The link to the two-part recording of the meeting is https://youtu.be/sZTmOAC309E AND https://youtu.be/kQZww24
[Meeting Recording starts at 2:43]
Peter Todoroff – IV Forum Moderator
I’d like to start the meeting by giving special thanks to Captain Corey Solferino and to Sergeant Noah Boyer. Thank you for coordinating with the Fire Department for the Red Flag Day warning signs up on Highway 80. I really appreciate it because as far as I’m concerned, safety is our most important concern. The smoke is the worst I’ve seen it in the 41 years I’ve lived here. Any updates from the Sheriff’s office?
Corey Solferino – Washoe County Sheriff Office, Captain
Basically we’re moving forward with our shift and day rotations. Due to some staffing shortages and a plethora of retiring budget positions, we’re waiting for those Academy kids to come on line. Most of our promotional candidates for Special Assignment come from Patrol so until we get the back reserves we need from Detention into Patrol, we can’t make those promotions, we can’t get people into Special Assignments and our Intelligence Division, our Regional Detectives, or our General Property Detectives. We’re going through an entire list of promotions this week. The announcements came out for all three to basically start the promotional examination process. By the end of the fall we’ll have exhausted our current promotional list. We’ve got a lot of movement right now, which is really good. But it’s also taxing our people. Our people are worn out; they’re tired; they’re working a lot of double shifts just because we don’t have all the positions that we need. We’re properly staffed—don’t get me wrong. People are filling in the vacancies with overtime. So they’re working the jobs of two people.
So we’re moving forward with our training process. We’ve got two sergeants up here full time now and I’ll bring 1 more up in a month. Then I’m waiting for the next 2 to get promoted. So as soon as the Sheriff can promote the last 2, I’ll have all 5 of them up here by early fall. I’ve got some traffic control plans I’m working with my sergeants on the educational campaign for all the rural roadways that are in here which are 25 mph. We really want to hit it hard with our WCSO-Incline Village Facebook page. We’re trying to get that rebranded. It’s a subpage on our normal page. It gets a lot of hits. I think now we have around 20K followers. I want to work with you so we can coordinate that and push it out to the Incline community. We don’t want to write tickets and penalize people. We want to correct behaviors. Noah and I are firm believers—even on Marine 9—and the traffic in the basin—we want to implement our education campaign first. I’m going to steal some reader boards from the County Roads and bring them up here talking about our traffic campaign. You guys may have seen our radar trailers that we’re moving throughout the area. We want high visibility. We’re going to hit it on social media and hit it on the Incline Facebook page. And then our guys are going to come out and do traffic enforcement. Ultimately, that’s how we correct behavior and that’s what we want to do up here. Your pedestrian and traffic safety are a priority for us.
Shirley Appel – Incline Resident, HOA President
In talking about your radar enforcement, you need to get on Oriole. It’s 60 mph all the way down.
Corey Solferino
There’s construction there this week, so hopefully that slows it down a little bit.
Shirley Appel
That street is definitely a speed-way.
Corey Solferino
It’s “one of those streets.” We go out and pull people over, but then they go right back to normal. When I’m out there writing tickets, you know it’s bad. So we’re out there trying to do as much education and enforcement of illegal parking and traffic violations. I think it’s one of those… now where we’re at and where we’re trying to go… that once we set the tone in the community on the community streets where we tone down some of those problems, then we’ll focus more on the tourist streets. We’re trying. We’re getting out there. We can’t be everywhere all the time, although I wish I could be, but it’s one place at a time. That will be one of the locations for our radar trailer. With that, we get the ability to collect data, which is huge for us. We can look at the data and see times of day when we see spikes in traffic and can utilize our resources accordingly. Right now, with calls for service, and the number of people in town, we’re running from call to call.
Shirley Appel
Is there any law about loud cars?
Corey Solferino
Unfortunately, in Washoe County—no. There are only city noise ordinances.
Shirley Appel
It’s obvious.
Peter Todoroff
That’s a great question I also had.
Sara Schmitz – Incline Resident, Incline General Improvement District, Trustee
I too appreciate all your efforts. I think you are doing a good job and making a difference. It’s apparent when you’re not around. It’s amazing how people say “Watch, it. The Sheriff’s are out.” So people know, but they just choose otherwise. My request is—if it’s possible—when you do your educational training, if you could also incorporate some educational training for e-bikes and bikers in general. Yesterday, I was almost taken out by somebody who came up behind me on an e-bike. They seemed to yell at me because I should know they’re behind me, but I don’t have eyes in the back of my head.
