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Agenda Item
10. Recommendation to provide direction to staff on initiation of amendments to Washoe County Code Chapters 110 (Development Code) and 125 (Administrative Enforcement Code) pursuant to WCC Sections 2.030 and 110.818.05, to create the necessary code language to limit the number of short-term rentals (STRs) operating in unincorporated Washoe County. The amendments may include, but are not limited to, the establishment of a cap on the overall number of STR permits issued, the basis for such a cap, the area of applicability, and method(s) of implementation. The amendments may also include other changes to streamline and clarify current STR permitting and enforcement processes; and direct the County Clerk to submit the request to the District Attorney's Office for preparation of the proposed ordinance(s) in accordance with WCC 2.040. Virtual Public Comment Eligible. Community Services. (All Commission Districts.) FOR POSSIBLE ACTION
The Incline Village REALTORS® Public Policy Committee is adamantly opposed to the proposed cap on the number of permits to be allocated to property owners in Washoe County. This practice is poor policy that creates a commoditization of public assets, disrupts a healthy and stable market with further government intervention, and makes changes to an ordinance that will cause more unforeseen problems than currently exist.
An implementation of a cap on the number of Short-Term Rental permits allowed in Washoe County commoditizes a public asset that incentivizes property owners to apply for, hold, and never use the permit; this practice will decrease transient occupancy revenue, negatively impact small businesses in Incline Village, and ruin the struggling housing market in the Washoe-Tahoe area.
The housing market has already established an effective cap that has steadily decreased the number of permits sustainable. The current number of active Short-Term Rental Permits sits at 685 and has only declined from its peak of over 800 when the program was implemented.
Of an estimated 47,000 stays during the operating period of the STR program, there have been 517 complaints, which is a complaint rate of 0.01% of stays, further proving that the current ordinance is working effectively.
The idea that Short-Term Rental permits take away from the workforce housing stock is a widespread fallacy. The Tahoe Prosperity Center’s Tahoe Roadmap acknowledges that the majority of Short-Term Rentals are owned by people that occupy the property part-time and would not convert their property to a long-term rental. The solution to the workforce housing issue in Washoe-Tahoe is more inventory through private-public partnerships, not infringement on private property rights.
The Incline Village REALTORS® Public Policy Committee asks the Washoe County Commission to not consider the cap to limit the number of Short-Term Rental permits in Washoe County. For the reasons stated above, a cap is poor policy that will create more issues than currently exist and will be an infraction on private property rights that disproportionately impacts a specific geographic area of Washoe County.
I STRONGLY support moves to cap short-term rentals (STRs). The 650-850 that currently exist in Incline Village/Crystal Bay (unincorporated Washoe County) impose great burden on the community in the areas of trash, noise, traffic congestion, infrastructure demands, parking problems, etc., etc. STRs also contribute to housing shortages and fuel overtourism problems.
The toothless STR ordinance approved in 2021 turned our once peaceful, safe residential neighborhoods into quasi hotel districts. Please don't allow lobbying led by Airbnb and other out-of-town business interests further harm our communities. Please cap STRs at 200 housing units, and for resident well-being and peace, restrict STRs to commercial zones where they belong.
Like other residents who have been negatively impacted by STRs, I believe it is urgent that staff be instructed to act immediately on this item. Finally, given the increased dangers of wildfires and extreme weather events, I also believe that any STRs should be required to have regular in-person inspections to ensure public safety and health standards are upheld. Thank you.
I support increasing fees on short term rentals to cover the costs of administering these dwellings.
I also support putting a cap on the number of short term rentals in Washoe County, particularly in Incline Village.
Here in Tyrolian Village, we already have 32 permitted STR's with at least another 9 or 10 operating without permits.
An aggressive group of STR owners recently forced a recall vote on our entire Board of Directors----causing our HOA to spend over $20,000 needlessly. Most of these STR owners are out of town investors with no interest in the concerns of the residents.
In my opinion, STR's are a commercial use which should be restricted to commercial zones and not allowed in residential neighborhoods-----especially in neighborhoods like Tyrolian Village that has very limited parking, very narrow streets and very limited access and egress.
Please CAP the Number of STR's in our neighborhood!
Thank You,
Daniel & Donna Zahm
1483 Tyrolian Dr
Incline Village, NV 89451
I STRONGLY support increasing fees on short-term rentals to cover administrative fees and a Washoe County Enforcement Officer. I also STRONGLY support capping the number of short-term-rentals in Washoe County, particularly in Incline Village. NV homeowners and tax-payers have begged and pleaded to be heard, including the Board of County Commissioners, about the degradation and destruction of our residential neighborhoods to the entitled STR cancer blight.
