OPINION: A Recall puts all Incline Village/Crystal Bay assets up for grabs
by Paul Smith
Perhaps you remember Incline Village and Crystal Bay before it became a community of mini-hotels and party houses? Well, that change came because your local realtor, business operators, and STR (short-term rental) folks supported Washoe County in approving licenses and then not enforcing STRs regulations.
Make no mistake; STRs are uniformly ruining the quality of neighborhoods and creating an ecological disaster for Lake Tahoe – all in the name of “more tourists equals more profit”.
Starting with the introduction of County licensed STRs (short-term rentals of less than 28 days) in 2020-21, the Incline Village/Crystal Bay living environment changed – for the worse – for residents of all neighborhoods – even Lakeshore.
For example, STR owners list loads of amenities to justify a $200+/nite rental rate. Historically, realtors, agents, and STR owners listed beach access (now prohibited to advertise this amenity) along with the Diamond Peak etc. as benefits to short term renters in Incline Village/Crystal Bay.
Once Ordinance 7 was updated by the IVGID Trustee’s in 2022 and beach access became more problematic – THANKFULLY; the realtor/business/STR owner community went ballistic and the current recall effort is their answer i.e., switch the IVGID Trustee majority so that STR/realtor friendly trustee’s will liberalize beach access and assure favorable visitor pricing for all other venues. 
According to Washoe County, there are about 685 active Short Term Rental (STR) permits in unincorporated Washoe County with about 642 (94%) being located in Incline Village/Crystal Bay. This, however, is only part of the real picture since there are STRs operating without County permits. Those that have permits rarely adhere to their occupancy levels since all know that the County enforcement is non existent. You need only drive along Route 28 on the Nevada edge of Lake Tahoe any weekend to see the scores of cars, people, and trash scattered in the state forest and along the highway. This only happens because Washoe County refuses to limit STRs while all other Counties around Tahoe have limits on STRs. The limits elsewhere encourage buyers to seek out Incline/Crystal Bay where there are no limits on STRs[1]. Realtors love more house hunting created by those wanting to run STRs to offset their “second home” costs.
Only 6% of the Incline Village are “partial home” STRs – and only 33% have the owner as the primary contact – 67% have a property management company or local responsible party as the primary contact: often a realtor. [CLICK to DOWNLOAD a PDF of STRs as of Sept 1, 2023]
Incline Village/Crystal Bay is a community of about 7,720 dwelling units[2]. We have only 4 hospital beds, one grocery store, 3 stop lights, and a main road that is mostly 1 lane wide in each direction. Having nearly 10% of the Village housing stock in STRs means there is no work-force housing, no long-term rental availability, traffic congestion, parking nightmares, and a seriously degraded quality of life for those who call this community home and have no clue who is partying next door in some County permitted STR.
Because other Tahoe Lake communities have limits; all of the STR pressure has shifted to Incline Village/Crystal Bay. Yet, when given the opportunity in July to put a cap on short term rentals in Washoe County, the County Commission failed to enact such a cap. The Chair of the Commission, Ms. Alexis Hill, voted in favor since she knew full well that the cap would fail. By voting yes she earned an election point since Ms. Hill is up for election in 2024 and Incline/Crystal Bay is in her district.
Unfortunately for residents the Commission failed to consider the extensive work done in 2021 to create the Washoe County Tahoe Area Plan. This plan established an Incline Village Commercial Zone and an Incline Village Tourist zone. Following the lead of South Lake Tahoe, the County Commission should enact restrictions that limit STR permits to only commercial and tourist zone areas as set forth in the recently adopted Area Plan. Doing this would allow single family residential areas to return to providing workforce housing and long-term rental opportunities. This would also respect the land uses and density regulations set by the Tahoe Regional Planning Authority whose job it is to protect the beauty of Lake Tahoe. After all, why create a plan if it is ignored?
We all should respect property rights of owners, but not when the rights of one owner adversely impact the property rights of neighboring owners. My property rights end where my neighbors’ rights begin. As residents and voters in this community it is important to use all the tools available to assure our property rights are recognized.
Given that the Washoe County Commission has demonstrated that they do not respect our property rights; then it is up to Incline Village/Crystal Bay residents and voters to take steps to protect our IVGID assets and keep our neighborhoods residential.
CLICK to View an Interactive (Google) MAP of STRs in your neighborhood 
What can you do? TAKE ACTION.
