Group formed to battle new Vacation Home Rental Ordinance change

You've spent your life savings on the dream, to buy a home in South Lake Tahoe. Better yet, you've found the perfect property where you can find a way to live in Tahoe and own a home that brings in some income.

There are current 56 different parcels in the City limits that are multi-family units that are also licensed vacation rentals and the City of South Lake Tahoe wants to prevent them from being rented, thus stopping the home owners from earning the needed income to keep their home.

During the most recent City Council meeting, the Council members voted unanimously to move forward an amendment to the Vacation Home Rental Ordinance that would ban multi-family units from being rented as a licensed vacation home. Several property owners spoke up against the changes while nobody from the public spoke for it. Former Mayor Hal Cole said the multi-family units were never meant to be in this ordinance and that he didn't want visitors staying in apartments.

The people in the group don't necessarily think apartments should be a VHR, but smaller complexes (2-5 units) could easily be nice, and successful, vacation rentals.

Take the young couple who bought two cabins on one lot so they could live in one and rent out the other as a vacation home. Or the retired couple who bought a four-plex with their retirement savings so they could live in one unit, rent out another full-time, and leave the other two for vacation rentals. They all spoke at the meeting and pleaded to the council to protect their rights as property owners, otherwise they'd have to sell their property.

A group of affected locals, who all own properties that would be banned from the proposed ordinance amendments, met last week to discuss their options, and will be meeting again prior to the next City Council meeting. They have formed a group, the Protect South Lake Tahoe Project (PSLTP).

The 56 affected properties have been fixed up and maintained to compete in the rental home market which brings in an estimated $250,000 annually to the City's budget through collected Tourist Occupancy Tax (TOT).

Council members said their move would protect affordable housing, yet the formed group said their remodeled properties cost more than locals can pay for a permanent residence.

Melissa Wong, who organized PSLTP, said property owners like herself offer a niche that brings back visitors year after year. A multi-family unit normally costs less than a rental house, yet gives the guest a feeling of being part of Tahoe and the community.

When talking about multi-family units, the vacation rentals are not in apartment buildings. They are duplexes, many of where the owner is on one side and they rent out the second unit for needed income. As mentioned before, there are two cabins on one lot, or a home with a mother-in-law unit. One couple came to the PSLTP meeting and said they just invested $30,000 into a property so they could live in one of the units, and rent out the other. If the proposed amendment becomes code, they'd have to sell or be foreclosed on as they won't get the return on investment needed to keep the property.

Many of the those in attendance at the PSLTP meeting said vacation renters make better neighbors than many of the people who do live in the multi-family units. Police are out less often, they aren't noisy, they are respective of where they are staying, and the homes are generally clean and fixed up nicer than a lot of the homes around them.

Affordable housing in South Lake Tahoe is another issue, and not one that can be solved by taking away the permits of the 56 parcel owners, according to PSLTP. They created a new website, www.protectslt.org to spread their message of community organizing and advocacy.