What’s New
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
NEW STATE HOUSING LAW COULD RESULT IN ADDITIONAL HOUSING
A NEW PLATFORM TO ACCESS AGENDAS & MINUTES
REACH CODE FAQS TART PARK & RIDE
CELEBRATING TRUCKEE LEADERSHIP FOR WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
LEAVE NO TRACE, INCLUDING PET WASTE RESPONSIBLE PET OWNER MONTH UPDATE ON THE WORKFORCE HOUSING
GRANT PROGRAM
SHORT-TERM RENTAL ORDINANCE UPDATE UPCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS
NEVADA COUNTY CONNECTION
Town Manager Report
By: Jen Callaway, Town Manager
Hello Everyone, We hope this newsletter finds you well and enjoying the winter sunny skies we have been experiencing!
The Town is busy as usual, with a lot of projects underway, and as we move into our annual budget process, developing the Town’s Fiscal Year 2022/23 budget keeping in mind core services, community priorities and council priorities. The budget time is exciting for the Town and staff as we align our work to move forward council priorities while maintaining our core services to provide a high level of quality services to our community.
Town Council Goals:
In line with this, in February, the Town Council reaffirmed the FY 2021-2023 Council Goals, five key
Talk From The Town Talk From The Town
TOWN OF TRUCKEE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
Jeremy Jensen Media
Town Manager Report Continued
moving forward in the best interest of the community. As the Town team we are excited to work on these initiatives related to housing, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, community cohesion and communication, investment in infrastructure and engaging partnerships to drive emergency preparedness.
Please look for upcoming discussion on Council Goals on our social media accounts as we talk through what these priorities mean to our Council members and the impacts on our community.
Police Chief Recruitment:
Also underway is our Police Chief recruitment. We will be conducting final interviews the week of March 14th with an extensive process, including interviews with a community panel, public safety panel, town employee panel, the Town’s Department Head team and Command Staff within the Police Department. We are excited to find the right candidate for our organization and community and look forward to introducing our new Chief to the community in the coming months.
Thank you for taking the time to read this month’s newsletter and feel free to reach out at any time with comments, questions, or concerns. You can always reach me at
[email protected] or 530-582-2901.
All my best, Jen Callaway
New State Housing Law Could Result in Additional Housing!
On September 16, 2021, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 9 (SB 9), which allows residential property owners to split a single- family lot into two lots (referred to as an Urban Lot Split) and place up to two units on each (referred to as a Two-Unit Project). This creates the potential for up to four housing units on certain properties that are currently limited to single-family houses. Under the new law, cities and counties across California are now required to approve development proposals that meet specified size and design standards. Both the Urban Lot Splits and Two-Unit Projects are required to be approved at the staff level, with
no public hearing or review by a decision- making body.
In December 2021, the Truckee Town Council adopted an urgency ordinance to establish a framework to approve these subdivisions and development projects. The ordinance addresses the requirements of SB 9 and includes a few Truckee-specific regulations. SB 9 went into effect on January 1, 2022.
The following graphic depicts the different variations of development now available to property owners:
By: Jenna Gatto, Planning Manager
• Local agencies may require only one off- street parking space per unit—none if the site is close to transit or a car share vehicle location. Note: Truckee does not have a qualifying transit or car share facility, so we can require one off-street parking space per new unit.
• Side and rear setbacks are limited to four feet or less generally, but none at all may be imposed on an existing structure or one that is constructed in the same location and to the same dimensions as an existing structure.
• The applicant-owner must sign an affidavit stating that the owner intends to occupy one of the housing units as the owner’s principal residence for at least 3 years following the lot split. Community land trusts and qualified nonprofit corporations are exempt. No other owner-occupancy requirement is allowed.
• Local agencies must prohibit short-term rentals in any dwelling created under SB 9 (whether through the lot split or two-unit development approval, or both).
New Housing Law Continued
Below is an overview of the new regulations:
• Each new lot is at least 1,200 square feet
• The split results in two new lots of approximately equal size (60/40 split at most).
• The split does not involve the demolition or alteration of affordable housing, rent- controlled housing, housing that was withdrawn from rent within the last 15 years, or housing occupied by a tenant (market- rate or affordable) in the past three years.
• The lot to be split is zoned single-family residential.
• The lot is not a historic landmark or within a designated historic district.
• The original lot was not established through a prior SB 9 lot split.