1. Remove your name from recall petition
The recall effort must be defeated since a vacancy (one or two) will ensure that pro STR voices will be appointed as a replacement trustee. If anyone wants to have their name removed from the petition that requests a recall —- simply do the following: send an email to electionsdepartment@washoecounty.gov asking that your name be removed from the IVGID recall petition. [Updated 0/14/2023] Specify the name of the official you do NOT want recalled. Example:
Do not forget – it is in the financial interest of STR, realtor, and business owners (including Raleys) that the beach, Diamond Peak, golf/tennis/rec center all be easily accessible by tourists. Residents do not matter to these profit interests. The more tourists, the more money for their businesses and the higher prices for housing sold by realtors. Raleys loves 5,000 new renters every weekend buying wine, meat, coffee, milk, etc.
Even if open access for tourists may eventually render the beach deed invalid (the recall folks do not care about the deed), easy use and the ability to advertise these amenities for all venues will help STRs grow and prosper while residents deal with longer lines before they can enjoy the facilities that IVGID established exclusively for the benefit of owners – not residences converted into mini-hotels.
2. Report violations against a specific STR
Report violations and/or nuisance claims against a specific STR by calling: 775.277.6701 and/or email to: https://secure.hostcompliance.com/tips/type Please note that if you take a picture of the problem please make certain the picture has a date/time stamp on it. STR enforcement wants to know when the violation occurred.
No STR Property is allowed to claim the residential tax limit (3% vs. 8% escalation) and be an STR at the same time. The Washoe County assessor is responsible for investigating violations and can be emailed at exemptions@washoecounty.gov.
3. Use the Washoe County WRMS System to view the most current STRs.
The author, Paul Smith, has owned property in Incline Village since 1998 and has been a full-time resident for over 12 years. He retired to Incline after a career in manufacturing and has served as President of the Tyrolian Village Home Owners Association.
[1] 1 Other jurisdictions within the Tahoe Basin have placed caps on STRs—an environmentally responsible thing to do. Douglas County set a cap of 600 STR permits; STRs are not allowed in East Fork Township which is outside the Tahoe Basin. There are about 5,851 dwellings in the Tahoe Township according to Douglas County. El Dorado County has a cap of 900 permits. Placer County and South Lake Tahoe have also placed limits on rentals and tourism in their communities.
[2] Based on Washoe County assessor data as of Sept 11,2023: Dwelling units excluding structures zoned hotel/motel.
B&B and Cruise line are ruining communities worldwide.
Property owners should have the right of quiet enjoyment of their properties.
After all they are zone residential and not for hotel/commercial use. The greedy and inept public administration have failed protecting us the people !!!
I support Trustee Schmitz but have an honest disagreement on short term rentals. I believe property owners should be allowed to rent their homes to prospective visitors without government intervention. Renters should be required to abide by the same occupancy rules as homeowners but I don’t like government interfering if someone chooses to rent their home out. Renters however should not have access to the private beaches in the same way as homeowners. The beach deed contract should be respected and enforced.
A major problem is most of the taxes on STR go to the visitors bureau that has the incentive to bring in more STRs for their coffers. The county gets some, but not much. It may take legislation at the state level to fix that so the tax money can go for enforcement of the regulations and additional sheriffs.
I am unclear how IVGID can do anything about STRs other than make sure the deed restrictions are enforced. Maybe require users of punch cards get access only with someone with a picture ID. But how does replacing the current Board members with proto STR people (which I am not) change anything? Are Sarah and Matthew anti-STRs and if so, how would replacing them with pro-strs brokers?
And I understand Gail Krolick does commercial real estate (not residential) so I do not see how pro or anti STRs matter to her.
Agree – STR regulation is outside of IVGID’s purview. Keeping close alignment to the beach deed is all IVGID can do in terms of STR guest management. But Gail and John Krolick’s real estate agency lists residential properties. View the listings on their office window in the Raleys shopping center. It’s rumored Gail and John Krolick use one of their properties in Tyrolian as an STR, however county records show no STR permits for either property.
According to Washoe Co website, Gail Krolick was the realtor for the Callicrate/Stedman residential property on Mayhew that recently sold.
Correction: Gail and John Krolick, Alpine Realty, were the listing agents on the Callicrate/Stedman residential property that recently sold.
