Vote may impact 2 towns
Pacific Grove, South Tahoe wait for results on vacation rentals
Two California tourist towns could be on the verge of banning vacation-home rentals in residential neighborhoods.
Ballot measures to phase out short-term rentals are narrowly ahead in South Lake Tahoe and well ahead in Pacific Grove. Both cities have seen a surge in vacation rentals since the advent of do-it-yourself rental sites such as VRBO.com and Airbnb.
Those preliminary results stand in stark contrast to a similar measure in the resort community of Palm Springs, which lost by a wide margin in June.
In Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula, 58.2 percent of 5,233 votes counted were in favor of Measure M, which would ban short-term rentals (of less than 30 days) in residential areas outside the coastal zone and phase out existing ones within 18 months.
In South Lake Tahoe, a measure to shut down short-term rentals outside the tourist core
area after three years is leading with 51.2 percent of 4,577 votes cast. That narrow 113-vote margin could change when all vote-by-mail ballots are counted. El Dorado County has up 30 days to certify the election.
The grassroots group that gathered enough signatures to place Measure T on the ballot hasn’t claimed victory.
“It’s still pretty promising at this point,” said Peggy Bourland, a leader with Tahoe Neighborhoods Group.
Almost 1,400 of South Lake Tahoe’s roughly 1,800 licensed vacation rentals are outside the tourist core. If Measure T passes, those 1,400 rentals could continue operating through 2021, but if they are sold or go out of business, that permit could not go to someone else like it can now. After three years, any that remain could no longer operate as short-term rentals, although they could rent for more than 30 days at a time.
One provision of the measure would take effect 10 days after results are certified and accepted by the city. It would reduce occupancy limits on short-term rentals in residential areas. That could impact some existing reservations, although the South Lake Tahoe city attorney said last week that “some enforcement discretion will have to be used.”
In December, South Lake Tahoe capped shortterm rentals in residential neighborhoods at 1,400 and implemented regulations and steep fines aimed at curbing noise and parking complaints.
Bourland said her group started an initiative campaign after failing to reach a compromise with City Council that would have set a lower cap on vacation rentals and required a minimum distance between them.
Most vacation-home owners couldn’t vote on the measure because their primary residence is elsewhere. Although vacation-home owners could argue the measure would deprive them of rights they had when they purchased the property, Bourland said, “Those of us that bought our houses in residential neighborhoods have had the rules changed on us. I didn’t buy my house in 1975 to be living next to a motel.”
All three City Council members who were up for re-election, including Mayor Wendy David, opposed Measure T and all three appear to have lost. David said she was “saddened” by the outcome and believed her loss “was one of the unfortunate fallouts of Measure T.” The three apparent winners also opposed Measure T, but weren’t part of the council that set the rules and caps that supporters found inadequate.
David said she knew the vote would be close because most people understood both sides of the issue. But once they got in the voting booth, it probably came down to whether they felt shortterm rentals were disrupting their lives or crucial to their livelihoods.
“We are hopeful that a compromise can be reached,” said Jerry Bindel, general manager of Forest Suites Resort and a director of the South Lake Tahoe Lodging Association, which opposed Measure T. If the measure passes, any changes would need voter approval. However, it’s possible that the city could reach a compromise through zoning, perhaps by expanding the tourist core area, he said.
Asked what other tourist towns could learn from this, Bindel said, “every town’s dynamic is a little bit different.” They need to understand how short-term rentals affect everything from housing shortages to tourism and “try your best to be proactive and come up with a balance before it comes to a vote that maybe nobody wanted.”
He said the lodging association opposed the measure, even though it could benefit some members who own hotels and motels, because it couldn’t predict the impact on tax revenues, the economy and a recreation center that is supposed to be funded with a tax on vacation rentals.
“Those are wild cards. We don’t know what’s going to happen,” Bindel said, adding that the mountain town still welcomes tourists.
Opponents of Measure T raised $365,000, compared with less than $2,000 by proponents.