• Local agencies may only impose objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design standards on an eligible project—and even then, only to the extent that the standards do not physically preclude the construction of two units of at least 800 square feet.
A New Platform to Access Agendas & Minutes
By: Lynn Baumgartner, Administrative Technician
The Town of Truckee has partnered with Municode to host a new platform to make access to Town Council and Planning Commission documents even easier. Members of the public will now be able to view agendas, packets, and minutes and downloadable PDF versions in one location here.
Council, Commission, and Committee records prior to January 2022 are available on the Laserfiche Public Portal. For any questions regarding Municode or public records, please
contact Judy Price, Town Clerk at 530-582- 2924.
On January 25, 2022, Town Council directed Town staff to initiate a request for proposals for a consultant to facilitate a process of considering a “building reach code’ for Truckee. Over the coming months, the Town will work with a stakeholder advisory committee and conduct public outreach to inform this process. Read on for more information about what reach codes are and why they are under consideration.
What is a reach code?
A reach code is a law adopted by a local government that creates higher building energy performance standards than those in the State building code. Typically, reach codes apply to residential or nonresidential new construction and sometimes to major renovations or additions. In some cases, specific measures may apply to existing buildings. Reach codes can target energy efficiency, energy storage, photovoltaics (PV), electric vehicle (EV) readiness, water efficiency, or existing building energy upgrades.
The requirements for a reach code are that they:
1) reduce building energy use
2) are cost effective. This means that the measures required in the reach code must pay for themselves over their lifetime.
3) are more restrictive than the state code 4) are re-adopted when the building code is updated every three years
Why is Truckee considering a reach code?
The primary goals of the reach code are to cost-effectively reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to improve home air quality and public health. In 2019, the General Plan Advisory Committee created a Climate Action
Subcommittee to help guide the creation of policies for Truckee’s Climate Action Plan (CAP). Discussions from these subcommittee meetings helped create and prioritize policies and actions related to transportation, land use, energy use, and waste. Using data from Truckee’s 2016 GHG emissions inventory, the Subcommittee noted that emissions from building energy use account for 59% of Truckee’s total community emissions. Thus, the CAP Subcommittee recommended developing a reach code to improve the energy efficiency of our building stock, reduce GHG emissions, and improve indoor air quality through use of efficient, non-polluting appliances.
What kinds of reach codes are there?
There are many types of reach codes. Some are prescriptive, meaning they require the implementation of specific measures (for example, the installation of PV systems on new residential construction) and some are performance based, meaning they require new construction to perform more efficiently than the State code, but allow for substantial flexibility in how this is achieved. Some reach
Reach Code FAQs
By: Sara Sherburne, Sustainability Program Analyst
codes require all-electric construction - usually with exemptions - and some allow for the continued use of fuels like natural gas and propane. Reach codes that affect building energy efficiencies remain the most common kind (and may include measures like duct sealing, attic insulation, or triple paned windows), though some local governments have adopted measures that make GHG reductions possible but do not specifically address energy efficiency. These include electric vehicle readiness, electric pre- wiring or panel requirements, indoor/outdoor water efficiency requirements, and energy audits or benchmarking.
How will the Town develop the reach code?
The Town is currently reviewing consultant proposals and will select a firm in March. From there, the Town will assemble a Stakeholder Advisory Committee composed of Staff, Council members, and representatives from the Contractors Association of Truckee Tahoe, Liberty Utilities, Truckee Donner Public Utility District (TDPUD), Sierra Community House, and community members with expertise in mechanical and electrical engineering. The Committee will meet several times over the coming months to help guide the development of
the potential codes. There will be opportunities for broader public input through public opinion surveys, public hearings, and workshops.
Contracting with a consultant does not mean that the adoption of a reach code is inevitable, however. Through outreach and research, the consultant will help the Town determine if a reach code makes sense for Truckee, and if so, what kind. Meanwhile, the Town will continue to develop programs that enhance access to and funding for energy efficiency tools and programs.
Why are we doing this now?
The California State Building Codes are updated every three years. The 2022 updates will go into effect in January 2023, and the most streamlined approach is to implement the reach code in tandem with this update. Additionally, the Town needs to move urgently to reach its GHG emission targets and waiting longer will require that more aggressive action is taken down the line.
How does the Town plan to improve the power grid to handle increased electric load as property owners increasingly adopt electric appliances?
