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HomeMy Public PortalAbout06 Moratorium on Short Term Rental permits Page 1 of 4 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 DocuSign Envelope ID: AC007A5F-A40F-45DB-9DBE-4528058A92A7 Page 2 of 4 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 DocuSign Envelope ID: AC007A5F-A40F-45DB-9DBE-4528058A92A7 Page 3 of 4 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 DocuSign Envelope ID: AC007A5F-A40F-45DB-9DBE-4528058A92A7 Page 4 of 4 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 DocuSign Envelope ID: AC007A5F-A40F-45DB-9DBE-4528058A92A7