Ordinance’s clustering policy. As was previously mentioned to the Board, the 500-foot clustering policy that the Board adopted in 2021 now governs the number of active VHR Permits instead of the cap.
6. Develop regulations for accountability of Hosted Rentals.
Staff agrees with the AC and recommends that the Board direct staff to develop additional regulations for Hosted Rentals including requiring a VHR Permit. Additional standards will need to be developed in order to bring Hosted Rentals into the VHR Program (permit fee amounts, fire inspection requirements, etc.). Staff requests that the Board allow time to work out these details and return to the Board with the VHR Ordinance amendment.
7. Strengthen compliance standards in the VHR ordinance.
Staff agrees with the AC and recommends that the Board direct staff to strengthen compliance standards in the VHR Ordinance including adding or modifying provisions on fire safety, occupancy (eliminating the +2 when calculating occupancy), parking, noise, and signage. Staff requests time to work through these details and return to the Board with additional specificity when the VHR Ordinance is amended.
8. Adjust fines and penalties for VHR and Hosted Rental code violations.
Staff agrees with the AC and recommends that the Board direct staff to increase VHR penalty amounts pursuant to Senate Bill 60 - the 2021 amendments to Government Code Sections 25132 and 36900. New fine amounts will be increased from $500 to $1,500 for the first violation, from $750 to $3,000 for the second violation, and from $1,000 to $5,000 for the third and subsequent violations. Staff also recommends revising VHR Ordinance language on VHR Permit suspension and revocation.
9. Request to establish a VHR Commission.
Staff is still evaluating this request and the resource needs required to effectively run an ongoing VHR Commission. At this time, staff requests that all resources be directed towards enhancing the VHR Program. In the future, if the need is still present, a VHR Commission could be evaluated as a tool for further recommendations on VHR Program enhancement.
Appendix A of the Report includes items that the AC could not reach consensus on. These include:
A. Preferences for strategies to address impacts from VHR clusters and within what timeline.
B. Hosted Rental standards.
C. Values, interests, and perspectives generally on VHRs.
Staff concurs that these issues require further discussion and exploration. For that reason, there may be value in convening a working group to continue to discuss these issues and make future recommendations to staff and the Board. Staff welcomes the Board's direction on this.
Finally, a public meeting was held in March 2024 to review the Report’s recommendations and to receive feedback from the public on the Report. A three-question survey was created and approximately 200 responses were received. The summary and raw data from that survey are attached to give the Board additional information on how the public feels about the recommendations in the Report (Attachment C).
VHR Program Status
There are currently 804 active VHR Permits in the Tahoe Basin and 142 active VHR Permits on the West Slope. The number of VHR Permits has been decreasing in the Tahoe Basin due to the clustering policy that the Board adopted in late 2021 (File No. 21-1262, Item No. 32). Conversely, the number of VHR Permits has been increasing on the West Slope.
The VHR Program administration team also manages a Wait List for individuals interested in a VHR Permit. Individuals on the Wait List are currently within the 500-foot buffer of a legally existing VHR, and thus are prohibited from applying for a VHR Permit until they are outside of a buffer. There are currently 204 Wait List participants in the Tahoe Basin and 15 Wait List participants on the West Slope.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board may choose not to provide direction to staff for Program enhancements at this time.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
See Discussion/Background above.
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
Chief Administrative Office, Code Enforcement Division, County Counsel, Fire Districts, Sheriff’s Department, Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office, Environmental Management Department, Clean Tahoe Program
CAO RECOMMENDATION
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no change to Net County Cost associated with this item. Should the Board choose to pursue amendments to the VHR Ordinance and/or the VHR Program, staff can evaluate any financial impacts associated with the changes and provide that information to the Board during a future item.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
N/A
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
N/A
CONTACT
Brendan Ferry, Deputy Director of Tahoe Planning, Stormwater, and VHR
Planning and Building Department