Corey Solferino
Just so you know, Commissioner Hill and I are working on that very topic. Right now we’re working with the Deputy District Attorney. This past legislative session, there was a resolution passed that allows County governments to enact regulations on those things. So Commissioner Hill and I are working with the DA’s office to see what we can do to help regulate those a bit better. That’s a legal process that we’re going through. So those are things Noah and I are looking at as we start establishing our footprint up here in the village. When we can get the staffing, what I’d like to do is increase our patrol areas so we can have bike patrols up here. If I can get a guy or gal up here on a pedestrian or bike path, just that visual presence out there, whether it’s us on a scooter to get to some of these trails, or on a pedal-bike—we can do that education campaign and enforcement. A lot of my guys are going from call-to-call-to-call. As I said when they’re doing traffic enforcement they can’t be on the bike path too. But that’s something we’re looking at as we increase our staffing footprint up here—to increase our people—especially during the high tourist season—on those pathways.
Sara Schmitz
If there’s any opportunity to use community volunteers from an educational perspective—wearing something, etc.— I would volunteer.
Corey Solferino
I’m definitely going to take you up on that.
Sara Schmitz
I ride that bike trail every single day. It’s amazing, I couldn’t believe yesterday when someone almost hit me from behind and yelled at me.
Corey Solferino
Were you on your bike?
Sara Schmitz
Yes, I was on my regular pedal bike and he was coming up behind and almost took me out. It’s just like skiing. Whoever is in front has the right of way. We just need some basic education.
Denise Davis – Incline Resident
Just so you know, in the last week there’s been a noticeable increase in speeding in front of Tunnel Creek on the straightaway. The posted speed limit is 45 mph. And they are flying through there 24 hours a day. With all the foot and bike traffic, it’s a real concern.
Corey Solferino
We’ll pass that along. It’s one of those… We have a running list in our office that sets the targets we’ll address as budget allows. As I talked about earlier, I hope if we can sort of set the tone, and make everyone wary all the time about where we’re at, as opposed to, “I saw one deputy here and another there, so right here and now I can drive as fast as I want.” We’re hoping that just getting out there and having enough presence will help curtail the speeders. It’s hard because we are a tourist destination. Visitors are cruising along Hwy 28 and all of a sudden hit the Village. It’s like speed signs don’t exist. One of the things we’re looking at, it’s on our list, is more traffic engineering. We can put precursor signs, “Hey, speed change ahead” or illuminate signs so they’re flashing even in the daytime. Something to remind them and change behavior—reeducate them. We have to work with our State partners because 28 is a highway.
You’ve got the lighted crosswalk. It took a lot to happen before we finally got that achieved. The biggest thing that we’re working on with both our parking and traffic is data collection. I can stand on every road in Incline Village and say there’s a speeding problem after watching 3 cars, but if I have a week’s worth of data, I can go to the boss and say, “I need an extra body, an extra motorcycle, something, because this is a problem and I have numbers to back it up.” So that’s where we’re at right now, just gathering the data. We’ll educate and we’ll work with our State partners [inaudible].
Joyce Bock – Incline Resident
Are most of the tickets that you write for locals or tourists?
Noah Boyer – WCSO, Sergeant
As far as locals and tourists, honestly we can’t tell because we have a lot of people who are Incline residents but they have CA licenses. They might have a NV driver’s license but their permanent residence is in Reno, and they have a second home here. So there’s really no way for us to tell. If we ask those kinds of questions, it just goes down a rabbit hole. At this point in time it would stir up issues. And I’ll be honest—if someone’s speeding in Incline, I don’t care if they are local or tourist. We need to get the education and enforcement out there and hold all accountable.
Ryan Sommers – North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, Chief
It’s smoky outside. All that’s from the Dixie Fire. No new starts here. The Tamarack Fire is looking good. We’re still out chipping. If you have a request, get it into us. We do have people left in town—as we always will— to take care of those projects.
[At 17:10 the recording failed.]
Kathie Julian – Incline Resident
I was hiking at Twin Lakes a few days ago and saw a motorcycle bike quite a ways up the trail. I’m sure it wasn’t legal. Do you have any advice for what we should do? Who should I call?
[The second recording starts here.]
