Update to the Nuisance

From the Incline Board of Realtors...

As some of you experienced, Commissioner Breternitz responded to our original call to action on the proposed nuisance ordinance, stating that our information was not correct. He specifically states that our comments are "erroneous" because the ordinance does "not contain any Tahoe specific modifiers."

We have been purposeful to comment on what is actually written in the ordinance language. Because the ordinance does not have specific modifiers in its language at this point, we can only comment on the stated intent of Section 8.

The proposed "Intent" states:

"The public nuisances at issue focus generally on the consequences of intense vacation home and rental land uses as well as abuses produced at times by the entertainment and recreation industries."

IVBOR has responded to Commissioner Breternitz to address his comments and reinforce our position on this issue. Below is a copy of the correspondence all Washoe County Commissioners received this morning from IVBOR's Washoe County Government Affairs Director Jim Nadeau:

Commissioner Breternitz:

We understand that Adrian does not necessarily see the implications of this language.

Because the ordinance does not have specific modifiers in its language at this point, I can only comment on the stated intent of section 8.

The proposed Washoe County Nuisance ordinance Section 50.310 Modifications to Public Nuisances includes the following language:

"The public nuisances at issue focus generally on the consequences of intense vacation home and rental land uses as well as abuses produced at times by the entertainment and recreation industries."

On its face the ordinance does not establish standards for vacation rental or rentals land uses in general, but just the inclusion of these terms within the context of the modifier section opens the door for classifying rentals and vacation rentals as nuisances at a later date. If there is no intent in capturing vacation rentals and rentals in the nuisance ordinance; then there is no rational reason to include that reference. As resolved as we are on the inclusion of rentals in the ordinance, we are equally concerned with the implications of section 8 as a whole. You and I have discussed this individually.

That said, Washoe County Community Development staff created a Lake Tahoe Nuisance group that has been meeting at Incline Village since earlier this year specifically to address the Lake Tahoe modifiers. This group was appointed prior to any approval of the ordinance by the County Commissioners. Some of the members of this Lake Tahoe Nuisance group have very specifically expressed their interest, if not their intent, to include vacation rentals and rentals in general. This has generated considerable discussion regarding vacation rentals and rentals along with other areas of interest. Again, the mere inclusion of this language within the "Intent" section opens this door and suggests that vacation rental and rental land uses could be construed to be nuisances. Under no circumstances should vacation rental and rental land uses be included in a nuisance reference.

Because of the potential broad application of the modifier section, we agree with Washoe County staff's option of dropping section 8 completely. Designer ordinances or "modifiers", in general, are just a bad idea.

Incline Village Board of Realtors

924 Incline Way, Suite 1

Incline Village, NV. 89451

(775) 831-3777 Fax: (775) 831-1386