Dear Editor,

It’s time for people living in South Lake Tahoe’s residential neighborhoods to stand up and let our elected council members know that zoning matters and that we want our neighborhoods protected from the intrusion and disruption of VHRs. The council has scheduled a special meeting at 5:30 on April 1 to consider this issue.  Let the council know what you want: Cody Bass, 530-318-6299 cbass@cityofslt.us, Tamara Wallace, 530-307-0749 twallace@cityofslt.us, David Jinkens, 530-318-2841, djinkens@cityofslt.us, Keith Roberts, 530-318-2840 kroberts@cityofslt.us, Scott Robbins, 530-307-0726, srobbins@cityofslt.us. Better yet, tell your friends and show up in person and ask the council to appeal this decision.

After six years of successfully defending Measure T against a series of lawsuits and legal maneuvering by a group of Realtors and VHR investors, the court ruled against one piece of Measure T that allowed local residents to short term rent their house for a total of 30 days each year. In our opinion, the court abused its discretion by ignoring the Measure’s Severability Clause and instead nullified all of the Measure. At the very least, the city council should see this protracted lawsuit to the end by exhausting all legal options.

For clarity: In their first lawsuit against the city in 2019, the investor group claimed that a ban on VHRs in neighborhoods violates property rights and was unconstitutional. The court found those claims to be Without Merit. In other words, banning VHRs in residential neighborhoods is legal and Constitutional.

The city should appeal this decision and defend the voters who passed Measure T in 2018, but they need to hear from the residents and voters who may believe their neighborhoods are safe from the return of VHRs.

Tahoe Neighborhoods Group