Ryan Sommers
I’ll have to research it. I can double-check, but we need to contact NV State Parks. They have their own law enforcement rangers that would enforce that. I will get hold of them and get a phone number and send it to Peter to get it out. [Kathie Julian, Thanks.] Captain, do you guys agree that it’s State lands responsibility?
Noah Boyer
Sorry, Chief, you cut yourself off about the geographic area. Was the motorcyclist over above Sand Harbor or the one we were dealing with the other day?
Kathie Julian
It was right by Twin Lakes, which is the trail you take by going up Tunnel Creek road to the junction with the Flume trail, and go up to Twin Lakes. It’s a “No Bicycle trail” I believe. It’s in the Spooner backcountry.
Noah Boyer
That is State Parks. I can reach out to Mr. Woolridge over at NV State Parks and let him know. He will let his backcountry ranger address that area. I can pass it on to him.
Kathie Julian
When a public member sees something that is a potential fire hazard, who do we call? That’s the real question
Noah Boyer
Anytime you see anything that’s related to public safety, we have two options. Obviously call 911 if it’s an emergency; or, our other number is 775 785–WCSO . That’s our Dispatch Center. Whether it’s fire, EMS, or police related, the Dispatch Center will funnel that. Again if it’s an emergency, 911 is the best option. For nonemergency, the 775 783 WCSO works as well. That works for NHP, as well as State Parks, WCSO and our partners at the NLTFPD. I’ll send this information to Peter.
Judy Miller – Incline Resident
I have a question for Chief Sommers. Yesterday was a Red Flag Warning day. I think the word is getting out when it is a Red Flag Warning day. But an unfortunate event happened yesterday when my daughter was getting her propane tank for her camper filled. A woman was waiting and said, “Oh, I need to fill this up to use my fire pit this evening to stay warm.” So I’d like to see more on the website or social media about just what the restrictions are. It is in your message, Chief Sommers, on your home website—for which I thank you—but it’s not in a lot of other places. I think this is one of those education things that we need a bit more of explaining just what does the Red Flag Warning mean here in our fire district.
Ryan Sommers
Thanks, Judy. Duly noted.
Sara Schmitz
On the IVCB Community 1st website, we have a Resource tab. On the Resource page is all the contact information—everything from nonemergency Washoe County to TRPA to the County Commissioners to the County Manager. Please feel free to make use of that page. And if there’s something that should be there but isn’t, please let me know. I included even things like “Where’s my plow,” because in a few more months, that’s what we’ll be needing to know. So please take a look at the IVCBCommunity1st.org Resource page.
Shirley Appel
I would like to thank Ronda very much for the information she sent me about the TTD and the Old Elementary School bus hub. It was mindboggling. Thank you so much, Ronda.
Ronda Tycer – IV Forum Recap Editor
You are welcome.
Cathy Spector – Incline Resident
If we are hiking or biking or whatever in the backcountry, and we see someone doing something stupid that’s potentially damaging—a fire risk or what have you—is the best number to call 775 785-WCSO? I’ve had this happen. And the number I called just gave me a recording.
Noah Boyer
Both 911 and 775 785-WCSO go straight to Dispatch.
Cathy Spector
So when you see someone—like with the motorcycle or whatever in a fire area, doing something…
Noah Boyer
That’s exactly what that 785-WCSO number is for. It’s designed for those calls-for-service… If people see a traffic accident or their house is on fire or crime is afoot, 911 is what they go to. But lots of times we get this hesitation of, “Well, I don’t think it’s 911 worthy.” So that’s why we have that easy-to-remember number. If it doesn’t meet that threshold, call that number. It’s going to the same people, and they’ll treat it the same way. They’ll take your information and dispatch resources accordingly depending on what the level of crime is. Up here we balance calls all the time. Where down in the valley the call may be a lower priority, but up here we treat it as a higher priority depending on what it is. If it’s a potential fire risk in the backcountry, that’s a very high priority for us, so we’ll dispatch accordingly. We’ll work with our partners at State Parks, and with our partners at the NLTFPD, and the Forest Service. But if we don’t know about it, there’s nothing we can do, so that’s what that number is for. It is not a recording. You get live people.