This is a problem everywhere we find natures beauty. Restrictions on STR’s have not reduced traffic on the south shore. Just as the less than 10% of our dwellings cause the traffic around Sand Harbor. People from all over come to Sand Harbor. We came as kids 60 years ago from Agate Bay and had traffic jams! We rent out our place a few times only in the winter. Not all renters are sketchy party animals either. Our full time neighbors make plenty of noise on occasion. People who have rented our place over the years want a family atmosphere. They want to cook a turkey, do laundry play games .. not stay in a hotel. We’ve never had a neighbor complain. We will be full time residents again soon and hope to always have a generous attitude towards those who want to experience Tahoe and to those with a family vacation home they want to share.
By the way not everyone that rents makes big bucks. We certainly don’t. To be able to have an STR our homeowners insurance doubled and our tax rate is higher …. And .. we have never rented beyond our person capacity. We are not some money grubbers but folks blessed to have a cabin here
Not only STR disrupting local neighborhoods , PACASO corporation has moved into Incline Village!!
PACASO is Timeshare/ Co ownerships . They get 44 days or 6 weeks .
I have one next door to me and it’s a rotating Hotel. Each family doesn’t know each other ,yet PACASO wants local home owners to get to know all 8 different families involved in this one fractional Co-Ownership / Timeshare in a ZONED (single)family residential neighborhood !!
Still not clear about IVGID punch cards on PACASO properties.
How they are getting away with 8 families as property owners .
South Shore City Attorney put a cease and desist orders
to PACASO a few years ago .
Interesting take. I was under the impression the recall had nothing to do with STR’s. The parking nightmare along the highway is an issue of IVGID themselves. The lack of master planning any large parking areas to allow for tourists to park and shuttle is on IVGID. This town has always been a tourist spot and without tourists there would be far fewer restaurants and amenities for us locals. STR’a are the only reasonable accommodation in town. The last vote to make owners obtain permits just equated to another tax on land owning citizens that go nowhere and create another bureaucratic process. This sounds like the IVGID board is a group of people yelling get off my lawn. My opinion is that you have hitched your cart to the nearest hot button item to attempt to garner votes to keep your postion and now are using the position you have to blast the email chain with your personal plight. Why don’t you share the email list with the group attempting to remove you so we can get the other side of this story.
IVGID is not responsible for parking along state and county roads, nor deciding on or collecting fees for STR permits. That’s with the county.
Correct. Washoe County Ordinance 97 that created IVGID made its mandate sewer, water, trash collection management, and recreational facilities (not recreation services). To download a copy of Ordinance 97: http://ourivcbvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Ordinance_97_Washoe_County_amended_searchable.pdf
IVGID is responsible for the parking on the highway and unsafe conditions as they have rejected larger parking areas with rides within Incline. You can’t build the East trail and have expect less tourists.
IVGID board has been anti STR and pushed its agenda against it via forums like this and the community got what it asked for, another governing body and more taxes that don’t help our community in the least.
To circle back the opinion about STR and unsafe road conditions being related to board members being recalled. This has nothing to do with the reason behind the recall. The members have failed members of the community and they are lobbying for their removal.
These entities funded the East Shore Trail: the Tahoe Fund, a non-profit,
Government agencies: Tahoe Transportation District, Nevada Division of State Parks, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, the US Forest Service, IVGID, and other government agencies.
IVGID is not responsible for the parking on Highway 28, nor is it responsible for the paid parking lots at the Trail’s start. IVGID’s Board has nothing to do with STRs within the district. IVGID provides water, sewer services, trash removal services (via a contracted vendor) to parcels in IV/CB, no matter their usage. Primary residences and those residences used as STRs by owners. IVGID provides its recreation facilities, including the beaches, and enforces the Beach Deed.
Since STRs are outside of IVGID’s legislated purview, the Board can have no binding opinion on being for or against STRs. Individual members can but IVGID’s orders of business and areas of responsibility exclude STR management, fees, caps, regulation, etc.
Yes this is a major concern and a possibility, the Realtor push and funding for the recall has pushed out our ability to actually create our own town or city to create housing, zoning and STR regulations. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but it is interesting how the recall pushed out our real democratic proposition to create a town or city, possibly pushing our ability to control our own destiny to another year! It is true that our IVIGID trustees have no control over regulations other than ensuring adherence to the Beach Ordinance 7 and protecting our village access to our beaches. I don’t know about you, but with the trustees modifications to the punch cards has made my time at the beaches this year with my family much more enjoyable, even over the 4th of July deluge. The trustee’s responsible stewardship to Ordinance 7 not only reduced everyone in the communities property taxes by $325.00 buy also keeps us from the traffic that lines up on HWY 28 at 6am to enter Sand Harbor during warm summer days.
