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Home My Public Portal AboutPublic Comment Brett Garrett Darrah Johnston From: Town of Truckee, CA <webmaster@townoftruckee.com> Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2020 1:24 PM To: Truckee; Hilary Hobbs Subject: *NEW SUBMISSION* Public Comment Form for Short-Term Vacation Rental Ordinance and Permit Program Public Comment Form for Short-Term Vacation Rental Ordinance and Permit Program Submission#: 513507 IP Address: 171.159.194.12 Submission Date: 08/29/2020 1:23 Survey Time: 3 minutes, 29 seconds You have a new online form submission. Note: all answers displaying"*****" are marked as sensitive and must be viewed after your login. Name brett garrett Email brett@b-garrett.com Phone (optional) Public Comment please see my comments in the attachment. lf your comment exceeds 2000 characters, please use the attachment function below to attach your comment in a separate document. Attachment truckee str ord comments brett garrett.docx Please ensure that you enter your email address in the box below and click the SUBMIT button to receive a copy of your submitted responses for Public Comment. Thank you, Town of Truckee This is an automated message generated by the Vision Content Management SystemTM.Please do not reply directly to this email. 1 [Brett's Comment:] 1 want to be 100% clear. 1 fully support ordinances regulating: • Noise • Fire safety • Parking • Traffic (speed etc) • Trash But 1 support these ordinance regulating the offenders and fining the offenders not a scapegoat group chosen based on basis and stereotypes. If an owner knowingly rents to more people than a home can safely support or refuses to have working fire alarms, exits, etc then by all means fine them but this can easily apply to owners with family and friends over, long term renters, short term renters, ski leases, and a number of other circumstances. If the offence is noise, trash, parking, speeding, or any other individual/group generated offense then fine the offender. 1 also support getting the enforcement out of the hands of HOAs that only has the mechanism for fining the home owner. By making individual town ordnances on noise/trash/parking/etc the enforcement options are enhanced. Below is the text of the city brief on the proposed ordnance and my comments. Please join me in opposing this discriminatory, unconstutional and wrong ordinance. Brett Garrett Short-Term Rental and Noise Ordinance Short-term rentals (STRs) are residential units rented for 30 days or less, typically advertised as vacation rentals. The Town of Truckee is in the process of developing an ordinance to regulate short-term rental operations and establish community-wide noise restrictions. Click here to review the Draft Ordinance. The public review and comment period is open until September 8, 2020 at 5:00 pm. Background: On August 11, 2020, Truckee Town Council directed Town staff to draft a short-term rental ordinance to address community nuisance impacts and specific issues associated with short-term rentals, such as trash, occupancy limits, parking, and fire safety. The Staff Report is available here. How to Submit a Public Comment: Comments may be submitted via the Public Comment form. As applicable, please reference the specific section of the ordinance to which your comment pertains. To review submitted comments, click here. The public review and comment period is open until September 8, 2020 at 5:00 pm. Staff will collect and review these comments, consider updates as necessary, and present the draft ordinance to the Town Council at the September 22, 2020 Town Council Meeting. Proposed Short-Term Rental Ordinance Highlights This is not an exhaustive list. Please review the full Draft Ordinance for additional details. [Brett's Comment:j 1 have read the full draft, so my comments are based on the full document and not just what is listed here. Executive summary: Generally speaking trying to regulate one group to achieve the end results that are not limited to that group is wrong. Noise, trash, overloaded parking, etc can and often is generated by ski leases, long term rentals, and even owners that use their homes for family/friend vacations. If reduction of those issues, Noise/parking/trash, is the goal of this ordinance then the ordinance should concentrate on those items and not be targeting a group. The proposed ordinance is also discriminatory and remembrance of the a time when landlords would refuse to rent to military (specifically Sailors in many cases). At least part of this ordinance is punitive and targets lower income individuals that may not be able to afford a Truckee hotel or 2/3/4 days in a STR. The proposed ordinance also places a unfair and unnecessary duration restriction that is not applied to local hotels. Although 1 feel most of the proposed rules should be either general rules for the entire population or addressed to all rentals if STRs are to be unfairly singled out then there should also be provisions to differentiate between rentals of entire homes and those of individual rooms with owners on site 24/7. Please see the items below for specific comments Registration: An annual short-term rental (STR) registration certificate and registration fee will be required for all STRs operating in Truckee, including those within homeowner associations. [Brett's Comment:] • STRs pay 12% tax with a proposed increase to 14% this should be sufficient to pay for any registration • As in any business STR owners spend a considerable amount of money and time ensuring adequate facilities. There needs to be some assurance that the registration will be extended year after year provided the STR facility does not change. • The potential income from STRs differs greatly based on size, rooms rented, etc. The registration fee needs to be tiered so STRs renting out a single room will not be paying for the admin cost of entire home rental. Occupancy Limit: No more than two people per bedroom plus two additional people will be permitted, excluding children under five. [Brett's Comment:J • Consideration must be given to multipurpose rooms. A more precise measurement would be the number of people using a single bathroom. Parking: On-site parking shall be provided and no parking will be permitted on the street or in an unpaved area. STRs in the Downtown Mixed Use (DMU) zoning district may propose an alternative parking plan designating off-site parking. [Brett's Comment:] • If the goal is to reduce street parking then this should apply to long term rentals, owned homes, ski leases, etc • A rule restricting on street parking with exceptions for street sealing etc would be a reasonable regulation, no need to single out STRs • This should be a universal rule and has no place in a STR