Corey Solferino
You see it on the side of our vehicles. Noah is exactly right. We triage. If this is an emergency requiring immediate assistance—you see sparks, you see fire, you see an accident, you see a crime in progress—that’s what 911 is for. For everything else—nonemergency things that require our response or something we need to know about—use the nonemergency number 775 785-WCSO—which stands for Washoe County Sheriff Office. Everything non-emergency goes to that. If we’re working on some of these more critical issues in the area—speeding, traffic, congestion, regulations, enforcement—those are things we can discuss in this community forum because they take time for us to enact regulations, develop action plans, and bring them to the community. If you guys have any questions about triaging, you have my contact information, so reach out to us.
Ryan Sommers
I have one other thing to announce. At the last meeting, we talked about Pulse Point. It’s an app for your cellphone. For medical emergencies, if you’re in the area and you’re qualified to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), it alerts your phone. We’ve had our project meeting and it’s looking good. We’re ahead of the curve with all the information we’ve got for the Pulse Point meeting. We’ve located all of the AEDs in IVCB—which is always half the battle—and that’s what Pulse Point gives you. So if somebody needs CPR and you’re near and have the Pulse Point app, it alerts your phone if you’re qualified on using an AED, you can help out until Washoe County arrives. That project is moving forward. Joe Farrell isn’t here today, but he’s very involved and I appreciate his support on that. But I wanted to let everybody know that we’re looking good. Give me a couple more meetings, and I’ll have a better timeline. But we are moving very quickly to get that program out and about. Of course we’ll have the appropriate announcements and press releases, etc. By the way, the camera’s off in the library so I can’t tell if anyone’s waving at me. Oh, now it’s on. I’m glad to see Noah Boyer is waving at me with all 5 fingers. [smile]
Peter Todoroff
I have a question for Ryan and the police. Seeing as we have a lot of new people who have recently moved to Incline Village, I was wondering if there’s some plan for an evacuation in an emergency.
Ryan Sommers
So Peter are you asking if we have any plans available? Or if we have a system…
Peter Todoroff
… a lot of new people have moved to Incline. I was wondering if you plan to coordinate with the police to have an evacuation drill like you did a few years ago.
Noah Boyer
Are you talking about an evacuation exercise?
Peter Todoroff
Exactly.
Ryan Sommers
I know we are in need of a true evacuation exercise. The Captain, Lieutenant, and Sergeants are getting settled in. But then we can talk about that and put it on the list. We can definitely start working on that, for sure.
As far as the plan itself, we have boxes and boxes of the printed plan both in English and in Spanish, as well as on the website as a PDF file. So it’s a good point. We’ll get some out there. I’m going to be speaking Tuesday morning at the realtors. I’ll ask them if maybe if we can put some of those plans in any new packets of paperwork when they sell houses. It’s something we can include in that. We’ll do our best to get that out the best way we can.
Peter Todoroff
And out to the short-term rentals as well.
Ryan Sommers
Short-term rentals? We don’t have any STRs. (wink). Speaking of that, we’ve only received 500 STR applications as of the August 1st deadline.
Margaret Martini – Incline Resident
In answer to Ryan, the title companies usually put out a packet. We used to be able to put Bear League information into the packet. Most realtors who have an office should go by the NLTFPD and get some of these printed evacuation plans and hand them out to anyone who walks into office, even if you don’t sell them something. With the current fire threat, you should just hand them out.
Another possibility is to put a plastic dispenser at the entrance to Raley’s. People who are going in and out could pick one up. And the post office, too. I think the title companies would be a really good resource for new people. Again, the realtors should have stacks of them. And also at the library. If you have boxes and boxes of them, we should all be picking them up and figuring out a place to put them.
Ryan Sommers
We’ll make sure those places are supplied with them, and the title company is a great idea. So thank you very much
Kristina Hill – Incline Resident, Board of Adjustment, Member
A lot of the rental properties in Tyrolian Village are using gas fire pits. There is one right behind my house. I knocked on the door and said, “Please put out your fire. Geez Louise we’re in a natural Basin fire pit here! Before I call 911, I’ll tell you as a neighbor to put out your fire, and please don’t restart it.”
Then another neighbor who has lived here for 30 years was doing the same thing. I told him, “Next time you light that fire, I’m calling 911.” They are on the decks. The decks are dry wood. They could spark the timber. There’s no defensible space in the area. It’s just a disaster waiting to happen. I stress if you see something like that, please tell your neighbors to put it out.
Also, regarding short-term rentals, it’s Aug 1 so let’s get a report from Alexis on that.
