LOYALTON — In a surprising change of events, Sierra County’s Short Term Rental (STR) Ordinance revision failed to be passed by the Board after Supervisor Terry LeBlanc changed his vote. The renewed ordinance required a majority vote in two separate meetings, and though LeBlanc voted in favor of the first, he voted against the final. With Supervisors Heuer and Dryden for and Adams, Roen, and LeBlanc against, the ordinance will be returned to the Planning Commission to be reworked based on guidance from the Board.

The crux of the disagreement between Board members is whether a valid Short-Term Renewal Permit should be transferable upon the sale of a permitted home. Supervisor Adams was the strongest proponent against allowing permit transfers in both this meeting and the last, arguing that the change undermines the intent of the ordinance and artificially inflates the prices of properties with existing permits.

The Board discussed how transferring permits might spur an increase in Short-Term Rentals. Homeowners might choose to go through the permitting process solely to increase the sale value. Those properties then have the potential to be looked at by buyers as business investments, driving the price out of reach for single-family homebuyers.

Another revision that will potentially be looked at when the ordinance returns to the Planning Commission is the ability to grant STR permits for Rural Residential-zoned properties, which is not allowed under the current ordinance. Pike homeowner (in a Rural Residential zone) Joe Marcy explained that he struggles to keep up with property taxes and the general cost of living, but renting out a room in his house would alleviate those issues.

County Council Rhetta Vander Ploeg noted that the ordinance could be brought back with a sort of “sunset” clause, which would cause permit transfers to expire automatically after a period of time without Board intervention. Such a clause would allow testing out the new rule while making clear to homeowners that it could be taken away at any time, hopefully discouraging residents who don’t intend to rent from getting permitted solely to increase property value.

Supervisor Lila Heuer, who has supported the changes, felt that more information should also be collected on whether the ordinance was meeting its intent of delivering more long-term housing for community members. She pointed out that many homes are still vacant most of the year, asking, “What has changed in a year and a half?“

Board to Request More Game Wardens

Sheriff Mike Fisher asked the board to draft a letter to the Director of California Fish and Wildlife, Charlton H. Bonham, requesting an increase in the number of Fish and Wildlife officers assigned to Sierra County. The need for increased presence has been discussed for years but has been put in the spotlight since the mauling of Patrice Miller in November 2023.

According to Fisher, Fish and Wildlife believes that the number of wildlife encounters and violations in Sierra County do not support an increased presence. Fisher thinks the lack of numbers is due to a lack of enforcement and reporting from locals. He noted that Sierra County residents, being so used to the presence of bears, would be much less likely to report a bear encounter than someone in a Tahoe vacation home, even if the bear populations are similar or greater here.

Fisher supports Sierra County’s only assigned game warden, Zeke Awbrey, but he has over 1,000 square miles to cover and cannot effectively patrol the entire region. Law enforcement is made more difficult by the differences in needs for each side of the county, with heavy recreation on the west and hunting on the east. The Sheriff proposes splitting the county at the Yuba Pass into two separately patrolled zones with their own wardens.