Please take a few moments to participate in the Town of Truckee Short-Term Rental Community Survey
The future of the Short-Term Rental (STR) market depends upon your weighing in on the importance of STRs as a driver of our tourism-based business economic environment, the desirability of the STR experience by the user when coming to visit the High Sierra, and the property owner’s rights to rent out their home if they see fit as long as it’s in keeping with the intended use/zoning (i.e., residential).
The Town of Truckee is considering updates to our community’s Short-Term Rental (STR) Ordinance, and we want to hear from you! The updates that are being considered include the following three recommendations to the ordinance:
- A cap on the number of STR registration certificates issued
- The creation of a waiting period after a property sells before they can be eligible as an STR
- The phasing out of STRs in multi-family housing units
The stated goal of restricting the number of STR permits allowed is to assist in addressing the workforce housing shortage. TSBOR has been actively working with Town Staff and other stakeholders in advance of any long-term STR plan/Ordinance being drafted. Our opening position on the matter: STRs are not the cause of, nor would the restriction of STRs have any meaningful impact upon the affordability and availability of housing for our region’s workforce. We opined that the weak nexus supposed to exist between STR usage and housing affordability or availability just seems out-of-step with how our region’s housing market operates. Second homes are common in our highly desirable region. The inability to secure an STR permit will probably not be the deciding factor in their home purchase; unless the potential purchaser’s income places them in middle-class, which might make it financially unviable to purchase the home. Artificial scarcity could also adversely affect the price of an STR night, driving up costs could chill-out a number of families from staying in our region.
Oftentimes, the STR is the only financially viable way for a family to visit the High Sierra for more than a day-trip. Second homes provide a number of financial benefits to local arms of government (e.g., Town, Special Districts-Police, Fire, Schools,PUDs), without placing the same demand for services as would be expected by full-time residents. When homes, second or primary dwellings, are offered up as occasional STRs they also contribute to our local government via TOT taxes, while ensuring sufficient visitors to support many private business interests. Yet, it appears that our positioning on the matter did not resonate with the majority of the stakeholders work group, nor with the Town Council member who sits on this ad-hoc committee.
With the traction STR permit restrictions have achieved at present, the next discussion points all revolve around how to ensure that these restrictions are equitable, reasonable, protect the greater economy, and actually do produce additional workforce housing. As such, the working group’s discussions, and the survey underway by the Town, are all looking at HOW, not IF STR’s should be restricted. Whatever your individual opinion might be on this matter, be sure that your voice is heard by participating in the Town’s STR Survey.
To learn more about the process, to understand how these recommendations were made, and to take the survey, please follow the link below. The survey will be available from January 14, 2022 until January 24, 2022. The information received will then be presented to the Truckee Town Council at the February 8, 2022 Truckee Town Council meeting.