Alexis Hill – Washoe County Commissioner, District 1
Relative to short-term rentals, I understand that we’re enforcing now, so if you have complaints, please go to washocounty.us/str. We’re working to find people who have not submitted a permit yet. We’re sending letters to them, and aggressively getting them into the system. As Chief Sommers said, we have only 500 applications in so we don’t know if others are not taking this seriously or not using their properties as STRs. We’re going to make them take it seriously. We’re going to start enforcing. We’ve got the team on this and they’re really great. I’m looking forward to bringing them on this call so you all can meet them eventually.
Relative to Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), this was discussed at the TRPA meeting last week. I was in mediation for a lawsuit we’re involved in because no other commissioner could make it. But I was texting frantically with the committee chair, so they have tabled it for Nevada for now. We’re going to bring it back in September with regulations that you cannot use ADUs for STRs. We will not be allowing for ADUs on properties of less than 1 acre until we get through our STR process and understand how we’re regulating these. I have a real concern that if we start allowing ADUs without getting our arms around STRs, we’re going to have illegal STRs in ADUs. Our whole reason for ADUs was to expand affordable housing.
The other thing is we’re working on the e-bike regulations. The Captain is correct. We are working with the attorney’s office to see how we can separate e-bikes on the trails and pathways in Incline Village and other places in the County where this is a problem. We’ll be coming back with an update on that. Hopefully we’ll be coming before the board here soon.
On shuttles, Sara had some really great questions about where we’re at with our shuttle data. What’s really exciting is the Tarp Connect report for IVCB shows great use of the micro-service—12,000 rides over 6 weeks. We’re in zone 3. I’ll send the data to Sara and Peter so we can all take a look at it. We are the community using it the most and we’re the least populous community. So it shows it’s really being used. There’s high usage in the late hours from 9pm to midnight. People are traveling down from play as well as workers coming home. There have been 16,000 passenger miles that are included in that. I’m waiting on some chart reports that I’ll be sending out, so I won’t send this out immediately until I get everything.
The Reno RTC shuttle report up to Incline Village logged a total of 96 trips. I don’t yet have rider information. There were just 3 riders who scheduled more than 1 trip in this time frame, and the most used locations are Summit Mall, Sand Harbor, the Hyatt, and Raleys. I’ll get that report as well out to the team.
On the comments about speeding, I just want to reiterate that the County is looking at that traffic and parking study, so we should be getting that request for proposals out soon so we can look holistically at the whole village at how to really look at speeding and traffic issues…. We want to help the WCSO to get together a plan so they’re not having to constantly enforce this in the neighborhoods and throughout the community. Additionally, I worked on this RFQ and NDOT is going to be a partner to see how we can decrease speeds on Hwy 28. They are really excited that the County’s willing to work with them, and they want to see how they can make 28 safer with us.
20:34
Sara also asked how do we make sure the community knows what kind of construction is happening in IVCB so we can plan our day accordingly. We are working on a construction map that hopefully she can put on her IVCB Community 1st website and we can get that link out to everyone so you can see where the construction hotspots are in town and we can work together. That’s my report. I’m happy to address any questions.
Sara Schmitz
Thanks, Commissioner Hill, for being here today. I’m hearing—and it’s just hearsay—but I think it’s good hearsay—some people are choosing to convert from STRs back to long-term rentals because of the requirements and regulations. My feeling is if we do have some STRs converting back to LTRs, it really helps our housing situation. I really hope we’re going to have more long-term housing because of the regulations. Time will tell. But I wanted to share what I’d heard.
Alexis Hill
I like that. I like that a lot.
Judy Miller
I have a question for Alexis about the School District’s sale of the Old Elementary School to Tahoe Transportation District. Apparently Mr. Hasty announced at the last TTD meeting that now the funding was likely to come from two other sources: the NV Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and I believe Commissioner Hill sits on that Board. So do you know when that funding will be approved—what meeting— and are you going to be part of the meeting?
Alexis Hill
I’m not on that board. That’s a State department— the NV Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. I’m not sure if it is Federal money that doesn’t need to go through a public meeting or if it needs to go through some sort of State finance meeting. I can find out and get back to you.
Judy Miller
Thank you. I have a question on STRs. We were told August 1st was the deadline for approved permits, and the maximum occupancy would be published on the website. It’s the 6th and I haven’t been able to locate that anywhere. So might you follow-up with the planners or the people in charge of the website, and ask if we can get that on the site? Otherwise people have no idea. There could be 20 people approved for all we know. We don’t want to complain if they are within their rights. Thank you.
