New year, new rules for vacation rentals around northern Lake Tahoe in Placer County
New regulations for vacation rentals in the Placer County portion of Lake Tahoe went into effect Wednesday that are intended to curb noise and parking issues.
The ordinance establishes a new permit for homeowners looking to run a vacation rental on their property, defines quiet hours between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., and requires bear bins for garbage on-site, among other mandates.
The new rules are the latest of a series of ordinances recently approved around the popular alpine tourist destination, as residents say they’ve become increasingly troubled by the loud parties, limited parking, growing traffic and unattended trash that often comes with more than 3 million visitors flocking to Tahoe each year.
After 10 p.m., a vacation rental can have a maximum of two adults per bedroom, plus two additional people excluding children under 16. That means four adults and any number of young children could sleep in a one-bedroom vacation rental home located in the Placer County part of Lake Tahoe under the new rules.
Since the vast majority of Placer County’s vacation rental homes are in the North Lake Tahoe region, the ordinance only applies to properties above 5,000 feet in elevation. That includes rentals in places such as Homewood, Tahoe City, Carnelian Bay and Kings Beach.
“We look forward to welcoming our visitors who help make Tahoe such a vibrant place,” Placer County Supervisor Cindy Gustafson said in a statement. “We want everyone to enjoy their time here. But we also want to have clear rules in place for our guests that help ensure they observe the same courtesies in our neighborhoods as they would expect back home.”
In addition, outdoor wood-burning fires and charcoal grills are banned from vacation rentals, on- or off-site parking is required, and property owners have to designate a local point of contact who can quickly respond in person to any complaints about their guests.
Permits will cost about $337 for privately operated properties, and about $200 for professionally managed properties. Those permit fees will help cover the estimated annual cost to administer the short-term rental program, as well as the cost of fire inspections by local fire departments.
Hotels, timeshares and homes within resorts, such as Sugar Bowl, are exempt from the permit requirement.
In recent years, municipalities on the California side of Lake Tahoe have been upping regulations of vacation rentals. Placer’s southern neighbor, El Dorado County, updated its policy in 2018 — establishing, among other things, occupancy restrictions for short-term vacation rentals.
In South Lake Tahoe, voters approved a ballot measure in 2018 that would ban short-term vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods owned by non-permanent residents entirely by 2022, and immediately limit the number of people who could stay in vacation rentals.
But a lawsuit filed against the controversial measure soon after it passed has paused enforcement. The case is ongoing, with the city saying in September it plans to defend Measure T in court, according to the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
Permits for vacation rentals in Placer County’s Lake Tahoe area will have to be renewed annually, and applications will be available Jan. 20 on the county’s website.
This story was originally published January 1, 2020 at 5:00 AM.