STATELINE, Nev. — Douglas County has suspended issuing new vacation home rental permits in the Tahoe Township until commissioners can make changes to the ordinance.

After a lengthy, and at some points heated, discussion on a regulatory framework for VHRs, the commission ultimately decided to punt the decision down the road.

Part of the recommendations by the county manager and a VHR task force included a cap of 725 VHR permits in Tahoe, which would account for about 13% of home stock. As of March 2020, there were 533 active permits.

There was also discussion of extending VHRs into the rest of the county, or at least the East Fork Township, where VHRs are currently banned.

Commissioner Danny Tarkanian led most of the discussion, and while he said there were some recommendations he agreed with, he ultimately wanted to hold the issuance of new permits until certain issues were addressed.

One of the main sticking points for him were permits that had been issued to homes in general improvement districts and homeowners associations where commercial activity was banned, as well as within the home’s covenants, conditions, and restrictions.

Another issue was possible buffer zones around VHRs so they aren’t clustered in certain neighborhoods.

The conversation got heated when it came time to making the motion, because Tarkanian wanted to see the suspension of new permits (which would be a resolution) and the ban on permits with GIDs, HOAs or CCRs where commercial activity isn’t allowed (which would be a code change). In short, he was trying to do two different things within one motion.

He ultimately backed off on the second part, but wants it brought up again in the future.

The commissioners unanimously approved giving direction to staff to draft a resolution suspending new VHR permits until further notice that will presented at a future meeting.

In the meantime, staff will continue massaging VHR ordinance changes.