HomeMy Public PortalAboutPublic Comment Tal Fletcher My name is Tal Fletcher. I can be reached at 530.412.0807 or talfletcher27@vahoo.com.
Please contact me by phone or email if there is an opportunity to discuss this further. I would
love to participate in some sort of a working group or round table discussion as our community
works through improving upon our STR situation.
Thanks for the chance to share our position and for the taking the time to read the following
thoughts.
I have lived in Truckee/Tahoe area since 1993. 1 bought my home in Sierra Meadows in 2003,
where my wife and I are raising our 3 year old daughter and plan to stay indefinitely. I am a
small business owner and a long term stakeholder in our community. We have made a 6-figure,
30-year investment and commitment to our home and have enjoyed (relied upon) the flexibility
that occasional STR usage provides us.
Our home is a 4bd/3ba with a 2 car garage and driveway parking for 4 cars. Our family lives full
time in the downstairs portion of the house, which is 3bd/2ba. The additional 1bd and 1ba are
located above the garage with a separate entrance and mini-kitchenette. We often use the
upstairs space for our visiting friends/family, as an office or as a play space for our daughter and
occasionally over the last 5 years as an AirBnB rental apartment.
While I respect the argument that some STRs take away from local long term housing inventory,
such is not the case with ours since we often need to use the space for ourselves and it would
not work for us as a long term rental. I also reject the idea that STRs like ours attract more
people into our community...I believe we are a welcome alternative to a big box hotel but I
don't think anyone is coming to Truckee just so they can stay in our apartment. The revenue
we derive from our STR supports our family, the local professionals we hire to keep the home in
good shape and the greater community as a whole, via the TOT we pay. It is also a resource for
locals transitioning from one full time residence to another, neighbors who want visiting family
to stay nearby and professionals working in our area on a temporary basis. While I often refer
people to the Cedar House Hotel or the River Street Inn (which are both owned by friends of
mine), some folks would just rather stay in a home than a hotel, and we are glad to be able to
provide that space for them.
We have always been in full compliance with Truckee STR rules, have always paid our TOT tax
as well as our state and federal income tax on the rental revenue. We are open to the idea of
paying a higher TOT tax, provided the additional revenue will be put to good use. As Covid-19
has evolved over the past 6 months, we have adapted our STR practices and rules for guests,
including shutting the rental down completely when advised to do so. We use a professional
cleaner who also adheres to the Covid guidelines and we almost always have multiple days
between different guests.
With more than 100 guest reviews over the last 5 years, we have achieved a 4.9* rating (out of
5 max) and many of our guests have returned regularly. All of our neighbors are well aware of
our STR usage, none have ever complained and many have actually used our apartment when
their friends/family are visiting and need extra space. Our arrival info page refers our guests to
all of our favorite local small businesses and we love playing the role of hosts while
recommending things to do in our awesome town.
Our guests are required to park in our driveway, not on the street. Since our rental only has
room for 4 max, but usually only 1-2 people at a time, we rarely have more than one extra car
in addition to our family cars. We live full time on the property so our STIR has never been a
party location and we have never had a noise or trash issue. We are immediately responsive to
any needs our guests might have. We have a 2-can bear box and have never needed more than
that for our family's garbage combined with occasional trash from our AirBnB. Our home is on
septic with a large enough tank designed for larger family in a 4bd home and a recommended
4-year interval between servicing, but we always have it emptied every 3 years to ensure that it
never gets close to full.
All of the above is possibly more info than necessary but I thought it important to show the
perspective my opinions come from. Now, for my recommendations about how our
community can move forward to find an appropriate balance of STIR utilization in Truckee:
1. We would be open to a reasonable increase in the TOT tax rate, provided the additional
revenue was used appropriately.
2. 1 think limiting the number of guests based on either the number of bedrooms or square
footage of the home would be reasonable.
3. 1 think requiring off-street parking for guests is reasonable.
4. 1 think requiring bear boxes is reasonable.
5. I'm open to increased fire/safety inspections as a requirement to host an STIR.
6. 1 think having an onsite (or at least local, within Truckee) 24/7 contact person for the
STIR is reasonable.
7. Noise restrictions 9pm-9am seem fair.
8. I'm open to a permitting process that includes risk of loss of the permit if multiple
violations of STIR rules occur.
Most important, I welcome a robust discussion with community stakeholders from all
perspectives to generate ideas beyond what I mentioned above, with a goal to find common
ground around a complicated issue. I realize some would like to eliminate STRs completely
while some would like to operate as many as possible without restrictions. Neither extreme
seems viable or fair, but with compromise and good dialogue, I believe our community can take
positive steps to ensure that STRs can operate in a way that maximizes benefit for our small but
growing town.
Thank you,
Tal Fletcher