LakeTulloch.Org
2012
The Website of the Lake Tulloch Alliance
Providing news and information focused on theI Lake Tulloch Basin and dedicated to encouraging citizen involvement to protect and preserve the natural environment, rural way of life, and smart growth for the Central Sierra Foothills Join Us Click here
2012 Lake Tulloch Refill Schedule
Reflections on Lake Tulloch Photo by Damon Loomi
Calaveras County Supervisors Act
to Control Summer Rentals:
Supported by Lake Tulloch Alliance with Homeowners
The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors voted April 24th to develop a new ordinance to establish a permitting system and control over the nuisance that summer rentals have become on the lake. Supervisor Tom Tryon proposed the action with Supervisor Darren Spellman advocating an immediate ban on transient rentals since they are not permitted under county code. Supervisor Spellman argued that all transient rentals should be declared illegal since they are not permitted by the County Code. He is correct since the only permissible transient use would be a bed and breakfast which requires a conditional use permit.
Supervisor Tryon noted that if the permitting system doesnot eliminate the problems caused by rentals then the county could consider other options including an outright ban. Sheriff Gary Kuntz also underscored the need for the county to act to deal with the problem which he described as a public safety issue.
Action - The Supervisors acted to have the county staff begin the process of implementing a permitting system which would apply new standards addressing occupancy maximums, noise, parking requirements, and other vital elements. The Lake Tulloch Alliance supports the position that any home located in one of the four homeowner associations that bans transient rentals would not be allowed to obtain a permit.
Copper Cove HOA Now Only Area for Rentals - Since the CCLOTA is the only association not to ban rentals, the only permitted transient rentals on Lake Tulloch will be in the Copper Cove at Lake Tulloch Owners Association (CCLTOA). The rental property owners will, therefore be able to continue to illegally rent their homes as hotel rooms since the county has not banned the practice yet. Supervisor Spellman did warn the county that they could be subject to legal action for the failure to equally enforce the law.
Ordinance - The new ordinance will be acted upon during the next four or five months so that it will be effective by the end of the year. During the hearing one CCLTOA property owner who rents his house voice support for those who have reported serious problems with renters. He urged rental property owners to end the noise and nescience cause by them. The CCLTOA has yet to take action on the problem. In the summer 2012 all summer rentals will be located in this association. If you want to encourage them to act contact: ccltoa@caltel.com, 1-209-785-2688.
Summer Rentals and the Economy - The Lake Tulloch Alliance released an Economic Study of Transient Rentals that notes that summer renters provide an insignificant amount of economic growth in the area. The spike in business is provided by owners and visitors to second home owners on the lake not renters. The study underscored the importance of growing the local econtomy for 12 months, not 3 months of the year. Summer rentals only distabilize a community since the interest of renters wanting to party for the week often are not consistent in a community and are a disincentive to property owners to live at the lake during large portions of the summer.
The Lake Tulloch Alliance and homeowner association members and leaders, supporting county action, are strong advocates of growing the local economy. There is a need for more economic growth and jobs year round. Everyone should want local business to succeed and at the same time business owners should be interested in the best interests of their customers.
Tulloch Rentals: Out of Control with no oversight
In July 2011 members of the Lake Tulloch Shores Homeowners Associations (formerly Poker Flat) voted to ban short term rentals of homes in the development. Conner Estates and Peninsula Estates ban the practice. Click: Poker Flat/Lake Tulloch Shores Bans Summer Rentals
Property owners renting the properties are reaping hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue every summer in total. One renter in Copper Cove is earning nearly $70,000 for the summer in 2012 at $800 per night. Longtime residents of the lake have had their entire lives turned upside down by summer renters. It is important to point out that some renters are very respectful of neighbors but others could care less. They have shouted obscenities at property owners and moor their boats in such a way to block the egress of property owner's watercraft. One renter urinated on the swim platform of a homeowner’s boat.
Copper Cove property owners are now reporting longer lines to launch boats and with profitability of summer rentals, even more homes could be rented choking the association's facilities. Renters pay nothing for their use. One cove in Copper Cove experienced two homes coming up for rent for the first time totally changing the quality of life for residents with noisy parties stretching night after night. One house is rented every day from June 15 to the Tuesday following Labor Day with no respite for the neighbors.
Property Values - With the depressed prices of homes in the Copperopolis area, transient rentals impact homeowners who have them adjacent to their homes. The nuisance caused by them will impact property values since property owners would need disclose that fact to a potential buyer. Real estate property managers argue that rentals increase value but only for some one who is selling his home rental business to someone else who wants to reap profits at the expense of others. They also argue that rentals expose more people to the community and result in sales. It is true that often visitors purchase property but the answer to expand other legal transient rentals such as those in Saddle Creek, Copper Village, and most importantly the Lake Tulloch Resort. The Copperopolis Community Plan should consider including transient rentals in the long term plan that are inserted in R-1 or R-2 zoning.
Controlling or Outlawing
Numerous counties are now establishing new ordinances to insure that the rentals do not have a negative impact on the community while respecting the property rights of those who want to rent their homes. Even New York City has now banned transient rentals of homes in the Manhattan. Property rights, of course, go both ways. No one has the right to use his or her property in such a way that it impacts another’s unfairly. At the time, it is clear that zoning for housing around the lake is R-1 and R-2 which does not permit hotel or B&B businesses which these rentals are.
Now is the time to act and for the county to act to insure that single family residences are homes and not hotel businesses. Right now -- if a homeowner has renters acting in an inappropriately he or she has no one to contact other than the homeowner and sometime complaints are not of concern to the property owner. Meanwhile that owner is reaping tens of thousands of dollars in wealth at the expense of the property owners next door. The advent of advanced technology on boats with high powered speaker systems has compounded the problem of noise. There is also a clear need for a noise ordinance.
Making Rentals Accountable
Clearly there is a problem and it is important that the county addresses these issues soon in everyone’s best interest. For more information on LTA's support of such action call (209) 785-1944.
Poker Flat/Lake Tulloch Shores Bans Summer Rentals
Lake Tulloch Lakeshore Management Plan: Time for Action
Newly found photographs demonstrate Tulloch land rip off
The Lake Tulloch Shoreline Management Plan is finalized by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The plan is final approval. The Lake Tulloch Alliance filed a letter with the commission..
The Alliance is pleased to release for the first time photographs of the lake taken in 1957 that demonstrate that no land for current projects existed at the time of the creation of the lake. The land for the Lake Tulloch Resort and the Merle Holman's planned Marina Villas land didn't exist and was created by illegal land fills. We hope that the enforcement of the plan will prevent similar inappropriate development in the future.
Tri Dam is now taking steps to enforce the ne
Watch for more details here on Lake Tulloch.org.
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Sheriff's Finds 1,183 Boats on Lake Tulloch: Makes the Case for Change: Summer 2009 Usage seems up
Local residents at Lake Tulloch have seen significantly more watercraft on the lake than in recent years. A boat count the Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office performed two years ago found 785 boats on the 21-square-mile Don Pedro Reservoir, 250 on New Melones' 17 square miles, and at Tulloch, which is only 2 square-miles, there were 1,183. Click here for details
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