code enforcement

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responds to calls throughout the county. The following are calls that only pertain to the South and West Shore, including Meyers, South Lake Tahoe, Meeks Bay, Tahoma, and the Echo Summit area. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at the time of the story.

Last Week's Log - http://southtahoenow.com/story/08/16/2020/el-dorado-county-sheriffs-report

This Week's Log:

8/16

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - With a changing vacation home rental (VHR) landscape in the City of South Lake Tahoe, those wishing to rent their homes may be turning to "shared rentals."

There currently is no ordinance that covers shared rentals as the current VHR ordinance addresses the rental of an entire dwelling for a period of less than 30 consecutive calendar days, Shared rentals deal with renting less that the entire dwelling on a short-term basis.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responds to calls throughout the county. The following are calls that only pertain to the South and West Shore, including Meyers, South Lake Tahoe, Meeks Bay, Tahoma, and the Echo Summit area. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at the time of the story.

Added to Last Week's Log - http://southtahoenow.com/story/05/26/2020/el-dorado-county-sheriffs-report

5/23
7:17 p.m. - Vacation Home Rental - Apalachee Dr - VHR-COVID COMPLAINT

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responds to calls throughout the county. The following are calls that only pertain to the South and West Shore, including Meyers, South Lake Tahoe, Meeks Bay, Tahoma, and the Echo Summit area. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at the time of the story.

Last Week's Report - http://southtahoenow.com/story/03/29/2020/el-dorado-county-sheriffs-report

This Week's Report

3/29

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - On December 12 six South Lake Tahoe families learned the apartment building they called home was no longer habitable and they had to vacate by December 17.

As the deadline loomed panic set in for the residents of 3546 Spruce Avenue, they tried to find new housing in a city where available rentals are almost non-existent, especially for those of a lower income level without financial means to pay higher rent and deposits.

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.

During the July 24 El Dorado County Board of Supervisor's meeting, the next phase of additions to the Vacation Home Rental (VHR) ordinance will be discussed.

The ad hoc committee of Supervisors Sue Novasel and Michael Ranalli will be making the following recommendations:

Cap at a maximum of 12 overnight occupants, even if a home has enough bedrooms to accommodate more. The calculation of 2 people per bedroom plus 2. If someone wishes to have more than 12 the homeowner may apply for a conditional use permit.

Weather has not be the best friend of those wanting to get a revised vacation home rental (VHR) ordinance for El Dorado County. Snow and unsafe travel conditions for staff driving to South Lake Tahoe from Placerville for the meetings lead to the cancellation of the March 3 and March 24 meetings, and the original February 1 meeting had to be stopped due to overcrowding. The next Board of Supervisors meeting on VHRs will be in South Lake Tahoe on May 2 at 6:00 p.m. in the South Tahoe Middle School multi-purpose room.

On Tuesday both the South Lake Tahoe City Council and the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors voted to extend their ban on commercial sales of cannabis as they work out the rules and regulations for their jurisdictions.

The ban on sales in South Lake Tahoe was set to expire on January 25, 2018, and without an extension or ordinance in place, anyone could have applied for a license to sell with the State of California.

Over the first weekend of enforcement of the new South Lake Tahoe Vacation Rental Ordinance, eight violations were issued at a price tag of $8,000.

Parking was the biggest offense with renters having more cars than allowed, something that caught many by surprise as they thought noise would bring in the most violations for vacation home rentals (VHR). Four citations were issued for parking, two for exceeding occupancy, one for parking and noise combination and one for being an unpermitted VHR.

The SLT City Council voted in the new ordinance to take effect December 22, 2017.

The Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce (Tahoe Chamber) is holding their annual Blue Ribbon Awards dinner on Thursday, November 9 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the Harrah's Lake Tahoe Ballroom. This gala event honors businesses, organizations, and individuals for civic contributions, tourism experiences, customer service, and entrepreneurial achievements. Tickets for the award ceremony are currently available online at www.TahoeChamber.org.

The Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee for El Dorado County will meet again on Thursday, October 12 in Placerville to discuss proposed ordinance changes to both the cannabis cultivation ordinance and code compliance ordinance that will create a civil enforcement process for marijuana cultivation.

Supervisors Sue Novasel and Michael Ranalli were appointed to the ad hoc committee in March 2016 and have been meeting with stakeholders since then as well as looking at what similar counties are doing in their communities. The Medical

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - An ongoing legal battle between the Tahoe Keys Marina and the Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association (TKPOA) has resulted in the water being shut off to all buildings at the marina.

Since the Fresh Ketch restaurant and adjacent deli are in one of those buildings, the El Dorado County Health Department shut them down due to a lack of water. A notice was also put up on the apartments in the complex advising residents of unsafe living conditions since there was no running water.

July kicks off the busiest time of the year for our city. Schools out, the temps are soaring in the valleys to the west and east of us, the roads are free of snow, and visitors from all over the world are getting away to see beautiful places and enjoy the great outdoors. For many of our businesses this is is the best time of the year. For many locals who like to play on the mountain trails and along the beach and eventually need to get to work, this is the hardest time of the year.

For a 90-day trial period, the City of South Lake Tahoe will hire an outside security firm to assist with enforcement of the Vacation Home Rental (VHR) ordinance.

Many complaints have been voiced at City Council meetings about the lack of enforcement and the fact that part of the justification of the increase in fees for the vacation home permits was to go to staffing that department.

A lawsuit against the City of South Lake Tahoe over the fees charged to those who rent out their homes as vacation rentals was won by the City in court this week. The June 23 verdict was received by all parties on June 28.

Judge Steven Bailey of the El Dorado County Superior Court issued an 11-page decision supporting the City's rights to charge fees to recover their costs in administering the VHR ordinance, including staff time for accounting, planning, building department, administration, code enforcement and other costs.

The South Lake Tahoe City Council once again addressed temporary craft shows on Tuesday, discussing many issues from displays, appearance, juries, and subjective verbiage including "quality," "nice" and "tidy," all of which were all part of the draft city ordinance they were reviewing.

Dealing with craft shows is nothing new for the council, having voted in 2013 to limit the number of shows in city limits to four per site with a maximum of eight per summer season.

Now that Spring is here, Douglas County officials want to remind residents of the basic code requirements for their properties. Not only does keeping care of one's yard and surrounding property help maintain the attractiveness of the area, it also helps reduce fire danger in a very dry year.

There was standing room only at Tuesday's City Council meeting as changes to the current Vacation Home Rental (VHR) ordinance were on the agenda.

Most of the audience was from the real estate and home rental management companies, both of whom felt there would be a lot of loss should a stricter policy be enforced.

City Announces “Fix-Up 50” Initiative in time for Summer Tourism Season
Help improve our City’s appearance in preparation for summer guests.

The following is a summary of accomplishments during 2014 by the City of South Lake Tahoe.

Strategic Priority: Fiscal Sustainability
The most important issue facing cities and local agencies is continued steadfast attention to the budget, both short term and long term fiscal impacts.

· Implemented “budget watch” approach to financial analysis; a year-long effort evaluating state, national and global economic impacts for South Shore economy, and capital investment opportunities

To the Community,

I offer a friendly challenge to my fellow city council candidates to make South Lake Tahoe a “Sign Free” zone this campaign season. Whether or not they take me up on the offer, I am forgoing them and focusing my energy instead in walking neighborhoods and listening to what is on voters’ minds.

Learning about how to run a business in South Lake Tahoe isn't always the easiest task, but the City took one step closer to stream lining the process at a community meeting Wednesday night.

City Attorney Tom Watson led a discussion group in the City Council chambers, trying to find out what issues businesses have with the City and the City Code.

Sheriff John D’Agostini is pleased to announce that the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office has been awarded a two year $250,000.00 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program Grant. The award from the US Department of Justice will be used to assist the Sheriff’s “Crisis Intervention Team” (CIT).