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Tahoe Neighborhoods Group submits signatures for VHR ballot initiative

A proposal to phase out vacation home rentals outside the tourist core and commercially zoned areas in South Lake Tahoe moved one step closer to appearing before voters in November.

The Tahoe Neighborhoods Group submitted 1,651 petition signatures to the South Lake Tahoe City Clerk on Monday, April 30.

As previously reported by the Tribune, the group needs at least 1,036 valid signatures in order to qualify for the November ballot.

“The Tahoe Neighborhoods Group would like to thank the many community members that helped gather signatures for the Vacation Rental Initiative. … This grassroots effort supports the idea that the people who live here should be the ones to decide what they want in their residential neighborhoods,” the group stated in a press release.

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The signatures will head to the El Dorado County Elections Department, which has 30 days to verify the signatures. Assuming at least 1,036 of those are verified, the measure then heads back to the city in order to have City Council adopt a resolution putting it on the November ballot, according to the South Lake Tahoe City Clerk’s Office.

If the initiative makes it to the ballot, voters will decide whether VHRs outside the tourist core and commercially zoned areas should be phased out over a three-year period.

Permanent residents would be allowed to rent out their home or a unit on the same parcel for up to 30 days a year. It does not apply to VHRs within the tourist core.

Earlier this month, a different group submitted a petition that would tighten some VHR restrictions, including occupancy rates and noise, among others, while maintaining the current cap of 1,400 VHRs outside the tourist core.

Language submitted to the city states the proposal seeks to strike a balance “between maintaining the economic viability of vacation home rentals as an important element of the city’s tourism industry, while at the same time placing certain restrictions on the establishment and management vacation home rentals in order to protect and preserve the quality of life in the city’s residential neighborhoods.”

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to clarify the initiative does not impact VHRs in the tourist core and commercially zoned areas.


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