I am speaking on behalf of the more than 80 members of Concerned Neighbors of Tyrolian Village. Please consider this testimony equal to 80 public submissions. We support the proposal to amend the Washoe County Development Code to place a limit on STR permits and believe it is urgent that staff be instructed to act immediately. The number of STRs has already overwhelmed our community and the carrying capacity of our region. Your staff says there are 685 active STR permits, of which 642 (94%) are in Incline Village/Crystal Bay. We are a community of only 7,720 dwelling units. We have only 4 hospital beds, only one grocery store, only 3 stop lights, and a main road that is only 1 lane in each direction. Having nearly 10% of our available housing stock in STRs means there is no work-force housing, no long-term rental housing, congestion, traffic, and a degraded quality of life for those of us who live and vote here. Other jurisdictions in the Tahoe Basin have placed caps on STRs. Douglas County set a cap of 600 permits and has 25,367 dwelling units (about 2% are STRs). El Dorado County has a cap of 900 permits and a total of 94,837 dwelling units (less than 1% are STRs). Compare this to Incline Village with 642 permits for 7,720 units (8.3% of housing stock)-- far more than other locations. We believe the Commission should honor the extensive work done in 2021 to create the Washoe County Tahoe Area Plan. This plan established an Incline Village Commercial Zone and an Incline Village Tourist Zone. Following the lead of South Lake Tahoe, enact restrictions that limit STR permits to commercial and tourist zones only as set forth in the Area Plan. This will allow single family residential areas, such as Tyrolian Village, to return to providing workforce housing opportunities. This would respect the land use and density regulations set by TRPA in their Plan Area Statements and Community Plans, would make enforcement easier, and would preserve some of the STR revenues sent to the county. Further, to lessen the overall impacts and carrying capacity problems, set a cap of no more than 400 (about 5% of dwelling units) in these zones. Expiration of permits would allow an orderly lowering of the total.
When discussions about regulating STR's in Unincorporated Washoe County first initiated in August of 2019, the Board of County Commissioners asked County Staff to "establish simple, fair, and enforceable standards for short-term rentals that balances competing interests and maximizes voluntary compliance." The FAQ released to the public in September of 2019 stated that the Board desired to establish standards and a permitting process and not to ban STRs, as "experts across the industry have recognized that STRs continue to exist in jurisdictions where a ban is in place." Placing a cap on the number of STR permits issued is a DE FACTO BAN on STRs for those parcel owners that did not secure a permit before the maximum allotted number of permits were issued. Further, in 2019 County Staff estimated that there was roughly 500 to 1,000 distinct STR units operating at any given time within unincorporated Washoe County. Staff's presentation today states that there are exactly 685 STR permits issued in all of unincorporated Washoe County. Why is a cap on the number of STR permits being discussed and considered now when we are still very much near the low end of the forecasted number of STR units?
I support abolishing all STRs that are not in owner occupied homes.
STRs put an increased burden and risk on neighbors, neighborhoods, communities and infrastructure. Some of these STRs are permitted for an insane amount of transient traffic in and out of a residential zoned home. This is a slippery slope to someone opening a 24/7 convenience store out of their house.
These burdens and risks include but are not limited to:
More police for enforcement,
costs to neighbors for having to call police enforcement,
time costs of neighbors having to gather evidence to enforce the law,
neighbors having to install more security systems,
neighbors having to install more fences,
neighbors having to install more signs,
Greater strain on water systems, sewer septic systems, waste sanitation, roads.
Greater fire risk due to undercover parties (birthday, gender reveal and holiday celebrations), fireworks, firearms (in more rural STRs). STRs should be required by law to carry fire insurance to cover their neighbors and community.
Greater exposure to crime from transient tenants.
Greater burden of trespassing.
AirBNB had the good intention of allowing a home owner to rent part of their home to help them keep their home. I am in support of that. STRs should not be a for profit business. STRs should not be a commercial use in a residential zone. STRs should not be for those trying to keep a second, third, fourth, etc vacation home when so many can't even afford a single home. There is an affordable housing crisis in part of Washoe County. It is insulting to allow STRs as they currently exist while we have this crisis.
STRs have become a burden and externalized cost to society.
Transient guests and tourists don't have the higher level of pride and respect for where they live. If you don't own something or live somewhere full time, you are less likely to care about it's well being. Owners and owner occupied homes have a vested interest.