Alexis Hill
Absolutely, I’ll check with Moira about where we’re at.
Kathie Julian
And Alexis, thanks for joining this morning. I have two queries. The first is on STRs. Have you folks in the County sent out to the various HOAs a list of all the STRs registered in their associations so they may be able to follow up themselves? Or at least do a notice specific to some residents there?
And my second question is, there have been reports of Washoe County proposing really high parking fees at Tunnel Creek in the future as a means to moderate visitation to Sand Harbor and Hidden Beach. Would you comment on that? Thank you.
Alexis Hill
I don’t know if the Community Services Department has reached out to associations, HOAs, or property managers about registered STRs. It is posted on our website. But I can follow up on that.
On the parking, I’ve also heard from some other residents about this. We are at TTD looking for how to motivate community members and visitors to come at non-peak hours. We’re increasing the fees for peak hours to motivate behavior that way. That’s the idea and we’ll see how that works.
Margaret Martini – IV Resident
Is your group cross-referencing all Airbnb, VRBO, and other STR rental platforms with the list of STR applicants so you can notify them that they do need to comply with the NLTFPD requirements and all your Washoe County regulations?
Alexis Hill
That’s why we contracted with Host Compliance. They monitor those sites and can check their listings to see if those folks have applied yet for a permit and if not, send them a letter. Those letters are going out—and they’re very serious—to tell them either to comply or they will not get a permit. So that’s what we’re looking at.
Margaret Martini
And you’re checking that these people who are advertising do have permits?
Alexis Hill
Yes.
Denise Davis – Incline Resident
Commissioner Hill, would you pass on the comment to Community Services that increasing the parking fee simply increases parking in the streets and neighborhoods. Every time they change the parking fee we get more people parking on the streets and in the neighborhoods. Charging more is not changing behavior. It’s making them park in a different spot.
Margaret Martini
There are empty spots in the parking lot, but people are parking all over the streets.
Denise Davis
There are plenty of empty spots in the parking lot. They are just not going to pay to park.
Alexis Hill
Thank you for that feedback. I’ll talk with Carl Hasty to see what that will look like. As I said, the parking and traffic study we’re about to come into will also be helpful with this. I know that Placer County has resolved these issues by doing no parking in neighborhoods. So we may have to look at something like that. We’ll be working with you on that.
John Crockett – Washoe County Library, Head Librarian
The Washoe County Library system is starting a 5-year strategic planning process. The first step here in Incline is our Library Director Jeff Scott is going to be here next Thursday at 4pm to have a community discussion with folks. If there is anything you would like to see in the library—more hours or different programs, anything you have to discuss—the director will be here to answer questions. So that’s next Thursday at 4 pm. We’re also going to follow up that discussion with a survey. If you can’t make it on Thursday, you can take the survey. And Thursday will be Zoom or in person so feel free to come by or go to our website to register for the event and get the Zoom link. I’ll send it to Peter.
On the good news front, in-person programs resume in September. We’re starting off with children’s story times. So there’s toddler time and baby-lap sit and story time. And we have new furniture coming for the children’s area, so we’ll have a revamped children’s area and story time in September.
Kathie Julian
I have a few more questions for Alexis. I made a suggestion a while ago about the possibility of getting TRPA to—it’s a suggestion more to TRPA than to you but you sit on the TRPA Governing Board—
John Crockett
Kathie, just so you know, Alexis has left the meeting.
Kathie Julian
Okay, so then just for the record I suggest TRPA make a presentation to the citizens of IVCB about TRPA and it’s various committees and roles, and how TRPA interfaces with the County and with our community. I think there isn’t a full enough understanding of how TRPA activities impact our local decision-making. I think it would be informative to have such a presentation. It would also be good to have an update on where the County stands with the Citizen Advisory Boards and their revamping and reinventing of CABs.
Cathy Spector
I’d like to refer back to the propane tank situation. Do we have signage at the places where people buy propane for their tanks? Are there signs that say, “No fires, no open fire pits,” etc.? That seems like something we should have wherever they buy their propane, not just in Incline but all around the lake.
Peter Todoroff
I had a suggestion that everybody should have these warnings posted in their STR units. They should have all the rules and regulations. The NLTFPD in conjunction with the WCSO did post signs on Highways 80 and 50 saying there are no fires allowed at Lake Tahoe. I don’t know what they’re doing in STRs but that’s something that should be….
