“City pondering vacation rentals” plus 3 more |
- City pondering vacation rentals
- Summer vacation rentals at Lake Tahoe start to heat up
- Striking a balance on vacation home rentals
- Vacation rentals offer provisional refund policy
| City pondering vacation rentals Posted: 24 May 2010 12:23 AM PDT The city of St. Helena is following the county's lead by reconsidering its regulations pertaining to vacation rentals. "This has been an issue in the past," Planning Director Carol Poole told the commission. "People have gone online and looked at our code and haven't gone away with the conclusion that they can't rent their houses out (for less than 30 days)." Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Summer vacation rentals at Lake Tahoe start to heat up Posted: 23 May 2010 03:45 PM PDT Jason Kershell, assistant property manager with McKinney & Associates in South Lake Tahoe, is grateful to see a turnaround in vacation rentals. With a month to go until the start of the summer season, Kershell said the rental agency has more than doubled its rental sales from April 19 to May 19 compared to last year. Sales have increased about 10 percent from 2008, he said. "I'm just happy that we're ahead of when it was good, which means we're doing really well" Kershell said of the yearly increase. But business has not bounced back to the rental sales in 2006, which was the biggest year in their history. "Back then, you had all the forces going for you," he said. "That's when the big bubble was about to burst." Kershell attributes the increase to making changes in advertising and having a better trained sales staff. Vacation Rentals by Owner, with more than 80 million visitors a year, and Craigslist Classifieds were the big shifts Kershell said they made in advertising. While most of the business comes from within the Tahoe driving market, he said more and more are coming from farther away. The benefit of renters outside the California and Nevada area is they typically stay longer, he said. The average number of nights for someone who is diving is three to four nights, whereas those flying in will stay for a week. Memorial Day, which is next weekend, brings the "first little burst" in sales, and the busy season generally stretches from mid-June to mid-August, Kershell said. Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Striking a balance on vacation home rentals Posted: 24 May 2010 04:28 AM PDT Sonoma supervisors weigh growing demand with safety, enforcementSONOMA COUNTY – The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is hoping to allow for more flexibility in permitting vacation rental homes while clarifying the level of enforcement. The board passed a resolution of intent in November 2009 to change vacation-rental standards, and the Permit and Resource Management Department issued revised standards last week that will be debated in June and voted on by as soon as July. With some 640 vacation rental homes in the county paying transient occupancy taxes, the county sought to come up with a clearer definition than had previously existed. Neighborhood complaints about noise, litter and rowdiness peaked in early January in the wake of a deck collapse in Guerneville. The new rules would not apply to vacation rentals in the coastal regions of the county, which have had less complaints and many of which already operate as second homes, said Jennifer Barrett, deputy director for planning at the PRMD. Vacation rentals in Sonoma County account for about 20 percent of the total of TOT revenue, or about $2 million, Ms. Barrett said. Accordingly, as a means of retaining that source of revenue, the county sought to strike a balance between streamlining and enforcement. Chief among the proposed changes would be the addition of a special-use permit. Such a permit would be needed by guests at vacation rentals who sought to hold events considered beyond the boundaries of the normal, $100 zoning permit needed for vacation rentals, Ms. Barrett said. Additional changes would place a cap of no more than 12 people at a vacation rental home per night, with two per bedroom in a home that could have no more than five rooms, according to the drafted revisions. Additionally, no more than 16 people would be allowed at a home at one time, unless a special-events permit is granted. Ms. Barrett said that, generally speaking, the cost of a special events permit would range from $2,000 to $5,000 depending on the scale of the event. A minor-use permit could also be obtained for a to-be-determined amount. She said the range in cost would depend on the size of the property, septic or sewer capacity, whether neighbors protested the use and other factors that could be reviewed. "And we know how many people will be attending each event," she said. "That's how the use permit provides flexibility. "That's a big shift," she added. Previously, "We did not have any standards, and it's become a burgeoning industry. It's not something we want to restrict but it does need to be compatible." Meanwhile, Napa County Supervisors have supported an outright ban of such rentals, but recently voted to delay the implementation of the ban until Dec. 1 to hear debate and possibly a Measure J vote in November. The proposed changes in Sonoma County to enforcement include directing complaints to a "contact person" identified in the zoning or use permit. Should complaints reoccur, they would be investigated by the PRMD. If validated, the contact person would receive a notice indicating an administrative penalty equal to the fair market rental rate for the days the property was in violation. The county Board of Zoning Adjustments would also be able to revoke use permits on either the first or second violation. The contact person could demand a hearing on the complaint and penalty. If a permit is revoked, another one may not be granted for that location for at least a year. The Board of Supervisors could also enact a yet-to-determined tax for "monitoring and enforcement" of vacation rentals or levying of the TOT. A Planning Commission hearing is set for June 10. Recommendations would go to the Board of Supervisors for consideration for a possible vote in July. Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Vacation rentals offer provisional refund policy Posted: 23 May 2010 02:59 PM PDT LEE COUNTY: One Southwest Florida vacation company is offering what they call "provisional refunds" to tourists if the oil comes ashore here. Royal Shell Vacations of Sanibel and Captiva Islands says they've mounted a beach watch for oil. They also say if the beaches of Sanibel and Lee County are closed, then they'll give refunds to any tourist for the days left on their trip. Royal Shell manages more than 400 rental properties in Sanibel and Captiva. Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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