Personally, an STR has ruined my neighborhood. I didn't buy my property in a residential zone expecting to be next to a motel.
As you consider amendments and potential limitations to the number of STRs in unincorporated Washoe County, please consider the needs of communities that are not Incline Village, such as Gerlach. This is not one of those issues that should be applied equally across all areas of the County.
Dear County Commissioners,
The Incline Village REALTORS® Public Policy Committee is adamantly opposed to the proposed cap on the number of permits to be allocated to property owners in Washoe County. This practice is poor policy that creates a commoditization of public assets, disrupts a healthy and stable market with further government intervention, and makes changes to an ordinance that will cause more unforeseen problems than currently exist.
An implementation of a cap on the number of Short-Term Rental permits allowed in Washoe County commoditizes a public asset that incentivizes property owners to apply for, hold, and never use the permit; this practice will decrease transient occupancy revenue, negatively impact small businesses in Incline Village, and ruin the struggling housing market in the Washoe-Tahoe area.
The housing market has already established an effective cap that has steadily decreased the number of permits sustainable. The current number of active Short-Term Rental Permits sits at 685 and has only declined from its peak of over 800 when the program was implemented.
Of an estimated 47,000 stays during the operating period of the STR program, there have been 517 complaints, which is a complaint rate of 0.01% of stays, further proving that the current ordinance is working effectively.
The idea that Short-Term Rental permits take away from the workforce housing stock is a widespread fallacy. The Tahoe Prosperity Center’s Tahoe Roadmap acknowledges that the majority of Short-Term Rentals are owned by people that occupy the property part-time and would not convert their property to a long-term rental. The solution to the workforce housing issue in Washoe-Tahoe is more inventory through private-public partnerships, not infringement on private property rights.
The Incline Village REALTORS® Public Policy Committee asks the Washoe County Commission to not consider the cap to limit the number of Short-Term Rental permits in Washoe County. For the reasons stated above, a cap is poor policy that will create more issues than currently exist and will be an infraction on private property rights that disproportionately impacts a specific geographic area of Washoe County.
I STRONGLY support moves to cap short-term rentals (STRs). The 650-850 that currently exist in Incline Village/Crystal Bay (unincorporated Washoe County) impose great burden on the community in the areas of trash, noise, traffic congestion, infrastructure demands, parking problems, etc., etc. STRs also contribute to housing shortages and fuel overtourism problems.
The toothless STR ordinance approved in 2021 turned our once peaceful, safe residential neighborhoods into quasi hotel districts. Please don't allow lobbying led by Airbnb and other out-of-town business interests further harm our communities. Please cap STRs at 200 housing units, and for resident well-being and peace, restrict STRs to commercial zones where they belong.
Like other residents who have been negatively impacted by STRs, I believe it is urgent that staff be instructed to act immediately on this item. Finally, given the increased dangers of wildfires and extreme weather events, I also believe that any STRs should be required to have regular in-person inspections to ensure public safety and health standards are upheld. Thank you.
Dear Washoe County Commisioners,
I support increasing fees on short term rentals to cover the costs of administering these dwellings.
I also support putting a cap on the number of short term rentals in Washoe County, particularly in Incline Village.
Here in Tyrolian Village, we already have 32 permitted STR's with at least another 9 or 10 operating without permits.
An aggressive group of STR owners recently forced a recall vote on our entire Board of Directors----causing our HOA to spend over $20,000 needlessly. Most of these STR owners are out of town investors with no interest in the concerns of the residents.
In my opinion, STR's are a commercial use which should be restricted to commercial zones and not allowed in residential neighborhoods-----especially in neighborhoods like Tyrolian Village that has very limited parking, very narrow streets and very limited access and egress.
Please CAP the Number of STR's in our neighborhood!
Thank You,
Daniel & Donna Zahm
1483 Tyrolian Dr
Incline Village, NV 89451
8/21/23
I STRONGLY support increasing fees on short-term rentals to cover administrative fees and a Washoe County Enforcement Officer. I also STRONGLY support capping the number of short-term-rentals in Washoe County, particularly in Incline Village. NV homeowners and tax-payers have begged and pleaded to be heard, including the Board of County Commissioners, about the degradation and destruction of our residential neighborhoods to the entitled STR cancer blight.