The TDPUD’s current load capacity is approximately 57MW, and they typically see peak demand (Christmas and New Year Holiday Weekends) reach a maximum of 36MW. This leaves room for relatively significant load growth, however the TDPUD is also engaged in an electrification and resource planning study to address the long-term load forecasts and enhance resiliency.
Doesn’t electricity create emissions too?
Yes, the source of electricity generation determines the amount and intensity of emissions produced. The TDPUD, which serves the majority of Truckee, provides electricity
Reach Code FAQs Continued
Reach Code FAQs Continued
that is currently 60-65% renewable and will be 70-75% renewable by the end of the year. These renewable sources include wind, solar, biomass, and hydroelectric. Liberty Utilities, which serves about 5% of the Truckee population, provides electricity that is at least 33% renewable. Neither utility procures electricity from coal. Nationally, only 20%
of electricity came from renewable sources in 2020, putting Truckee ahead of the curve. As our utilities move toward sourcing 100 percent of their energy from renewable sources, emissions associated with electricity use will approach zero.
Will the code create additional construction costs?
At this time, we do not know what the reach code would contain and cannot say how it would impact construction costs. However, it is
worth emphasizing that the reach codes must be cost-effective in order to gain approval from the California Energy Commission. This means that although certain technologies will require an up-front cost, but they will pay for themselves over time. TDPUD, Liberty, the Town, and the State are also providing incentives for energy efficient technology. Click here to view TDPUD rebates.
TART Park & Ride
Take advantage of the free, convenient shuttle to the mountain every Saturday and Sunday through March 20, 2022. Tahoe Truckee Area Regional Transportation (TART) Park & Ride shuttles will run frequently between Tahoe City and Truckee High School to The Village at Palisades Tahoe (Olympic Valley). You can also park at the Truckee Tahoe Airport and catch a ride to Northstar California Resort.
The TART Park & Ride is open to anybody who wants to use it. It is totally free -- all you need to do is show up. The Park & Ride is an especially great option for families or for solo skiers. Let’s reduce traffic and decrease our greenhouse gas emissions!
IMPORTANT: Look for signage to ensure that you are parking in the right parking lot and not within the actual airport. To see all the details, go to tahoetruckeetransit.com/parkandride
By: Bron Roberts, Public Information Officer
By: Bron Roberts, Public Information Officer
As we kick off Women’s History Month, we want to recognize the contributions of all the strong female leaders that have been pivotal in building Truckee into the town it is today. Kathleen Eagan spearheaded Truckee’s incorporation and was the town’s first mayor.
She is still influential and active in our community and has served as a board member of the Truckee River Watershed Council, Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, Truckee Airport District, and currently for the Friends of the Truckee Library.
Maia Schneider was the second female mayor of Truckee and, in the early 2000s, recognized that women were underrepresented in local politics. She teamed up with several other women in the community to reverse this trend by encouraging more women to become politically active.
Since that time, we have had Beth Ingalls, Barbara Green, Joan deRyk Jones, Carolyn Wallace Dee, Alicia Barr, and Jessica Abrams serve on the Truckee Town Council. Three of the five seats on our current Truckee Town Council are represented by women: Former Mayor Anna Klovstad, Vice Mayor Lindsay Romack, and Mayor Courtney Henderson.
During the month of March, we will be celebrating the accomplishments of our leaders and recognizing their passions and individual contributions, along with a presentation on International Women’s Day at the March 8, 2022, Truckee Town Council Meeting.
Celebrating Truckee Leadership for Women’s History Month
Caitlin Brennan
We just finished Responsible Pet Ownership Month, established to help us remember what it means to care for our best friends. Although many of us love to take care of our dogs by taking them on the trails for a walk, it is just as important to make sure we pick up after them. Pet waste contains harmful bacteria and parasites that make people and their pets sick.
When left on the ground, it washes down storm drains and contaminates our streams and rivers.
A good practice is to always carry at least two or three waste bags. Truckee Police Department Volunteer, Joe Fiore, has been out on the Legacy Trail over the last few weeks handing out bags for anyone who needs them. Our Facilities staff also regularly maintain and refill pet waste bag
dispensers and service trail trash cans up to 3-times a week.
DO YOUR PART: Scoop it, bag it, and most importantly, toss it in the trash!
Leave No Trace, Including Pet Waste!
By: Deverie Acuff, Support Services Manager
With Responsible Pet Owner Month coming to an end, our Animal Services Department have some great reminders for pet owners. You can learn more by visiting here.
