ordinance

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - At their May 1 meeting, the South Lake Tahoe City Council gave direction to the City Attorney's office to draft ordinances to regulate sales, cultivation and distribution of medical and adult-use cannabis.

Consensus at that meeting was to allow for two micro-businesses, two retail businesses, two cultivation businesses up to 5,000 square feet and unlimited testing labs.

At that same meeting, the Council assigned councilmembers Austin Sass and Brooke Laine to an ordinance sub-comittee and they have worked on the ordinance will be voted on Tuesday.

Note: The letter was send to South Tahoe Now, the City Enforcement team, Chief of Police, City Council, and City Manager.

Dear VHR Enforcement Team,

We are in receipt of a fourth “Advisory – Vacation Home Rental Complaint” since the City’s wonderful and effective ordinance which brought South Lake Tahoe national publicity. All four of these complaints were unverified.

South Lake Tahoe may not be known as the home of the $2,000 parking ticket after action taken by the City Council Tuesday.

National media attention spotlighted the fines ($1,000 to the renter and $1,000 to the homeowner) associated with violations of the vacation home rental (VHR) ordinance approved at the end of 2017 by the South Lake Tahoe City Council. This negative publicity has prompted some cancellations of tourist visits, or other changes to vacation plans, according to those in the industry.

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors ad hoc committee for an update to the vacation home rental ordinance will meet again on Wednesday, May 9 at 5:30 p.m. at the Lake Tahoe Environmental Magnet School in Meyers

The focus for this meeting will be a noise policy and enforcement.

This follows last week's ordinance meeting held in South Lake Tahoe where six points of the ordinance were voted on: http://southtahoenow.com/story/05/02/2018/new-updates-county-vhr-ordinance-could-be-place-july.

The last few attempts to have a special El Dorado County Board of Supervisors meeting on vacation home rentals (VHRs) have been met by bad weather and an overcrowded venue. The VHR meeting is now scheduled for Wednesday, May 2 at 6:00 p.m. in the South Tahoe Middle School multi-purpose room.

A revised VHR ordinance is the only item on the agenda.

The Board is looking at eight revisions to the current Ordinance:

1) Restructure the violation and penalty provisions;
2) Clarify the language throughout the Ordinance;
3) Require exterior signage;

We can always count on either Supervisors Novasel or Ranalli starting off each VHR public meeting discussing VHR’s with the reminder that VHR’s are an allowed use for single family dwellings under TRPA’s land use Ordinances. They have attempted to make us believe the word of God (TRPA) has set this in stone, and that we should all now work together to allow these nuisance businesses to coexist in our neighborhoods.

We recently received talking points from a local public relation firm relating to how we could handle the adverse publicity which occurred due to the CBS morning show about the draconian VHR ordinance and subsequent $1000 fine enforcements. We, as property managers and owners, have been requesting support from the Chamber of Commerce, LTVA, and the Lodging Association in helping us fight the selfish attitudes of some locals regarding their entitlement to Lake Tahoe without visitors to their neighborhoods.

The "South Lake Tahoe Vacation Home Rentals Restrictions Initiative" may be added to the ballot in November should proponents get enough signatures to put it there.

Created by the Sustainable Community Alliance (SCA), a group in South Lake Tahoe, the initiative is giving voters another chance to voice their opinion about vacation home rentals (VHRs) and should be on the ballot along with another initiative that wants to ban VHRs.

Tuesday, April 17 will be the next South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting, starting at 9:00 a.m. in the council chambers at the airport.

A cannabis ordinance will once again be discussed during the meeting. Micro-businesses, on-site consumption, permit costs, taxes, and number of licensees will be a few of the points they will discuss as an ordinance is developed.

The Council will also be voting on steps to replace the City Attorney and City Manager.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE and MEYERS, Calif. - The ad hoc committee formed to research options and provide suggestions to the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors about their vacation home rental (VHR) ordinance is scheduled to hold a public meeting in South Lake Tahoe on Thursday, April 12 at the Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

South Lake Tahoe joins at least 114 other entities in California in banning polystyrene, a type of plastic manufactured from non-renewable fossil fuels and synthetic chemicals that is not biodegradable and becoming a concern across the country.

Starting October 1, 2018, certain single use expanded polystyrene and plastic products will be banned in the City limits "in order to reduce and prevent the presence of this type of litter in the environment and to promote environmentally sustainable practices."

Included in the ban:

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There will be an ordinance regulating the retail sale of cannabis in South Lake Tahoe, that is certain, but when it will be in place is uncertain.

During a special meeting of the South Lake Tahoe City Council Tuesday afternoon and evening, several areas were discussed from zoning to processes, and many were narrowed down enough so the acting City Attorney, Sergio Rudin, can bring a draft back at the April 17 council meeting. If there are no major changes that document can be voted on as a "first reading" with an ordinance 30 days later.