[Unnamed]
There are 5 signs.
Cathy Spector
But what about these commercial places that sell the propane? It seems we should have signs there from the Fire Departments telling people what the rules are. You know people at STRs… you can’t count on them to read all the material that’s posted.
Peter Todoroff
That’s why I said they should post everything on the door so they see it as they walk in. But I don’t know if they’ll comply with that or not.
Cathy Spector
So who do we talk to at the Fire Department?
Ryan Sommers
We can explore posting some signs at the Chevron station because I think that’s the only place that sells propane for tanks, at least in my jurisdiction. I’ll talk to the other Fire Chiefs and make the suggestion, but can’t guarantee that other districts are going to do the same.
Cathy Spector
Thank you.
Sara Schmitz
This question is for Heather Lunsford. I’m wondering, when buyers close on their transactions are they provided information so they understand what a Red Flag Warning means? And before they decide to go and cut down every tree on their property that they need to get a permit? Is any of that information bundled up for new property owners?
Heather Lunsford – Reno Resident; Carrara Lobbyist for IV Realtors
I don’t know if they’re providing what Red Flag Warnings mean. That’s weather-related, not really real-estate related. I know when we had Fire Safety flyers, they were included in the escrow packets. Somebody earlier mentioned how the Title Companies included resource information. If there’s something you want distributed, we’re happy to help. But that’s not something that Incline Village realtors create on their own, or provide. But again, happy to help distribute any thing that you would like.
Shirley Appel
My husband happened to go into Ace hardware recently and noticed they’re still selling bags of charcoal. Is this not defeating the purpose? I noticed that Raley’s doesn’t and Village Market doesn’t. So for some reason Ace hardware is, and their whole thing was well, “We had it in stock.”
Peter Todoroff
Well I’m going there today and I’ll tell them.
Judy Miller
It looks like Alexis may have signed off. Maybe Judy Simon is signed in as David Simon? This whole topic of ADUs brings up a question in my mind about Residential Allocations. I haven’t been able to get an answer anywhere yet. I tried Washoe County and left messages at TRPA. It appears that Residential Allocations will limit the number of ADUs that could be approved. But I’m not certain. And I would like clarification. Maybe Judy Simon or someone else who’s familiar with the TRPA regulations could clarify and expand a bit on that. It does seem like if one Residential Allocation is required for every single ADU, then there is a limit and we won’t have thousands of them built in a single year. Anybody? No? Well, I’ll keep pushing.
Kristina Hill – Incline Resident, Washoe County Board of Adjustment, Member
I’m on the Washoe County website looking at STRs. I don’t see any report where the permits were issued. Does the site have a list of the 500 permits that were issued in Incline? Judy, do you know? You had that map.
Judy Miller
I did that map because the County has refused to give me a list. There is no list. I have a partial list I can share on the IVCB Community 1st website, or I can share it on IVCBMatters.com. The county won’t give you a list all at once. Only one at a time.
Peter Todoroff
You can send it to me. I passed out the map for you.
Judy Miller
Okay, I’m happy to do that. It’s public information, but the County doesn’t want to make it easy for me.
Peter Todoroff
The County doesn’t want to make it easy for anybody.
Judy Miller
Okay, I won’t take it personally. I’ll give Peter a list to circulate. It’s all public information. There’s nothing confidential. It’s all gleaned from their website. It just can’t be used commercially. No commercial use is I think the only restriction. But it’s all out there for people to see; they just have to look at one name at a time.
Kristina Hill
So I could request county Staff to confirm if an address is an STR?
Judy Miller
You can actually go to the site. There’s only about 150 permits. There are 500 applications. It doesn’t look like too many are getting denied. They just send them back and ask them to get a light fixture or a ladder or meet some other restriction or requirement they have to fulfill. But it is surprising to hear that they know of so many others. So, 500 is not the total number now operating. It sounds like there’s a lot more they know about it and they’re just pursuing who will get a $200 fine for not having a permit. That’s all the fine is. If once they notify you, you respond in 30 days, the fine is only $200. They said it was going to be a learning process and I guess it is.
Kristina Hill
So how can I find if my neighbor got a STR permit?
Judy Miller
Go to the website: onenv.us and create an account. Once you have an account, you’ll see a tab for Short-term Rentals. Under STRs it will say “Search Applications.” It will bring up a form and you can put in the address.
