STATELINE, Nevada — Advisory board members spent an additional five hours on the code governing vacation home rentals on Wednesday, Jan. 11.
They reached the 10th page of the 23rd page of the code revision they were tasked with and paused after a brief preview of the density rules for rentals on Lake Tahoe.
Vacation rentals are not permitted in East Fork Townships, including counties outside the Tahoe Basin.
Closing out the public comment, Property Manager Heidi Gunter summarized the dilemmas the Advisory Board faces as it continues to work on the code.
“All of your hard work can get thrown out the window, which is very frustrating,” she said.
Chairman Mickey Hempler said the goal is to approve the ordinance amendments by March so that the Planning Commission and county commissions can consider them.
“We have a lot to think about and a very short goalpost to get Round 1 into the planning committee,” she said.
Density can be the toughest part of the panel’s job, especially since Commissioner Danny Tarkanian is pushing his own take on how rentals should be distributed on Lake Tahoe.
Tarkanyan has expressed frustration that his plan to ban renting north of Cave Rock has not yet received a hearing before the county board.
He raised the issue again on Monday, voting against Mark Gardner for chairman and Wes Rice for vice chairman.
Tarkanian’s board summary, published in October after Commissioner Walt Nausad’s failed attempt to ban VHR, said he had been trying to put his proposal on the committee’s agenda for months.
He said he was told by Gardner that it was not yet time to discuss the matter.
On Wednesday, the panel appeared to agree with the Chair.
Vice President Lauren Roman said some of the suggestions she heard scared her.
“When you shrink one area, you put more pressure on others,” she said Wednesday.
“We have a little more experience with the area here,” said panel member Patti Graf. “BOCC is watching everything and cutting across the board.”
Density issues are important to neighbors and vacation home rental owners.
Tier 2 and 3 rentals on the lake have a cap of 600, but that cap does not apply to Tier 1 rentals.
The commission is discussing the possibility of holding public hearings in each of Lake Tahoe’s 39 regions, seeking public comment on the density of each region.
Density rules that apply to the new code will not affect existing permits, said attorney AJ Hames.
“I want to remind the board that we don’t know if either will pass the county board,” he said.
So far, the county commissioner has agreed with the advisory board to appeal the denial.