(The following was send to the SLT Mayor and City Council members and South Tahoe Now)

Dear Honorable Mayor David and Council Members:

I am writing as a follow-up to my email communication of March 6, 2018 regarding the regulation of cannabis within the City limits.

I once again applaud the City Council for studying the issue carefully. It is an important issue and the decision on it will impact the type of community we become well into the future.

Recommendation:

The third attempt to have the scheduled El Dorado County Board of Supervisors special vacation home rental (VHR) meeting has been postponed due to anticipated severe winter weather and in the interest of public safety, according to Supervisor Sue Novasel.

They have been trying to get the public together to discuss the county's revamping of their ordinance to address concerns since February 1, but a larger than anticipated crowd and weather has canceled each meeting.

There is no rescheduled date as of Thursday, but once a date is known the public will be informed.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - The first two "Let's Have a Conversation" being held by Mayor Wendy David were very popular, with many citizens stopping by to voice concerns, listen and discuss solutions. All future meetings will have a focus so the mayor can bring the right departments with her to the table.

The next conversation is set for Wednesday, March 21 and will be focused on housing issues, including permitting processes and the Single Room Occupancy (SRO) Ordinance.

Special guests from the Development Services Department, Director Kevin Fabino

El Dorado County's ad hoc Cannabis Committee will have eight public meetings between March 5 and May 14 as they develop a new ordinance. All meetings will take place in the County Supervisor's chambers located at 330 Fair Lane in Placerville from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Monday, March 5 on outdoor growing, cottage industries
Monday, March 12 on indoor sales, mixed light, cottage industries
Monday, March 19 on dispensaries, deliveries and distribution
Monday, April 23 on micro-business, nurseries and testing
Monday, April 30 on manufacturing
Monday, May 7 on tax rates and funding

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisor's vacation home rental meeting rescheduled for Saturday, March 3 has been postponed, this time due to the blizzard conditions.

This meeting was to be a continuation of the February 1 meeting in South Lake Tahoe held to dicuss the county's new vacation rental ordinance. That meeting had to end after just a few minutes due to over a capacity crowd, almost double of the 112 people allowed in the SLT council chambers where the meeting was held.

After Tuesday's normally scheduled 9:00 a.m. meeting, they will move to the Tahoe Beach Retreat & Lodge for an evening Cannabis Workshop to discuss upcoming regulations concerning the sales of adult-use cannabis in South Lake Tahoe. They moved to the larger venue due to expected participation.

On February 20, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., members of the public can give their input on what an ordinance concerning the sales of cannabis in city limits should look like. Besides council members there will also be representative of the Planning Commission and Cannabis Subcommittee.

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 Shore. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at time of story.

Some of those recently added to last week's log:

2/2

9:07 a.m. - Vehicle Theft - Kaska St - DEPUTIES RESPONDED TO THE REPORT OF A BURGLARY WHICH RESULTED IN THE THEFT OF A VEHICLE.

The South Lake Tahoe City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to start the process to implement a three-tier ban of Styrofoam (Polystyrene) in the city limits.

Following the path of over one hundred cities and counties in California, South Lake Tahoe will ban single-use Polystyrene used for take-out foods, and ban retail sales of foam coolers and single-use food containers at all retail stores. The third tier voted on is already a part of special event regulations - all containers used must be compostable.

After a large group participated in the first "Let's Have a Conversation," the City of South Lake Tahoe has changed locations for the February meeting to ensure not only enough space, but to allow for good conversation.

During the January meeting, approximately 30 community members joined Mayor Wendy David and Mayor Pro Tem Tom Davis and brought questions ranging from the recently revised Vacation Home Ordinance to budget questions.

The list of New York City; Takoma Park, Maryland; Seattle, Washington; Washington DC; Miami Beach, Florida; Freeport and Portland, Maine; Nantucket, Massachusetts; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, California could soon have South Lake Tahoe added as the 113th California city or county to ban polystyrene. Berkeley has had a ban in place since 1988, the first California city to do so.

Vacation rentals in El Dorado County in the Tahoe basin outside the South Lake Tahoe city limits will see new regulations in the future, many of which will be conceptually approved during the Board of Supervisors meeting in South Lake Tahoe February 1.

In Response to Mr. Scott Ramirez’ Letter to the City Council 01/21/2018

Dear Mr. Ramirez,

My name is Joshua Priou and I manage the property that is located directly across the street from you, I have been the sole property manager since it became a Vacation Home Rental in 2012. After reading your article I became quite saddened to hear of your concerns and I felt it was necessary to clarify and shed some light on your comments.