Kristina Hill
Okay, great! Thank you Judy!!!
Judy Miller
You’re welcome. I’ll send the link to Peter.
Kathie Julian
One more question for Judy Miller. The list I’ve seen, was that a list of those people who applied for STR permits or who have received permits?
Judy Miller
I did not circulate a list. That was someone else. All I have are maps. I have a different list that hasn’t been published anywhere which I used only to generate the map to show where the STRs are concentrated. If I were going to buy a house, I would be looking for a neighborhood that wasn’t so densely populated with STRs.
Kathie Julian
Right.
Judy Miller
So I have a list that I created, not the one you’ve seen. I can at least give addresses.
Kathie Julian
The list that I saw that you’re familiar with, do you know if it’s a list of applications or permits?
Judy Miller
If there’s more than 150, I can tell you unequivocally it is a list of applications not permits.
Kathie Julian
Okay and that would be a way that Kristina could see if her neighbor was on the list? It was listed by street.
Kristina Hill
I’m on the site now. They don’t say if they’ve received a permit. They say that an application was submitted. The status is “In Review.”
Judy Miller
Is there a record number at the top starting with a “W” STR something?
Kristina Hill
Yes. W-STR 000258.
Judy Miller
So if it starts with W STR 000 it is an application. If the W STR starts with a number instead of zeros, you’re looking at a permit. If it says W STR – 222 those are the permits. If you look up the address and all it says is W STR 000 that’s an application.
Kristina Hill
So that means they haven’t got a permit yet. But weren’t the permits to be issued by August 1st? Maybe they aren’t getting a permit. It’s been vacant for months. I guess that’s why.
Judy Miller
Perhaps they’re not going to rent it out as an STR anymore.
Kristina Hill
Great!
Judy Miller
Okay. Good luck!
Peter Todoroff
Okay, if there are no more questions or announcements let’s adjourn. Thank you.
PARTICIPANTS:
Alexis Hill
Cathy Spector
Chris Wood
Corey Solferino
Judy Simon
Denise Davis
Heather Lunsford
Howard Beckerman
Jim Nadeau
John Crockett
Joyce Bock
Judy Miller
Kari Ferguson
Kathie Julian
Kristina Hill
Margaret Martini
Noah Boyer
Pam Straley
Peter Todoroff
Ronda Tycer
Ryan Summer
Sara Schmitz
Sherry Butler
Shirley Appel
CHAT BOX:
09:19:26 From Washoe County Libraries to IVGID Communications(Direct Message) : Thanks Kari
09:20:26 From Washoe County Libraries : 785-WCSO
09:23:10 From Washoe County Libraries : ivcbcommunity1st.org
09:27:32 From Washoe County Libraries : Stopping our video for a few minutes
09:30:57 From Washoe County Libraries : We can give them to folks getting a new library card.
09:32:28 From Heather Lunsford : Chief Sommers- if you get us the materials we can help distribute to the Realtor members and their clients.
09:34:44 From Washoe County Libraries : washoecounty.us/str
09:36:55 From Ryan Sommers – NLTFPD : Thank you Heather. The Realtors have been very supportive with our literature; we (NLTFPD) need to remember to re-supply them. We will get you some. Thanks again.
09:38:24 From Ryan Sommers – NLTFPD to Washoe County Libraries (Direct Message) : Your comment about getting “them to folks getting new library cards’” — are you referring to Evacuation Plans?
09:39:16 From Washoe County Libraries to Ryan Sommers – NLTFPD (Direct Message) : Yes, we have them in our hallway, but we can give them directly to new folks.
09:39:29 From Ryan Sommers – NLTFPD to Washoe County Libraries(Direct Message) : Awesome, thank you.
09:40:10 From Ryan Sommers – NLTFPD : Thank you for the offer for Evacuation Plans with new library cards–we will get you some.
09:40:14 From Chris Wood : Have 500 STR permits been granted by the County? How many applications for STR permits are still in process? My HOA just sent a notice out advising about the STR regulations, suggesting that some STR operators are just getting a notice.
09:45:03 From Washoe County Libraries : We lost your audio Commissioner Hill.
09:48:37 From Alexis Hill : Good to “see” everyone. Have a wonderful weekend and reach out to me if you need anything ahill@washoecounty.us 775.447.3017. Thanks!
09:49:40 From Chris Wood : Looks like Alexis has signed off.