VHR Clustering and Buffering in El Dorado County
On Tuesday, August 24th, 2021, the Board of Supervisors adopted a new VHR Ordinance adding a 500-foot buffer around all active VHR permits.
This ordinance change is County Wide - not just within the Tahoe Basin.
VHR changes adding the 500-foot buffer went into effect on October 1st, 2021. If you currently have a VHR permit and are in good standing, this will not affect your property. Please use the VHR map on this page to research properties within the County.
Materials from this meeting are posted on the Board of Supervisors website. Click here
Ordinance Update
On December 2, 2020, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors voted to approve amendments to the Vacation Home Rental Ordinance. One of the changes was to limit the number of permits in the Tahoe Basin portion of the County to 900 permits which were reached on Monday, May 24th.
Another change in the Ordinance applied to properties that have been renting WITHOUT a valid/issued VHR Permit. If you are cited by Code Enforcement after January 1, 2021, you will not be able to apply for a VHR Permit for One (1) year from the date of the violation. This includes VHR Permits that were not submitted for renewal prior to the expiration date of the permit.
** If you need to apply for a business license and have not received your VHR permit yet, please be patient as we are working very hard to get permits issued for you. Since the process has changed this year, you must have a current VHR permit through the Planning department to apply for a business license.**
Reference: VHR Ordinance Adopted 12/2/2020
Section 5.56.0170
Operation of a vacation home rental home without a permit—Penalty. The owner of any vacation home rental that is determined to be operating without the necessary permit required under this section shall be subject to the penalties listed above in Section 5.56.140. Each day of operation without a permit shall constitute a separate violation. and is subject to an additional penalty. In addition, any vacation home rental found to be operating without a permit will not be permitted to obtain a permit until all past due transient occupancy taxes, penalties, and interest are paid in full and will be precluded from applying for a vacation home rental permit or from being added to the waiting list for a one (1) year period.
Please also note that Staff is approximately 4 weeks behind in reviewing New Applications and Renewal Applications due to the extreme volume of permits being submitted and customer service inquiries. Thank you for your patience.
Once the application is deemed complete by staff applicants will be notified on how to schedule the required fire inspection. Applicants have 60 days to complete the fire inspection or their application will be denied.
A copy of the updated Ordinance is posted below as well as the guidance for Hotels, Lodging, and Short Term Rentals.
On May 13, 2020, District 5 Supervisor Sue Novasel held a Virtual Town Hall to provide information on options for limiting the number and density of Vacation Home Rentals in the Tahoe Basin, focusing on the guidelines from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA).
A second Tahoe VHR Town Hall Meeting was held on June 10, 2022 via ZOOM.
However, the statewide ban on nonessential travel remains in place. Therefore, the hope is that people will recreate and rent in their local areas and not travel across the summit into the Tahoe basin if they do not live there.
We hope people will continue to heed all the public health advice wherever they go, traveling only with household members, wearing face coverings when in public, properly washing their hands, and maintaining at least a six-foot distance from others.