LICENSING
It is a California State Law to license your dog. It is also part of being a responsible dog owner. If you live in Truckee town limits, you are required to have a current Town of Truckee license for your dog. You can license your dog online or call our Animal Services at 530-582- 2930 with licensing questions.
SPAY & NEUTER
Not only does spaying and neutering your pets help to prevent over-population, it also has a number of benefits for your pet. It can reduce roaming, marking, and unwanted territorial behavior, increase your pet’s lifespan, and
MICROCHIPPING
Microchipping is your pet’s best chance of being returned home should it ever become lost. It is also critical for reunification in the event of a natural disaster or emergency. Microchips are also FREE for pets of residents of the Town of Truckee.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
Emergency planning today will benefit you when a disaster strikes. It is simply too dangerous to leave companion animals unattended during natural disasters, so please take them with you.
Contact your veterinarian for a list of boarding kennels and facilities, identify hotels or motels outside of your immediate area that accept pets, and ask friends and relatives outside your immediate area if they would be willing to take in your pet.
Responsible Pet Owner Month
By: Bron Roberts, Public Information Officer
By: Bron Roberts, Public Information Officer
Update on the Workforce Housing Grant Program
The Town of Truckee Workforce Rental Grant Program (previously called the Long- Term Rental Grant Program) aims to unlock existing housing stock for the local workforce.
The program includes a set of incentives for homeowners that shift from renting their home short-term — or not renting at all — to 3- to 12-month-plus lease arrangements with locally employed tenants.
The Workforce Rental Grant Program launched in October of 2020 in partnership with Landing Locals, a housing startup based in Truckee, which markets and administers the program. As of February 2022, Landing Locals has placed over 100 locals in 55 homes through this incentive tool.
On average, they are seeing the properties rent out for under $1,000 per bedroom and have housed employees that work at over 55 local businesses in the Truckee /
North Lake Tahoe area.
If you are a property owner or local employee looking for housing, you can learn more about the program by visiting LandingLocals.com.
You can also contact Landing Locals at 530- 290-6949 or by emailing them at hello@
landinglocals.com.
For more information on housing initiatives being implemented by the Town of Truckee, go to the Housing Program website here.
By: Hilary Hobbs, Assistant to the Town Manager
Short-Term Rental Ordinance Update
On February 8, 2022, the Truckee Town Council deliberated over updates to the Town of Truckee Short-Term Rental (STR) Ordinance.
The review of the current ordinance was in response to the regional shortage of housing available to the local workforce. The goal was to determine if the management of STRs would have an impact on the housing challenges that Truckee is facing and if so, which tools would be effective.
The information presented to Truckee Town Council came from recommendations by an advisory committee comprised of a range of community members and stakeholders. The
advisory committee met over three months and studied the current Truckee STR inventory, tools used by similar destination communities in managing STRs, and findings from a literature review that looked at several academic studies on the impact of STRs on the housing market.
Staff also presented the results of a community survey in which they received 2,359 responses, and the Truckee Town Council also considered the significant public comment that they received for the meeting.
Council directed staff to develop an ordinance update including the following components:
• A cap on STR registration certificates town-
STR Ordinance Update Continued
wide at the current number. Those that do not have a current certificate will be put on a wait list that is yet to be established.
• Phasing out STRs in both multi-family units and Accessory Dwelling Units. This means that no new registration certificates will be issued for these types of units; current certificate holders will be permitted to renew.
• A one-year waiting period after a property sells before it is eligible to register as an STR.
• An increase in penalties for violations and the addition of a fee for inspections following a citation.
• The establishment of a December 31 deadline for annual permit renewal to facilitate the management of the wait list.
• The incorporation of a review of the STR program in summer 2023 and bi-annually after that.
These directives have not yet been adopted. Staff have begun drafting the ordinance updates from the directives and will take them for Council approval and adoption this spring. It is important to note that the moratorium on the issuance of new Short-Term Rental registration certificates is in place until June 15, 2022. Furthermore, the wait list that has been conceptualized from the recommendations has not yet been established and is not open for community members to register.
Additionally, Council was supportive of the development of a new STR registration certificate-based workforce housing program.
This program would incentivize new workforce housing by awarding the creation of new workforce housing units with STR registration certificates. The concept and potential guidelines for this program are still to be determined and will likely be presented to the Truckee Town Council this summer.
Andy Holmes
Upcoming Truckee Meetings & Events
Want to get involved in your local Town Government? See the Town’s Calendar of upcoming meetings and events to participate. Be sure to check the Town’s website for any changes.
