||| FROM SFGATE.COM ||| Repint at request of Orcasonian reader


Six months into a moratorium that halted short-term rentals permits in North Lake Tahoe, Placer County is considering a new set of rules to rein in the proliferation of vacation rentals and protect what little housing inventory remains for locals.

The new ordinance would cap the number of short-term rentals in eastern Placer County, permitting about 25% of current housing stock on Tahoe’s North Shore and West Shore, from Kings Beach to Homewood, and Olympic Valley and Northstar, to operate as short-term rentals. 

Local residents say the new rules don’t go nearly far enough. Many want the county to crack down on short-term rentals even more.

Nearly 200 people, in person and via Zoom, attended the public hearing for the new short-term rental ordinance, held at a Placer County Board of Supervisors meeting in Tahoe City on Tuesday. 

Dozens of commenters, most full-time Tahoe residents who have been in the area anywhere from a couple of years to several decades, spoke up at the meeting, urging the board to take stronger action. Instead of granting more short-term rental permits, as the proposed ordinance would do, local residents pleaded with the board to reduce the number of permits, bring balance back to neighborhoods that are overwhelmed by vacationers and alleviate pressure on a housing crisis that is displacing the workforce, disrupting businesses and sinking the quality of life for local residents.

“I know so many contributors to this community — teachers, people who work in hospitals, people who work in utilities, people who work in restaurants — that are not able to either rent here or buy homes, and it is absolutely heartbreaking,” said Ellie Perry, a North Tahoe resident, at the meeting. “Every time one of those houses is turned into, essentially, another hotel, that’s one less home for somebody who’s actually contributing to this community.”

Lake Tahoe has been trying to regulate and enforce the proliferation of Airbnbs across the basin for years, and the rules are anything but consistent. There are five separate counties in the basin, each with their own jurisdiction and philosophies. Last year, the city of South Lake Tahoe prohibited short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods. The town of Truckee is also in the midst of its own moratorium and debate on how to reign in short-term rentals.

The stakes are high. The need to regulate short-term rentals began as a nuisance issue, responding to noise, parking and trash violations. Then the pandemic hit, and Lake Tahoe experienced a surge of visitors unlike anything else in its history, as people heeded doctors’ recommendations to go outdoors while COVID raged. 

The fallout has transformed the way of life for most local residents, and it’s easy to see how that happened by looking at the real estate numbers. In April 2020, the median price of a single family home in North Tahoe was $660,000, according to a report compiled by Placer County staff. By November of 2021, that figure jumped 178% to a $1.175 million median sale price. Of all the homes sold in 2021, nearly 40% were cash offers, according to the Sierra Board of Realtors.

READ FULL ARTICLE


**If you are reading theOrcasonian for free, thank your fellow islanders. If you would like to support theOrcasonian CLICK HERE to set your modestly-priced, voluntary subscription. Otherwise, no worries; we’re happy to share with you.**