I loved saving $325 this year in IVGID fees and I and my family and personal guests had a very nice time each time we went to the beaches. They were much less crowded with tourists vs. previous years. Bravo to the members of the GM Ordinance 7 Committee and the IVGID Board who approved the Ordinance 7 changes in 2022, making it much better for us residents in 2023 and beyond.
In 33 years of owning an Inline Village condo, I have NOT noticed any increase in summer traffic. It has ALWAYS been crowded in the summer–period! It’s Tahoe. Please focus on the effect fewer STRs will have on the local businesses you love. Over the years I have talked to the owners of MANY local shops and restaurants that have reluctantly gone out of business. They simply could not survive the off-peak times without really good sales during the summer and winter to tide them over. Rent must be paid year-round. Fire insurance has gone sky-high. Fewer STRs may mean fewer tourists and more housing for workers–but there will also be fewer jobs to support the workers. Think about the shops and restaurants you USED TO frequent in Christmas Tree Village, Country Club Center and around the post office. Do you want to live in a ghost town? Be careful what you ask for–you may get it.
The traffic now is nowhere as busy as during July and August.
Love this time of the year hardly any people at Mountain Shadows.
My compliments to Mr. Smith for his excellent memo on short-term rentals and how they have impacted our community. Like others who have commented, I appreciate the efforts of the IVGID Board to enforce the deed restrictions on beach access as one way to address the problem, and I have to wonder why such a herculean effort is being made to remove two particular Board members now, rather then wait for the next election. Mr. Smith has given me a credible explanation for what may be going on, and if he is correct, then I think we should all ask ourselves: is this really what we want or should have to tolerate? Wouldn’t it be better to wait for the normal election cycle to run its course, particularly given that the current Board does seem to be doing its job?
Paul, I fully agree that STR growth unregulated and unenforced is an absolute menace. However, I don’t see what the recall, and IVGID generally, has to do with it. IVGID can’t really regulate STRs- apart from liberalizing beach access I don’t know what’s within their purview that could possibly drive (or reduce) STR activity in Incline.
I think this energy (on your part) would be better placed into recalling Alexis Hill and getting a WCC that will actually do something about this. The WCC can easily cap or reduce STRs, as can the HOAs. Way more power than IVGID has.
There are anti and pro-STR populations on both sides of this argument re the IVGID recall. Are there some people supporting the recall because they want more STR beach access? Probably. But that’s far from the biggest reason to do a recall.
There are several things IVGID could do and the most important is to price the use of recreational assets more favorably for residents who are residents and not hotel or short term renters (i.e., less than 28 days). Pricing these assets is key to guaranteeing that residents do not have the lines created by visitor use. Second, IVGID could request that the County share TAT (transient accommodations tax) with IVGID instead of currently to the business community which uses these funds for additional promotion. Third, IVGID has made little effort to inform the County and TRPA of IVGID issues. Transportation and zoning and development and fire safety and utility use are matters that impact Incline Village and the services provided by IVGID. Thus, I think, IVGID would do well to be more active in front of these regulatory bodies.
A recall of IVGID or Washoe County elected officials when an election is 14 months away is a waste of time. Supporting candidates who might run against Ms. Hill or any other candidate is, I think, a better option.
The narrative in this email [editor: article] is suspect. It’s fear mongering through massaging data. Please read the article in Moonshine Ink by a former member of the audit committee. STR’s are regulated by the county, not IVGID.
The data is the data. The article adds nothing to County data; just presents the data links for viewing.
STRs are under County regulation and the enforcement depends totally on resident reports of violations i.e., the County has no inspector stationed in Incline/CB nor do the inspectors work on weekends.
The article does not claim that IVGID has any regulatory authority over STRs.
The article points to the high presence of STRs, gives tools for residents to find STRs near them, and lists how to report violations by licensed and non licensed STRs.
The article intent is to inform and empower any resident so inclined to address an STR related imposition on what heretofore has been a residential neighborhood.
The article also notes that IVGID does control venue pricing and admission requirements. Accordingly, the tighter control over beach access last year was noted as a step in the direction of protecting and reserving IVGID assets for residents over transient vacationers.
It is really rather a straight forward issue; either IVGID is running facilities for residents or IVGID area residents are subsidizing the rental business operations of other residents who choose to rent out their property to tourists.
If one prefers the later (i.e., subsidize the business operation of some residents) then expect more tourists and less access for those of us who do not rent and simply call this village home.