HomeMy Public PortalAbout06 Moratorium on Short Term Rental permits
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TOWN OF TRUCKEE
California
ORDINANCE 2021-06
AN INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF TRUCKEE
ESTABLISHING A MORATORIUM ON THE ISSUANCE OF TRANSIENT
OCCUPANCY REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES PURSUANT TO
GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 65858
WHEREAS, Truckee is a popular tourist destination, drawing visitors from around the
world to enjoy the natural environment, recreational opportunities, and amenities available in and
around Truckee; and
WHEREAS, the Town Council’s 2021 priorities include actively supporting the
development of workforce housing; and
WHEREAS, the Town Council recognizes the need to balance the provision of lodging
options for visitors with the need of people working in and around Truckee to have safe, secure,
and affordable housing options; and
WHEREAS, the Town of Truckee is experiencing a shortage of rental and for-sale housing
affordable to people with jobs in Truckee and surrounding communities, with the Mountain
Housing Council’s 2021 Workforce Housing Needs Assessment Update estimating a need for
2,469 additional workforce housing unit in Truckee; and
WHEREAS, Chapter 5.02 of the Truckee Municipal Code currently req uires operators of
short-term rental properties, defined as those rented for not more than 30 days, to obtain a
transient occupancy registration certificate prior to engaging in the short-term rental business and
as a condition of engaging in such business; and
WHEREAS, the Town of Truckee currently does not limit the number of transient
occupancy registration certificates that may be issued, either Town-wide or in any neighborhood
where short-term rentals are allowed, and allows short-term rentals in the RR (Rural Residential),
RS (Single Family Residential), RM (Residential Multi-Family), DRS (Downtown Single Family
Residential), DRM (Downtown Medium Density Residential), and DRH (Downtown High Density
Residential) zoning districts; and
WHEREAS, excluding hotels, motels and bed and breakfast inns there are currently 1,082
properties in Truckee with active transient occupancy registration certificates; and
WHEREAS, the number of such properties with long-term occupants is not known, nor is
the precise relationship between the prevalence of short-term rental properties and the lack of
housing units available for long-term rental, or the number of housing units purchased to be
operated as short-term rentals; and
WHEREAS, the shortage of available long-term rental housing in and around Truckee has
been the subject of numerous articles in Moonshine Ink, Outside magazine, and elsewhere, and
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the Town is aware of numerous local businesses unable to find sufficient numbers of employees
at least in part because of a lack of available housing; and
WHEREAS, anecdotal evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated
the housing shortage, as people have moved to Truckee and the region from elsewhere and some
housing units previously used as long-term rentals were sold to buyers intending to occupy them;
and
WHEREAS, some local residents have reported sleeping in their vehicles or moving from
one crowded or unstable housing situation to another in an effort to stay in the region; and
WHEREAS, the Town has received numerous complaints from neighbors of properties
used as short-term rentals, concerning parking, noise, trash, crowding, and other issues; and
WHEREAS, the Town of Truckee is a partner in the Mountain Housing Council, a project
of the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation with 29 regional partners working on housing
solutions for Truckee and the region, and the Town intends to continue its participation in these
efforts; and
WHEREAS, it is in the interest of the Town and its residents that the Town undertake a
review to consider zoning, land use, and regulatory measures to limit or otherwise regulate the
number, location, and/or other aspects of short-term rental properties in Truckee; and
WHEREAS, the Town Council finds that there is a current and immediate threat to the
public health, safety, and welfare associated with the lack of long-term rental housing in Truckee,
that there is a link between the prevalence of short-term rental properties and the lack of long-
term rental housing, and that the issuance of additional transient occupancy registration
certificates while the Town undertakes a review and consideration of measures to regulate short-
term rentals would exacerbate the threat and diminish or postpone the effectiveness of such
measures; and
WHEREAS, California Government Code Section 65858 expressly authorizes the Town
Council to adopt by four-fifths (4/5) vote, without following the procedures otherwise required for
the adoption of a zoning ordinance, an urgency ordinance that would go into effect immediately
following its passage, which is necessary for the immediate protection of the public health, safety,
and welfare; and
WHEREAS, on September 28, 2021, the Town Council considered the adoption of this
urgency ordinance at a properly noticed public meeting; and
WHEREAS, the Town Council finds that it is necessary to adopt this urgency ordinance
establishing a moratorium on the issuance of new transient occupancy registration certificates
pursuant to the Truckee Municipal Code except as set forth herein, in order to provide time for
the Town to review means of regulating short-term rental properties and possibly adopt such
regulations; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to California Government Code Section 65858, this ordinance shall
take effect immediately upon its adoption by at least a four-fifths vote of the Town Council, and
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shall remain in effect for no more than 45 days from the date of adoption unless it is extended
following notice and a hearing pursuant to Section 65858; and
WHEREAS, the Town Council finds that this ordinance does not have “the effect of
denying approvals needed for the development of projects with a significant component of
multifamily housing” within the meaning of California Government Code Section 65858(c);
NOW, THEREFORE, THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF TRUCKEE
DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The recitals above are incorporated herein as the Town Council’s findings of
urgency and necessity for the adoption of this ordinance.