Nevada County Connection
Over the past year, Supervisor Bullock has convened area leaders on important peak period mitigation topics in a meeting series titled The CCC: Convene, Champion & Catalyze. The meetings have been a roundtable for a coordinated approach to peak period visitation in the Truckee area with the intention to find short-term tactical action steps to enhance quality of life for locals and visitor experiences. While not open to the public, these meetings have allowed for frank, honest and direct communication and coordination among area leaders.
This past month, a successful CCC meeting was held on peak period traffic congestion and chain control. Representatives from CalTrans, CHP, Town of Truckee and other impactful regional leaders were able to have a coordinated discussion on successes and opportunities.
In the coming months, Visit Truckee Tahoe will transition the CCC meetings to the Truckee Stewardship Council. Collen Dalton, Visit Truckee Tahoe CEO, presented on this plan at the February 22nd Town Council meeting. The Truckee Stewardship Council’s role will be to accelerate community-wide action by uniting stakeholders around a common, ambitious goal, creating a platform for collaboration, inclusiveness and speed to implement change. This is part of Visit Truckee Tahoe’s continued path toward sustainability tourism management for the Truckee region.
The 2022 North Lake Tahoe-Truckee Leadership Program was visited by Vice Mayor Lindsay Romack and Nevada County Supervisor Hardy Bullock in February. North Lake Tahoe Leadership’s program focus is on “Building Leaders for a Stronger Community”. Vice Mayor Romack, and Supervisor Bullock are both graduates of the program, and presented to the 2022 class on local government leadership, opportunities to get involved and the meaning of serving the community. Learn more about North Lake Tahoe-Truckee Leadership Program at www.
TahoeTruckeeLeadership.com.
Applications for Nevada County Microbusiness Grants are open through Friday, March 25th at 5:00 p.m. Up to 43 microbusinesses in Nevada County may be eligible for $2,500 in grant funding. Funded in part by the California Office of the Small Business Advocate, the program is designed to provide relief to our community’s hardest-to-reach microbusinesses and entrepreneurs. Find more information and frequently asked questions at www.MyNevadaCounty.com/
MicroBizGrants.
Presented By: Supervisor Hardy Bullock
Nevada County Connection
No-cost PPE is available for small businesses.
Request N95 or surgical masks, and hand sanitizer at www.
MyNevadaCounty.com/PPE by completing an online form in advance. Two pickup locations are available in the Truckee area at the Truckee Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center and the Truckee Downtown Merchants Association. This personal protective equipment (PPE) has been made available to California small businesses through the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) in collaboration with the Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA).
Join the Truckee Library for events throughout March! For more information on any of the following programs, please contact the Truckee Library at (530) 582-7846.
• Wednesdays from 4-5 p.m.: RUFF Reading. Join us for fun with the therapy animals and crafts!
Read with Rufus, Simon and Gracie. In partnership with library staff, volunteers, and the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe.
• Thursdays at 10:30 a.m.: Preschool Storytime
• March 15th 1-2 p.m.: Just Books Book Club discussing The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams.
• March 15th 5:30-6:30 p.m.: “Jibboom! Jibboom! Red Light Ladies of Truckee” with Chaun Mortier of the Truckee-Donner Historical Society.
• March 16th 3-5 p.m.: St. Patrick’s Day Button Making – create your design to make a fun pin- on button.
• March 22nd 5-6 p.m.: Circe Olive Oil Tasting. Nevada County is winding down the countywide reading of Circe by Madeline Miller. The Truckee Library will celebrate the Greek and Mediterranean diet staple by offering a sampler of olive oils -while supplies last.
• March 24th 6-7 p.m.: Bilingual Information Sessions – Helping Adults Navigate Life’s Decisions: College Applications. Craig Rowe, instructor at Truckee High School and Director of La Fuerza Latina, will present information about college application readiness. Spanish translation provided by Xenia Lal, adult literacy coordinator for the Truckee Library.
• March 25th 6:30-8 p.m.: Author Talk with New York Times Bestselling Author, Madeline Miller. Madeline Miller’s Circe is the Nevada County Reads book of the year. Join this virtual event on Zoom, watch on Facebook Live or attend an in-person viewing party at the Truckee Library’s new WorkSpace at 10879 Donner Pass Rd. in front of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office. Light refreshments will be served at the in-person viewing party. The audience will participate in a live Q&A with the author!
