This letter is a rebuttal of a letter Shayla Hope sent county commissioners recently supporting VHRs at Tahoe Beach Club.
First, Hope is obviously conflicted due to her role as sales director. She would like to be able to sell units to all potential buyers, including those who wish to rent.
Second, she specifically mentions that she spoke to all of the residents and that the majority of owners are supportive of VHRs. This is absolutely not the case. In fact, the truth is the opposite. I have personally spoken with nearly half of the residents, none of whom have had such discussions with Hope. In fact, residents are quite upset at this misrepresentation.
I can assure you that the majority of residents have serious issues with VHRs, to the point that a committee was formed to recommend restrictions, including minimum stay length and maximum number of rental days, with the residents then surveyed to determine their level of support of such changes. That process was completed last October and, to date, nothing has been communicated or implemented. We have serious issues here with respect to both the size and number of VHRs.
We have two units that are clearly Tier 3 as they are advertised as accommodating more than 10 guests. One is a six-bedroom unit advertising 14-plus occupants and the other is actually two units owned by the same individual that can be combined to become a six-bedroom unit.
As for density, we already have eight permits issued for Tahoe Beach Club with at least one additional that was pending approval before the moratorium hit. This makes nearly 20% of our residences VHRs (46), which is far above what we, the majority, would want. We were sold an "exclusive" community, not a vacation community where strangers are coming and going on a regular basis.
We have experienced all the usual issues VHRs bring, including noise, disruptive behavior, and even vandalism of our beautiful new property. While it is true that we all knew VHRs would be allowed when we purchased our units, we never imagined the size or volume of rentals. It needs to be noted that we have no rules regarding VHRs whatsoever so we currently even allow nightly rentals. We have no minimum or maximum rental days or any such rules or restrictions. It is a complete free-for-all and it is out-of-control.
Unfortunately, our developer maintains control so we are unable to make changes to our CC&Rs at this time. The majority of residents desperately want restrictions. We do not expect VHRs to be completely eliminated but we do expect to have restrictions.
Another huge issue we face is parking. The majority of units have only one designated parking spot with a handful having two designated spots. The rest are guest spots and they are not in large supply. We just do not have the parking available to support VHRs. We hope that you will require a designated spot for every four guests, as discussed in your recent meetings, as this only seems fair.
We understand there has been a lot of discussion regarding where VHRs should and should not be and I have heard discussion regarding identifying a "tourist corridor," a buffer zone, and a purely residential area.
Please note Tahoe Beach Club is a gated community with a single access road. Commercial business should be prohibited in our community so I expect we will not be considered a tourist zone. We are between Edgewood and Nevada State Beach so we are located in a quiet neighborhood surrounded by nature. While we are a reasonable proximity to Heavenly Village, the casino district, etc., we are not a part of that scene in any way.
I would like to thank you for all of your hard work to do the right thing for our community and Lake Tahoe as a whole. Again, the majority of residents here in the Lake Tahoe basin and at Tahoe Beach Club do want a cap on VHRs, density rules (10% per building or community?), designated parking requirements, maximum/minimum number of days restrictions, etc.
We agree with the discussion that Tier 3 VHRs should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and restricted to homes on large acreage, not in condo or housing developments.
Gail Kennedy is an owner of a unit at Tahoe Beach Club.