Section 2. The Town Council hereby places a moratorium on the issuance of transient
occupancy registration certificates for short-term rentals, provided that this moratorium shall not
prohibit: (i) the issuance of a new transient occupancy registration certificate if a complete
application meeting all requirements of Chapter 5.02 of the Truckee Municipal Code therefor was
received by the Town prior to the adoption of this ordinance; (ii) the issuance of a new transient
occupancy registration certificate to the new owner of a property which was in escrow in
connection with a pending sale at the time this ordinance was adopted, if a transient occupancy
registration certificate was in effect for the property immediately prior to the close of escrow and
transfer of the property and the new owner provides documentation satisfactory to the Town of
the date escrow was opened; or (iii) the renewal of a transient occupancy registration certificate
for 2022 pursuant to Section 5.02.030.D of the Truckee Municipal Code if such certificate was in
effect for 2021 at the time this ordinance was adopted. Nothing herein shall affect the Town’s
authority to deny a certificate application, or suspend or revoke a certificate, pursuant to Section
5.02.060 of the Truckee Municipal Code.
Section 3. The Town Council hereby enacts this interim urgency ordinance by not less than
a four-fifths vote, and in light of the findings set forth herein, under the authority granted to it by
Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution and Section 65858(a) of the California
Government Code, which allows the Town to adopt an interim urgency ordinance, in order to
protect the public safety, health, and welfare, prohibiting any uses that may be in conflict with a
zoning proposal that the Town Council, planning commission or the planning department is
considering or studying or intends to study within a reasonable time.
Section 4. The Town Council hereby directs Town staff to consider and study possible means
of regulating short-term rentals in Truckee, and to present a report to the Town Council prior to
the expiration of this ordinance.
Section 5. The Town Council finds that this ordinance is not subject to the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to the following provisions of Title 14 of the California
Code of Regulations: Section 15060(c)(2) (the adoption of this ordinance will not result in a direct
or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment); Section 15060(c)(3) (the
adoption of this ordinance is not a project as defined in Section 15378); and Section 15061(b)(3)
(it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the adoption of this ordinance may
have a significant effect on the environment).
Section 6. If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or
circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the
ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end
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the provisions of this ordinance are severable. The Town Council hereby declares t hat it would
have adopted this ordinance irrespective of the invalidity of any particular portion thereof.
Section 7. This ordinance shall become effective immediately upon adoption and shall be in
effect for 45 days from the date of adoption unless extended by the Town Council as provided for
in Government Code Section 65858.
Section 8. Pursuant to Government Code Section 65858(d), the Town Council will issue a
written report not later than 10 days prior to the expiration of this ordinance describing the
measures taken to alleviate the conditions which led to the adoption of this ordinance.
Section 9. Posting and Publications: The Town Clerk is hereby directed to publish this ordinance
in accordance with the law.
* * * * *
The foregoing urgency ordinance was introduced at a regular meeting of the and
adopted at a regular meeting of the Truckee Town Council, on the 28th day of September
2021; Council Member Romack, moved for the adoption, the motion was seconded by Vice
Mayor Henderson, and was carried by the following vote:
AYES: Council Member Romack, Vice Mayor Henderson, Council Member
Zabriskie, Council Member Polivy, and Mayor Klovstad.
NOES: none.
ABSENT: none.
__________________________
Anna Klovstad, Mayor
ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
___________________________ __________________________
Judy Price, MMC, Town Clerk Andy Morris, Town Attorney
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