Lake Tahoe Vacation Rentals-Bear Proof Garbage Containers
One of the biggest bugaboos facing Lake Tahoe Vacation Rental homeowners and property managers is the proper way to secure garbage left by our Tahoe guests prior to the scheduled pickup day. For example a guest stays Friday and Saturday night and leaves on Sunday morning. Without a proper bear-proof container the guest will either leave the smelly garbage in the garage or worse yet put it out at the curb where the scheduled pickup day is not until Thursday! This is where the garage becomes a huge problem not only for the local Bears health but it can create enemies among the human population as well.
By installing an approved bear-proof container nearly all garbage issues can be dealt with including forcing bears back to their forest home and becoming less and less dependent on human food and more and more on what is their natural diet.
The South Lake Tahoe City Council at their last meeting June 17, 2008, has made it crystal clear that garbage, along with a couple of other problem child’s, will be their number one priority and that if the homeowner has violations for garbage containment they will be forced to install a bear-proof container or possibly forfeit their Lake Tahoe vacation rental permit.
There are a number of companies that build and install bear-proof garbage containers: including the following local manufacturers:
http://www.brownbearbox.com/Products.html
Jason Paul/Owner
These guys are great to do business with an we have had them install many for our Lake Tahoe vacation rental homeowners and Lake Tahoe real estate purchasers.
Lake Tahoe Vacation Rentals-Under Attack…Again?
On June 3, 2008 the City of South Lake Tahoe’s City Council met and listened to public comment on issues regarding Lake Tahoe Vacation Rentals.Near the end of the meeting three council members including Jerry Birdwell, Bill Crawford and Kathy Lovell began discussing the unthinkable….placing a moratorium or the outright banning of the operation of vacation rentals located in the City of South Lake Tahoe. One council member commented that another approach would be to rescind a properties vacation rental permit should there be no TOT tax paid for a period of three (3) months.
It is disturbing to note that some of these council members were in place during 2003 when the first vacation rental ordinance was hammered out. All involved thought that this ordinance was well thought out and that with proper enforcement most problems could ( and seemingly) be solved.
Another council member Ted Long seemed to side with vacation rental owners and stated “enough rules seem to be in place regarding vacation rentals - but enforcement might need to be stepped up in some cases to deal with such issues as too many people crammed into a house or trash left out improperly”
“As a whole, vacation rentals have been a very healthy thing for us,” Long said. “Do we need some more rules on it? I’m not so sure.”
Currently homeowners who wish to rent their home out short term as a Lake Tahoe vacation rental must obtain a permit from the City of South Lake Tahoe and/or County of Eldorado. The permit is clear on the number of guests that may stay at that particular home based on the formula of each bedroom x 2+4. This represents that maximum number of guests allowed under the permit. Parking is also controlled via the vacation rental permit as is noise and garbage under in-place ordinances. Failure to follow these guidelines can result in fines and /or loss of the vacation rental permit.
This beautiful town has been hit economically severely hard in 2007 with the Angora fire and in 2008 with the loss of TOT revenue from the now stalled convention center/Chateau condominium project and with a drastically reduced tourist forecast due to a variety of economic issues… of which gasoline prices may top that notorious list.
What we don’t need is a City Council being obtuse as to economic issues and economic fundamentals that are inherent for a strong and healthy economic engine . The fact of the matter is that most dollars accrued by the Lake Tahoe vacation rental industry ultimately stay in the Tahoe basin and with gasoline prices ever rising there are indications that even more revenue derived in the Tahoe basin will stay locally. Recent studies (June 2008, MSNBC) have revealed that consumers are less likely to travel to discount stores but to shop locally due to the ever increasing cost of those perceived discount shopping trips ( Think Carson City).
Ironically, higher energy costs may be the revival of the “mom and pop” retail industry thought destroyed by the WalMarts and Home Depots huge semi-local presence. This bodes well for Tahoe in a twisted manner but the dollars still have to be earned and distributed and without a strong tourist based economy all bets are off. The destruction of one of Lake Tahoe oldest and richest vacation traditions… the family renting the “old cabin at the lake” may indeed be in jeopardy. This is truly a shame for generations to come who cannot afford the luxury of owning and living at Lake Tahoe but try and bring the family traditions back year after year via an affordable Lake Tahoe rental experience. Lets keep these discussions in perspective and look forward for answers not backwards for blame.
Pet Friendly Lake Tahoe Vacation Rentals
Pinnacle Lake Tahoe Getaways offers pet owners many wonderful South Lake Tahoe vacation homes that cater to their canine friends! Call 866-407-0245 or utilize our website to search for our pet friendly Lake Tahoe vacation rentals. Also, here is a link for National Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals.
The Bears Den at Lake Tahoe is a perfect place to bring your pets. With miles of National Forest trails to explore you and your pets will enjoy the High Sierra to the utmost! The Bears Den is located in an upscale and VERY quiet are of South Lake Tahoe, near Fallen Leaf Lake, Echo Lake and of course Lake Tahoe. There are many opportunities within minutes of The Bears Den to take your dog including a dog friendly Lake Tahoe Beach!
Share Your Lake Tahoe Video with Us!
Do you have Lake Tahoe videos posted on YouTube etc. or even raw video that you would like to share with us? We are putting together a program to bring in amateur and professional videographers that would like to highlight their Lake Tahoe video on our Lake Tahoe vacation rental site www.laketahoegetaways.com! Please call us at 888.827.8957 or 530-318-7990 to discuss your stuff!
Homeowner News
As a growing company Pinnacle Lake Tahoe Getaways has realized a few new things that we are implementing into our rental program. One of the biggest issues we have dealt with is garbage removal. With most of the unit’s garbage days midweek and most guest departures on Sunday there have been many occasions where the garbage will have to sit in the garage or on the side of the house exposed to our wildlife. The best solution to this problem is to install bear boxes at all of our rental units without a proper refuse system. This will eliminate trips to the dump (which add up in cost over time) keep our animals out of the trash safe and alive, and add value and functionality to the home… win-win for all parties. Another thing we are implementing is the addition of a land line phone in each of the units. This is not meant for guests to chat on simply so they have the ability to call 911 in the event of an emergency. Currently AT&T has local unlimited calling for only $10.69 a month, there is no need to get long distance service as we only want to have the landline in case of an emergency. Another feature we would like to execute in all of the rentals is a temperature sensitive alarm which will notify us directly when the temperature of the home falls below or rises above a certain temperature. This will give us a jump on any of the hundreds of possible problems that could go on with your homes not to mention let us know if guests arrive early or stay late. These alarms will allow us to keep a better eye on your property and remedy problems when they begin, not when they are discovered. We are just trying to keep our guests and homeowners happy and these procedures will help us continue to offer great service and top notch property management for years to come.