In our last newsletter, we shared the proposed changes as discussed and reviewed by the Board of Trustees over the course of their meetings, with the last being on 5/11. The Public Hearing, scheduled for tomorrow evening at 6pm at the Chateau, has the following substantiative changes from what we previously reported.
The occupants of Hotels/Motels are referenced in the Beach Deed, however they have never been referenced in Ordinance 7 nor have they been publicly discussed by the Board of Trustees. The proposed language was included in the draft of Ordinance 7 with the following two options:
- Option 1: Occupants of Hotels & Motels may access the Beaches. Occupants shall pay the applicable Guest fee and access is limited to only occupants of the Hotel or Motel. Access will be administered through a District verification process. Owner(s) of the Hotel or Motel are responsible for ensuring that all Occupants comply with Beach rules and regulations pursuant to Paragraph 67.
- Option 2: Occupants of Hotels & Motels shall be provided access to the Beaches, if any, consistent with the terms of the Beach Deed and through a District verification and administration process. This process, at a minimum, shall include the payment of a Guest fee. Access shall be limited to occupants of the Hotel or Motel.
Another substantive change was to allow the additional 3 Picture Passes to be for members of the family tree, instead of dependents. After reviewing public record, LiveStream, at their meeting on 5/11 the Board agreed the 3 additional Picture Passes that may be purchased be restricted to dependents that reside at the property.
The last substantive change is language that allows accompanied guests of a Picture Pass card holder to use their (the guest’s) credit card for the payment of the beach guest fee. On 4/13, the Board agreed with the Ordinance 7 Committee recommendation that IVGID Picture Pass card holder pay for their guests.
Below is our original reporting on the proposed changed to Ordinance 7:
Ordinance 7 is the ordinance Establishing Rates, Rules and Regulations for IVGID Recreation Passes (IVGID Picture Passes) and Recreation Punch Cards by the Incline Village General Improvement District. The Board has been discussing recommendations provided by the Ordinance 7 Committee and special legal counsel. The self-defined goals of the Ordinance 7 Committee were to formulate recommendations for the Board of Trustees’ consideration:
- Reduce beach overcrowding
- Provide fair access to all parcel owners/tenants
- Protect the Beach Deed – the beach deed conveyed the beaches to IVGID on June 4, 1968 and can be reviewed here
The final draft of the Ordinance, to be discussed and voted on at the May 26 District Board of Trustees meeting, was not included in the published Board Packet as of the time this newsletter was created (5/21/2022). Once published, if the draft language differs from the summary below, an updated newsletter be be sent.
Below are the recommendations and proposed changes, as of the Board of Trustees meeting on 5/11, are summarized below. You may view the past meeting materials and LiveStream on the District website. The following proposed changes are NOT final and cannot be enacted unless and until the Board takes action at the Public Hearing on May 26th at 6pm at the Chateau.:
- Beach access to proposed to only be obtained by:
- an IVGID Picture Pass Holder
- by a parcel owner, tenant or guest holding a Punch Card with a sufficient remaining balance on it to cover the entire cost of the guest beach access fee
- by a guest who accompanies an IVGID Picture Pass Holder at the beach gate (with a limitation as to the total number of guests per day per parcel described in 5 below)
- Beach guest fee payment is proposed as follows:
- an IVGID Picture Pass holder may pay for their guest(s) by credit card or by the use of an IVGID Punch Card, with a sufficient balance to cover the entire guest beach access fee(s). There is no access fee charged for the IVGID Picture Pass holder, only for their guest(s). The guest beach access fee must be paid by credit card, and cash will not be accepted at the beach gates. IVGID Picture Pass holders must bring their Picture Pass to the beach gate or may store it on their electronic device.
- an IVGID Punch Card holder is required to pay of the full amount of the guest beach access fee for each guest using the Punch Card. Therefore, the Punch Card must have a sufficient balance to cover all guest fees. When a Punch Card’s value has been used in its entirety, it may not be reloaded. Punch Cards are proposed to be non-transferrable other than to the guest of a parcel owner. Payment by use of a Punch Card was implemented during the COVID restrictions.
- Each parcel/dwelling unit is proposed to be eligible for a combination of up to 5 IVGID Picture Passes and/or Punch Cards. In addition, each residential parcel/dwelling unit may purchase up to a maximum of 5 additional passes/cards, of which a maximum of 3 additional Punch Cards (that cannot be used at the golf courses) and/or up to 3 additional IVGID Picture Passes can be purchased for dependents of the owner residing at the property (that cannot be used at the golf courses and cannot be used for guest access to the beaches – it is a Picture Pass for the cardholder only. The maximum proposed number of passes per parcel/dwelling unit is limited to 10. Prior to the COVID restrictions and the current language within Ordinance 7, there were no limits on the number of punch cards or IVGID Picture Passes that could be purchased. This proposed limitation for punch card purchases and use was put in place last summer and is being incorporated into the proposed language of Ordinance 7. All additional purchased cards expire within one year.
- Boat/Watercraft launching is proposed for only holders of a valid IVGID Picture Pass or Punch Card for recreational use of such holders, and not for commercial use. The Beach Deed does not allow for commercial use of the beaches; and a launching service provided to IVGID Picture Pass or Punch Card Holders is not considered commercial use. All guest and launch fees are to be paid either by:
- Punch Card Holders must pay with funds on the Punch Card(s)
- IVGID Picture Pass holders may pay by credit card or a balance remaining on the Punch Card(s) .
- The proposed total number of guests allowed access to be beaches by accompanying all IVGID Picture Pass holder(s) from one parcel per day, is limited to a total of 25 guests per day per parcel. Parties over 25 for a given parcel would then require some sort of group reservation.
- The proposed changes would not allow unbuildable lots to be eligible for recreation privileges. For the unbuildable lots with privileges as of June 1, 2022, they will be allowed to continue to be eligible for recreation privileges until such time the property is sold, transferred or the until the death of the owner(s).
- Language for the definition of “guest” for the beaches is proposed as “Any person invited by an Owner of a parcel with beach access to use the District owned beaches. A property owner or its assignees, including guests, can use the beaches for recreation purposes only and cannot sell access to the beaches or receive compensation for access to the beaches.”
- Any parcel that is owned by multiple owners or that is held in the name of an entity (an LLC, corporation, etc.), must designate one person to authorize the issuance of recreation privileges for the parcel on an annual basis.
- Among the other important changes are:
- stronger sanctions for Misconduct, which can include suspension of Recreation Privileges for up to 2 years
- a more detailed list of activities that constitute Misconduct
- specific requirements for parcel owners to be responsible for the actions and damage caused by their tenants and their guests
- Punch Cards are proposed to only be transferrable to a tenant or a guest of the parcel owner to whom the Punch Card has been issued and cannot be given to other owners for use for guests of other owners
- the Family Tree remains and has not been changed except to add registered Domestic Partners and their children
- Daily use and/or exchange passes are being eliminated. These were never part of Ordinance 7, but were implemented as an administrative procedure years ago. The issuance of daily use and/or exchange passes was suspended during COVID and are no longer an administrative procedure.
If you have suggestions or thoughts you’d like to share with the Board of Trustees, their email addresses are below.