ordinance Noise: Noise regulations, including quiet hours between 10 pm and 7 am will be imposed (applies town-wide, not just to STRs). [Brett's Comment:] • Agree with "applies town-wide, not just to STRs". There is no need to single out the STRs and this does not belong in a STR ordinance. • This should be a universal rule and has no place in a STR ordinance Garbage: Accumulation of trash and debris outside of a short-term rental at any time is prohibited. A bear resistant trash enclosure will be required at each STR to manage trash and protect wildlife. Operators will have until 10/31/2022 to install a bear resistant trash enclosure. [Brett's Comment:] • The full document requires 2 trash cans. There is no need to specify the number of trash cans, the "Accumulation of trash and debris outside of a short-term rental at any time is prohibited" • If the goal is to reduce trash then this should apply to long term rentals, owned homes, ski leases, etc • This should be a universal rule and has no place in a STR ordinance Fire Safety: Working fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, and visible address numbers will be required at each short-term rental, and rentals will be prohibited from having outdoor fire pits or charcoal grills. The operator of each short-term rental shall allow Truckee Fire Protection District staff to conduct an inspection once every three years to ensure compliance with these requirements and with Truckee Fire Protection District defensible space requirements. [Brett's Comment:] • This section needs to be modified for those STRs with live in owners. • The "fire pits or charcoal grills"prohibition should only apply the areas accessible or used by the renters. Minimum Stay: Two-night minimum rental length will be required. [Brett's Comment:] • What is the purpose of this rule? The stated goal of the ordinance is to reduce noise, trash, parking issues, and traffic. o Does having a 2 night rental vs 2 ea 1 night rentals ensure less noise? NO o Does having a 2 night rental vs 2 ea 1 night rentals ensure less trash? NO o Does having a 2 night rental vs 2 ea 1 night rentals ensure less cars (parking issues)? NO o Does having a 2 night rental vs 2 ea 1 night rentals ensure less traffic? NO • This is discriminatory and targets low income families that may not be able to afford Truckee area hotels and/or 2 or more days in a STR. • There are numerous renters that come to Truckee in the winter to ski on Saturday, stay overnight, and ski again Sunday prior to returning home. This proposed rule would unfairly penalize these individuals. There are also numerous Airbnb renters just passing through. • This restriction will be challenges in court as decimation and will reflect badly on Truckee as a town of elitist that wish to ban low income families from enjoying the benefits and beauty of our area. Special Events: Weddings, corporate events, commercial functions, and any other similar events will be prohibited at STRs. [Brett's Comment:J • The full document states "Special events. Weddings, corporate events, commercial functions, and any other similar events which have the potential to cause traffic, parking, noise or other problems in the neighborhood are prohibited from occurring at a short-term rental property." These problem can be caused by LTR, owned facilities, ski leases, etc. • The rules need to address the offence and actual occurrence and NOT be used to penalize groups that "have the potential" to cause issues. Local Contact Person: Every STIR must have a designated local contact person to be available by telephone on a twenty-four hour basis and to be physically present at the short-term rental within sixty minutes of contact by the Town of Truckee or guest. [Brett's Comment:J • This rule should apply to any rental and/or home used any anyone other than the owner. • This should be a universal rule and has no place in a STR ordinance Interior posting: All STRs will be required to post STIR rules, including occupancy, garbage, parking, and noise restrictions; contact information for the designated local contact person; emergency evacuation information; and notice of financial penalties for violations. [Brett's Comment:] • It should be made clear that while the owner is responsible for violations on His/he part the renter shall be responsible for fines accessed for individual conduct to include but not limited to: o Parking o Noise o Trash • Items accessed to the landlord/owner are the only ones that should impact their permit renewal. Registration Process: The registration certificate requirement will take effect January 1, 2021, provided that operators without a certificate will not be in violation of STR certificate requirement until April 1, 2021. [Brett's Comment:J • As in any business STR owners spend a considerable amount of money and time ensuring adequate facilities. There needs to be some assurance that the registration will be extended year after year provided the STR facility does not change. • The potential income from STRs differs greatly based on size, rooms rented, etc. The registration fee needs to be tiered so STRs renting out a single room will not be paying for the admin cost of entire home rental. • STRs with existing registration numbers and that have been paying city taxes should be grandfathered for 2021. Compliance: An administrative penalty of up to $500 per day may be imposed for each violation for a first administrative citation, and up to $1,000 per day for each violation contained in a second or subsequent administrative citation. A Short-term rental certificate will be revoked if a unit receives three citations within a 12-month period, and a new certificate shall not be issued for a period of 12 months. [Brett's Comment:] • If this ordinance is passed then it should replace and make invalid any/all HOA rules concerning STRs. • Items accessed to the landlord/owner are the only ones that should impact their permit renewal. General Comments: Historically our government has attempted to correct problems with a shotgun approach targeted to a group or groups. Each time this has failed and eventually been declared unconstitutional and discriminatory. We banned and/or treated differently one group after another from the prohibition of backs to vote to the internment of Japanese citizens by portraying them as villains. Each time we later had to recant and apologize. It may not be instantly apparent to some but this is the same sort of stereotyping and discrimination. It will end in lawsuits and apologies. Statistically red cars have more accidents and tickets but we do not make laws based on the color of the car. We should also not make rules based on the length of time a person rents. Brett Garrett 12889 Davos Drive Truckee Ca 96161 530 386 7324