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City of South Lake Tahoe to reconsider vacation rental ban

Adam Jensen
ajensen@tahoedailytribune.com

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — After fielding several concerns from South Shore property owners, the South Lake Tahoe City Council will reconsider a proposed ban on multi-family properties serving as vacation home rentals.

The council approved several changes to its Vacation Home Rental Ordinance at its Tuesday meeting this week, but voted to remove references to multi-family properties from the changes following protests from numerous property owners.

The council voted 3-0 to approve the changes, with councilmen Tom Davis and Hal Cole recusing themselves from the discussion due to potential economic interests in the outcome of the vote.



Concerns about how multi-family properties serving as vacation rentals could impact the availability of affordable housing at the South Shore has been a consideration driving discussion of the ban.

About a dozen property owners spoke to the council on Tuesday and expressed concerns about how a ban on multi-family properties serving as vacation rentals would take away a source of income and negatively impact their ability to live at the South Shore.



The council is expected to re-examine the issue of whether to allow multi-family properties to serve as vacation rentals at an upcoming meeting.

“I think we need to take a much more in-depth, more detailed look,” Mayor Wendy David said Tuesday.

On May 17, the council voted 4-0 to approve several changes to the city’s oft-controversial Vacation Home Rental Ordinance. Revisions included clarifications on how the ordinance interacts with Tahoe Regional Planning Agency rules, changes to allowed occupancy based on the number of paved parking spaces, a prohibition on self-limited occupancy and modifications to fines to reflect higher amounts for multiple violations, as well as the prohibition on multi-family units continuing as vacation home rentals.

At that meeting, David said the city is among the areas experiencing a “significant crisis” in the availability of affordable housing.

“It’s not just our community. This is region-wide. This is nationwide,” David said.


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