Dianne Schmenk
I am speaking on behalf of the more than 80 members of Concerned Neighbors of Tyrolian Village. Please consider this testimony equal to 80 public submissions. We support the proposal to amend the Washoe County Development Code to place a limit on STR permits and believe it is urgent that staff be instructed to act immediately. The number of STRs has already overwhelmed our community and the carrying capacity of our region. Your staff says there are 685 active STR permits, of which 642 (94%) are in Incline Village/Crystal Bay. We are a community of only 7,720 dwelling units. We have only 4 hospital beds, only one grocery store, only 3 stop lights, and a main road that is only 1 lane in each direction. Having nearly 10% of our available housing stock in STRs means there is no work-force housing, no long-term rental housing, congestion, traffic, and a degraded quality of life for those of us who live and vote here. Other jurisdictions in the Tahoe Basin have placed caps on STRs. Douglas County set a cap of 600 permits and has 25,367 dwelling units (about 2% are STRs). El Dorado County has a cap of 900 permits and a total of 94,837 dwelling units (less than 1% are STRs). Compare this to Incline Village with 642 permits for 7,720 units (8.3% of housing stock)-- far more than other locations. We believe the Commission should honor the extensive work done in 2021 to create the Washoe County Tahoe Area Plan. This plan established an Incline Village Commercial Zone and an Incline Village Tourist Zone. Following the lead of South Lake Tahoe, enact restrictions that limit STR permits to commercial and tourist zones only as set forth in the Area Plan. This will allow single family residential areas, such as Tyrolian Village, to return to providing workforce housing opportunities. This would respect the land use and density regulations set by TRPA in their Plan Area Statements and Community Plans, would make enforcement easier, and would preserve some of the STR revenues sent to the county. Further, to lessen the overall impacts and carrying capacity problems, set a cap of no more than 400 (about 5% of dwelling units) in these zones. Expiration of permits would allow an orderly lowering of the total.
When discussions about regulating STR's in Unincorporated Washoe County first initiated in August of 2019, the Board of County Commissioners asked County Staff to "establish simple, fair, and enforceable standards for short-term rentals that balances competing interests and maximizes voluntary compliance." The FAQ released to the public in September of 2019 stated that the Board desired to establish standards and a permitting process and not to ban STRs, as "experts across the industry have recognized that STRs continue to exist in jurisdictions where a ban is in place." Placing a cap on the number of STR permits issued is a DE FACTO BAN on STRs for those parcel owners that did not secure a permit before the maximum allotted number of permits were issued. Further, in 2019 County Staff estimated that there was roughly 500 to 1,000 distinct STR units operating at any given time within unincorporated Washoe County. Staff's presentation today states that there are exactly 685 STR permits issued in all of unincorporated Washoe County. Why is a cap on the number of STR permits being discussed and considered now when we are still very much near the low end of the forecasted number of STR units?
I support abolishing all STRs that are not in owner occupied homes.
STRs put an increased burden and risk on neighbors, neighborhoods, communities and infrastructure. Some of these STRs are permitted for an insane amount of transient traffic in and out of a residential zoned home. This is a slippery slope to someone opening a 24/7 convenience store out of their house.
These burdens and risks include but are not limited to:
More police for enforcement,
costs to neighbors for having to call police enforcement,
time costs of neighbors having to gather evidence to enforce the law,
neighbors having to install more security systems,
neighbors having to install more fences,
neighbors having to install more signs,
Greater strain on water systems, sewer septic systems, waste sanitation, roads.
Greater fire risk due to undercover parties (birthday, gender reveal and holiday celebrations), fireworks, firearms (in more rural STRs). STRs should be required by law to carry fire insurance to cover their neighbors and community.
Greater exposure to crime from transient tenants.
Greater burden of trespassing.
AirBNB had the good intention of allowing a home owner to rent part of their home to help them keep their home. I am in support of that. STRs should not be a for profit business. STRs should not be a commercial use in a residential zone. STRs should not be for those trying to keep a second, third, fourth, etc vacation home when so many can't even afford a single home. There is an affordable housing crisis in part of Washoe County. It is insulting to allow STRs as they currently exist while we have this crisis.
STRs have become a burden and externalized cost to society.
Transient guests and tourists don't have the higher level of pride and respect for where they live. If you don't own something or live somewhere full time, you are less likely to care about it's well being. Owners and owner occupied homes have a vested interest.
Personally, an STR has ruined my neighborhood. I didn't buy my property in a residential zone expecting to be next to a motel.
As you consider amendments and potential limitations to the number of STRs in unincorporated Washoe County, please consider the needs of communities that are not Incline Village, such as Gerlach. This is not one of those issues that should be applied equally across all areas of the County.