When the BOCC heard the first draft of the vacation rentals back in February, only 2 members of the public spoke with concerns about the negative impacts of STR’s while a cadre of 10 real estate agents, property managers, STR owners and paid lobbyists objected to almost every facet of the proposed ordinance that might have been helpful to the community. So we don’t know exactly what will be in the regulations presented on 8/25, but here are the Items that the Board asked to either delete or dilute:

Inspections -No more unannounced inspections, so if you report over-occupancy, or a safety violation, no one can inspect in a timely manner.

Parking – Fewer (or maybe no) onsite parking spaces

Occupancy – More occupants will be allowed since children 5 and under won’t be counted.

Signage – No mandatory signs indicating the property is an STR.

But wait, there’s more…”

according to the minutes of the 2/25/20 meeting a number of changes were discussed

“There was significant discussion and the general direction from the Board was as follows: any owner who did what they were supposed to do and did not receive complaints would get a 1-year pass on having to comply with the new regulations; no exterior signage would be required for vacation rentals; outdoor speakers would be allowed in an effort to treat all residences the same; unannounced inspections would not be part of the ordinance; both renters and neighbors would have the ability to call Host Compliance to obtain information about where to lodge complaints; after an initial inspection for each unit, owners would be required to ensure all safety requirements were fulfilled each year while physical inspections would happen every three years; parcels with multiple detached units would be able to rent each out as separate STRs in areas where that policy did not conflict with TRPA regulations; children five years and younger would be exempt from occupancy limits…”