Douglas County upholds revocation of vacation‑rental permit after neighbor complaints and sheriff response

The Douglas County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously Jan. 16 to deny an appeal from the Elliot Revocable Trust and to uphold the revocation of a vacation‑home rental (VHR) permit for 148 Granite Springs Drive in Stateline.

The revocation followed a sheriffs response to a noise complaint in the early morning hours of Aug. 3, 2024. A deputy reported hearing loud music when he arrived at about 5:21 a.m., knocked on the door for about 15 minutes and counted five vehicles at the property, while county code allows four. County staff said those two itemsnoise and an overage of parked vehiclesconstituted two violations under the VHR ordinance and triggered the revocation process.

The permit holderrepresented at the hearing by manager Tom Sloancontested the countys account, submitting NoiseAware monitor logs showing inside‑house recordings that did not meet the countys decibel threshold for a violation. The VHR owner, Lloyd Elliott, and his manager said they had a long track record of renting the home without incident and argued a suspension would be more appropriate than a permanent revocation. The homeowner said management did not receive a timely call from county code enforcement and that some complaints were unfounded.

Neighbor Siobhan Harrigal told the commissioners she called the sheriffs office at 3:47 a.m. on Aug. 3 after being awakened by music. She said the music continued more than an hour and that the sheriffs deputy logged repeated visits and observations of a party. Harrigal submitted videos and written complaints and said she had shared evidence of an earlier incident in February when guests at the VHR urinated from a second‑floor deck and played loud music late at night.

County staff and the district attorneys office explained how the VHR code applies. Deputy District Attorney A.J. Haines told the board the county code mandates suspension or revocation after two violations within a calendar year; it does not require the violations to occur on separate days. County compliance staff said the sheriffs report documented two violations during the Aug. 3 incident (noise and parking) and that the county had followed the code and administrative appeal process, including the VHR advisory board, which had earlier upheld the revocation.

Commissioner John Rice moved to deny the appeal and uphold the revocation; Commissioner Dan Tarkanian seconded. Commissioner Gardner offered an amendment to explicitly find the appellant had standing to appeal; the motion to find standing and deny the appeal carried unanimously.

The revocation remains in effect. County staff and the VHR advisory board did not restore the permit pending further action by the property owner. The VHR code requires property managers and owners to use best efforts to prevent unreasonable noise and to comply with limits on occupancy and parking.