Mono County opts for transient rental overlay
While the Town of Mammoth Lakes continues to wrestle with whether or not to allow single-family home rentals within the town limits, Mono County is moving forward to allow the option in the rest of the County through Transient Rental Overlay Districts (TRODs).
On Tuesday, the Mono County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing regarding a General Plan amendment that would allow TRODs to be added to the County’s toolbox.
According to the staff report, “Currently, the General Plan prohibits transient rentals within residential land use designations (SFR, ER, RR, RMH). The proposed TROD intent is to increase tourism opportunities and provide additional economic support to homeowners by allowing transient rentals within compatible residential neighborhoods. The creation of the TROD would provide a General Plan tool for allowing transient rentals in appropriate neighborhoods following a public hearing process.”
“Yes, it [the TROD] is similar to what the Town of Mammoth has been discussing, although I’m not sure of the ins and outs of their idea,” explained Mono County Code Enforcement Officer Nick Criss. “We know there is a demand for it, and that illegal rentals are taking place. It’s not so much about collecting TOT [transient occupancy tax], it’s just something we want available, economically.”
One important aspect incorporated into the TROD is enhancement of enforcement tools for Criss. Currently, the fine for a transient rental violation in the unincorporated areas of Mono County is $100/day. In order to collect, however, Criss would have to go to the residence every single day and prove that a violation is occurring, which isn’t always an easy task and requires a lot of manpower.
With acceptance of the TROD tool, the fine would change to a one-time citation fee of $1,000. Receive a second citation and it’s $2,000. Any citation after that continues to be $2,000 each time.
“These fines would make it worth the effort,” Criss told the Board on Tuesday.
This isn’t the first time that the idea of a TROD has come before the Board. The proposal was raised three years ago, but it wasn’t the same as the proposal laid out this week, according to Criss and people weren’t supportive of it back then. At that time, the TROD would have been started as a pilot program in June Lake.
Today the tool would be available countywide. To be clear, Mono County Development Director Scott Burns told the Board, “this is not being used anywhere today, it just allows for the potential to use it if people want to go through the process.”
That process would not necessarily be easy. Those interested would need to go through a public process, including a public hearing. A General Plan map amendment would be needed, which wouldn’t be cheap, possibly costing thousands of dollars, according to Mono County Planning Analyst Brent Calloway.
Nonetheless, David Ragland who owns a cabin in Virginia Lakes was very supportive of the idea and said he would want to apply for a TROD as soon as possible.
“I will need to dump my property unless I can make a little income off of it,” Ragland said. He did admit, however, that he wasn’t sure his neighbors would be supportive of his application.
Supervisor Hap Hazard wasn’t convinced that the tool was a good idea, nor that it would solve the problem.
“These homes could turn into problem homes,” he said. “How the heck are you going to enforce [it]? You’re only supposed to drive 65 mph but people don’t comply and it doesn’t get enforced.”
“Illegal rentals are already going on throughout the County,” Supervisor Vikki Bauer said. “There would be more opportunity to solve this problem with the ordinance.”
Supervisor Larry Johnston was concerned about the cost and time of going through the TROD application process.
“You want to encourage transient occupancy, but you are making it difficult for them [interested homeowners],” he said.
On Wednesday Burns again reiterated to The Sheet that it would be a process to acquire a TROD and approval would ultimately be up to the Mono County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors.
“It will most likely be accepted in neighborhoods where there is support,” Burns said. “Ultimately we are just trying to provide flexibility for property use.”
The Board voted 3-2 to approve the General Plan amendment to allow TRODs to be added as a tool in the GP toolbox. Supervisors Hazard and Johnston voted no. Johnston, however, was not against the TROD. He was against a second General Plan amendment that had been bundled into the discussion regarding the size of accessory dwellings.
The County is only allowed four General Plan amendment cycles each year, but in each cycle it can bundle several amendments together, which is why the accessory dwelling unit discussion was brought up at the same time as the TROD.
The amendment called for a Director’s Review for any accessory dwellings between 640 and 1,400 square feet. Anything above 1,400 square feet would require a use permit. Johnston felt that 1,400 square feet was too large. Both he and Hazard felt this opened the door for people to build second homes on their properties to rent out for extra income.
