tourist

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The City Council has a long agenda to go through during their meeting that starts at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 6.

Some of the highlights:

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The winter of 2019 was a good one for both South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County retailers, ski resorts, restaurants and others whose businesses collect sales tax, including online retailers selling goods in the area.

The first sales tax report for 2019 has been released, with $2,580,475 in gross receipts in South Lake Tahoe during Q4/Q1 and $11,976,387 in the unincorporated areas of El Dorado County. During the same two-quarter period the year before, tax revenues were $2,390,631 and $9,925,645 respectively.

The third annual Lake Tahoe Boys and Girls Club Tahoe Brewfest will be held this Saturday, June 1 in the Heavenly Cal Lodge parking lot.

VIP tickets are sold out online (a few will be sold on Saturday) and they allow guests into the event at noon. The doors will open for everyone else at 1:00 p.m. and the event ends at 4:00 p.m.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - On the heels of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision that stated cities cannot criminalize sleeping on public property where there is no alternative shelter space available, the City Council Tuesday updated South Lake Tahoe's camping code.

Prior to Tuesday, the City Code prohibited camping on all public property, except in areas specifically designated for camping, but that was not enforceable since there is no permanent shelter in South Lake Tahoe at this time, just seasonal.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - For their initiative of tracking the cellular data from Lake Tahoe tourists, the Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) and Stantec Consulting Services Inc. will be presented with a national award later this month.

STATELINE, Nev. - Vacation Home Rentals (VHRs) in Douglas County were on last Thursday's agenda for the Board of County Commissioners, leading them to seek additional representatives for their newly appointed VHR Task Force.

Douglas County uses the services of Host Compliance, the same company hired by the City of South Lake Tahoe to seek out unlicensed VHRs and under-reported Tourist Occupancy Tax (TOT). They charge the County $94,000 annually for their services.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It has been just two weeks since the final count of the November 2018 election was certified in El Dorado County and there is already a lawsuit surrounding the outcome of Measure T.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Another round of votes were released Friday, narrowing the gap between yes and no on Measure T once again. The citizen generated measure call for a ban of all vacation rentals in South Lake Tahoe except for those in what is called the "tourist core."

49 votes were added to the Measure T count, 19 "for" and 30 "against."

There were approximately 2,600 vote by mail ballots still to count this week for all of El Dorado County which includes provisional ballots and 160 conditionals ballots from South Lake Tahoe.

That leaves about 1,800 left to tally.

LAKE TAHOE, CA/NV - It's been 38 years in the making. On Thursday, November 15, 2018, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Board of Directors unanimously approved the final joint environmental document for the US 50/South Shore Community Revitalization Project, also known as the "Loop Road."

Last week, the board of the Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) unanimously approved the same document, the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS/EIS).

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - An oversight committee will be established for the 2016 voter-approved Measure P which raised tourist accommodation tax (TOT) by two percent to build a new recreation center in South Lake Tahoe.

During Tuesday's City Council meeting the elected team reviewed criteria for the future committee, and what sectors of the community will be sought. Those chosen will take part in the review of how funds are spent and report back to the public.
"We promised the voters.

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.

Desperation – a state of despair, typically one that results in rash or extreme behavior.

This must be the mental state of those opposed to Measure T. The fear mongering they are resorting too has reached an all-time low. They are claiming voting YES on Measure T will: Cost us hundreds of million in lost revenue, the loss of the entire VHR TOT, cancel the Recreation Center project, cause the fire department to respond less quickly, etc… These people apparently have no shame in their desperation to sway the local voters from forcing VHRs to operate in areas where they are zoned.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - Years of collaboration with a variety of partners have brought to completion two major initiatives for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA). During their governing board meeting on October 24 a new Shoreline Plan was unanimously approved as was a comprehensive package of changes to the agency’s development rights system.

The South Lake Tahoe City Council today voted unanimously to hire Frank Rush as their new city manager starting December 5, 2018.

The 49-year-old Rush gave his notice to the Emerald Isle, NC town commissioners, resigning the position he'd held for 17 years in the small oceanside resort community.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Each of the nine candidates for City Council answered the same ten questions that were given to them by South Tahoe Now. For nine consecutive days the candidate's responses will be shared in the order received.

Today, the first-time candidate Devin Middlebrook gives his responses as he seeks a seat on the South Lake Tahoe City Council:

This September and October, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board will move forward with hearings and final milestone decisions on two significant initiatives: A new Shoreline Plan and an overhaul of the agency’s transferable development rights system.

TRPA will hold hearings for both these initiatives at the Governing Board meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 26, and could hold final votes on them as early as Wednesday, Oct. 24.

In classic Tahoe style, when there is a problem we study it. In the past five years, the housing issue has been studied on several fronts. In that time, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Placer County and the North Tahoe-Truckee area have all conducted Housing Studies and the City of South Lake Tahoe updated its Housing Element. What has been the result of all these studies? This column highlights the key recommendations from those studies and where we are now in terms of implementation.

Last month this column focused on the faces of Tahoe’s housing crisis. This month we look at a few promising solutions from other tourist communities.

One example is the Town of Vail’s “Vail InDEED” program. Like Tahoe, the Town of Vail is constrained by a lack of available land and high construction costs. Development of new housing is slow and costly. The Vail InDEED program was created to deed restrict existing properties to create a market for locals only.

As most people have experienced, cell phone coverage around Lake Tahoe can be trying at times, especially during heavy tourist days when thousands of extra users are in the area. Combine that with over half of homes ditching their land-lines and relying only on cell phones, demand has greatly increased.

Lake Tahoe cell phone coverage may soon be improved as Verizon is working with Liberty Utilities and NV Energy and local governments to place small, seven-foot, grounded cell towers on top of current power poles on all sides of the lake.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Your chariot has arrived!

The League to Save Lake Tahoe has teamed with Chariot to bring a new microtransit service to the South Shore starting on Monday, July 9. They will use the busy summer traffic-congested tourist area to test a solution for transportation issues around the lake.

There are four people running for El Dorado County Supervisor for the 5th District on June 5: Incumbent Sue Novasel and challengers Kenny Curtzwiler, Norma Santiago and Jeffrey Spencer. The 5th District covers Pollock Pines to South Lake Tahoe and Tahoma.

South Tahoe Now asked each candidate the same questions, and here are all of their answers, exactly as they were presented to us.

Sue Novasel
Occupation: El Dorado County Supervisor – District V
Past political history:
2015 – Present: County Supervisor, District V

One thing is certain, something has to change or there will not be enough money to operate buses around the South Shore of Lake Tahoe. What isn't certain is how those changes will look, where extra funding can come from, or if services will have to be cut.

During Friday's Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) board meeting, options to keep a sustainable transit system in place for Lake Tahoe were discussed. Buses continue to operate at a loss and that cannot continue, according to the TTD staff.

South Lake Tahoe voters went to the polls on November 8, 2016 and approved Measure P, a Tourist Accommodation Tax (TOT) increase of two percent to fund a new $25 million recreation complex in the city.

Now that new center is at jeopardy.

If you drive through Meyers on a Sunday you've most likely come across gridlock traffic through the neighborhoods as vehicles trying to head west after their South Lake Tahoe weekend look for the quickest route, courtesy of smart phone apps.

El Dorado County Supervisor Sue Novasel held a Town Hall meeting on February 28, providing a forum for residents, law enforcement and staff to discuss solutions. One suggestion that came out of that meeting was put into place on Sunday, March 4 and was fairly successful.