HomeMy Public PortalAboutPublic Comment Sandy Horn Darrah Johnston
From: Sandy Horn <truckeesandy@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 8, 2020 11:45 AM
To: Anna Klovstad; David Tirman; David Polivy; Jessica Abrams; Tony Commendatore;
Truckee; Anderson Richard
Subject: STR Ordinance Feedback
In order to provide feedback to the ordinance information, I must first express my gratitude to the
Town, the Council and staff in terms of the speed in which this has been put together. I also would
like to commend the requirements put forth in regards to having a local contact person who is
available for immediate contact, the quantitative limit based on bedroom capacity, parking, garbage
capacity, no special events, the three strikes termination policy and that the certificate doesn't run
with the land. These all are very well thought out and seem to address the bulk of the issues that our
community has had issue with this year.
I do have a few questions and comments though.
I am wondering if there will be a limit to the quantity of certificates issued. Our community faces a
shortage of housing for our workforce, if we allow unfettered use of homes for short term rentals it
furthers the issues of our local workforce being unable to live in the community. If not now, there may
need to be consideration for the capacity of what we can handle in terms of the quantity of rentals
available. There may need to be incentives put in place to encourage owners to go into long term
rather than short term rentals.
In terms of zoning, there is a mention of needing a special use permit for Bed & Breakfasts should
they not be in a specific zoning area; it would seem that the certification process would take the place
of the special use permit or should a permit be required in addition to the certification. I am curious if
this really provides enough assurance to the neighbors that the STIR next door is being operated with
respect to the neighborhood rather than that the property being operated as a business next door.
Perhaps I have overlooked the mechanisms for triggering enforcement. In reading through the
ordinance there are excellent statements as to what happens with violations, but I do not see what
happens to alert the town to violations. What will be the mechanism available to track if a home is
being used as a rental? How will uncertificated properties be traced, found and cited? Is there a
method to track what houses are being rented and which are actually permitted? And finally, once
there are violations in play who or what will take responsibility to enforce the ordinances. Is this
something that will actually evolve into a working model for considerate use of the properties in the
area or will it be something that just causes more frustration when violations are pointed out and no
one enforces the ordinance?
While I also appreciate the requirement to post emergency evacuation information, it seems very
vague, and only shows up in the posting requirements. Should owners request or require renters to
sign up for the Nixle system for notifications? Will emergency postings be addressed further with the
Town, Fire District and other invested parties having a discussion and setting forth guidelines for each
subdivision? It would seem important to have very specific information in terms of emergency
notifications, evacuation routes, this information should cover education of winter and summer
extremes in terms of preparedness.
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Once again, thank you to the Town, the Council and staff for their rapid response in moving forward
to address the issues that have been brought up by our community members.
Best Wishes,
Sandy Horn
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