The Washoe County Board of Adjustment on Jan. 2 affirmed a directors decision to reduce the permitted occupancy for a short-term rental at 916 Harold Drive in Incline Village, and the board approved four other land-use requests including an amendment to an ADU special-use permit, an administrative permit to allow a recreational vehicle for a caretaker in Sun Valley, a front-yard setback variance in the Southwest Truckee Meadows area, and an administrative permit to install five groundwater monitoring wells tied to an existing geothermal facility.

Why it matters: The boards decision on the Incline Village short-term rental (STR) appeal enforces the countys parking-based occupancy rules for STRs and narrows the circumstances under which owners may rely on informal neighbor agreements to expand occupancy. The other approvals involve housing and public-safety accommodations (an accessory dwelling unit and a caretaker RV), a variance to allow a house addition on a narrow lot, and monitoring work tied to a geothermal facility and federal land-management requirements.

Short-term rental appeal in Incline Village

Courtney Weike, senior planner with Washoe County, told the board the appeal (WSTR21-0283) concerned a Cedar Crest Condominium unit at 916 Harold Drive (unit 36) whose STR occupancy had been revised from eight people to four because code enforcement found only one designated parking space assigned to the unit.

Weike summarized the pertinent rule in Article 319 of the Washoe County Code: "One parking space is required for every four occupants," and where assigned parking is the controlling limitation, an STRs maximum occupancy may be reduced accordingly. She told the board the Cedar Crest homeowners association (CC&R) memo in the packet showed 24 non-garage units each have at least one designated space and there are 16 additional common-element (unassigned) spaces; the code does not allow counting unassigned overflow spaces to raise a unit's occupancy.

Owners Matthew and Bernadette Castagnola, who appealed the directors decision, said they purchased a non-garage unit with two outdoor parking permits and rely on informal agreements with neighbors for occasional additional use. "We've never had a complaint in 21 years," Matthew Castagnola told the board. "We follow the rules, we pay the taxes, we've donated our cabin for families, and we work with our neighbors to make things work for all." Bernadette Castagnola said she found it "disheartening" that the countys ruling restricts the familys personal use and gifts of the cabin.

Multiple public commenters and HOA representatives urged the board to uphold the director. Greg Erfani, president of Tyrolean Village Homeowners Association, told the board deeds and CC&Rs often limit a unit to one parking space and that monitoring occupancy beyond that requires resources the county does not have: "The issue is when you say there's four occupancies in our association, I rarely see one car. I see multiple cars," Erfani said, adding that enforcement generally falls to neighbors and HOAs.

Christina Hill, a former Cedar Crest resident, said she supported staff and worried about a precedent that would allow STR occupants more parking than HOAs provide: "The parking spaces at Cedar Crest are not owned by them. They're in the common area, and they're owned by all the property owners," Hill said.

Board discussion focused on enforcement practicality, precedent, and the intent of the 2022-23 STR code amendments. Member Kathy Julian (representing Incline Village) said the four‑persons-per-space standard emerged from a broader community process and should not be changed case-by-case. Member Peter Gishon expressed sympathy for the Castagnolas unusual, complex parking arrangement but said the board must weigh county-wide consistency.

Motion and outcome: Member Kathy Julian moved to deny the appeal and affirm the director's reduction of the STR occupancy from 8 to 4 and the reduction of designated parking from two spaces to one; Don Christensen seconded. The board voted to deny the appeal and affirm the directors decision (motion carried; tally recorded in the meeting as a 3-2 decision). The directors decision therefore stands. (The countys appeal procedure requires a written appeal to the Board of County Commissioners within 10 calendar days; planning staff contact information was provided at the hearing.)

Votes at a glance (other items on Jan. 2)

- Rose ADU amendment (WAC24-0011 / WSUP22-0023): The board approved an amendment of conditions to expand a detached accessory dwelling unit from 800 to 1,200 square feet for Kenneth G. Rose, with conditions included in staff Exhibit A. Motion by Leo Harishni; unanimous approval.

- Administrative permit, caregiver RV at 216 Blanco Circle, Sun Valley (WADMIN24-0011): The board approved a permit to allow a self-contained recreational vehicle to be occupied by a caretaker for an infirm resident on the property, subject to annual renewal and required physician/nurse-practitioner affidavit; motion by Kathy Julian, second by Leo Harishni; unanimous approval.

- Variance to reduce front-yard setback to 0 feet (WPVAR24-0011, Manna): The board approved a variance to bring a legal nonconforming dwelling (built in 1951) into conformance and to allow an addition; motion by Leo O'Roschini; unanimous approval.

- Administrative permit, North Valley geothermal groundwater monitoring wells (WADMIN24-0012): The board approved construction and drilling of up to five groundwater monitoring wells associated with an existing geothermal facility, including grading of well pads (total disturbance ~3.73 acres) and improvements to access roads; the board approved a waiver of urban parking/screening/landscaping standards in light of the remote location and deleted the standard construction-hours restriction to allow 24-hour drilling operations while the wells are being constructed; motion by Peter Deschamps, second by Kathy Julian; approval recorded.

Context and next steps

Board members and staff repeatedly emphasized that enforcement capability shaped policy: several members noted the county has limited code-enforcement staff (inspectors typically work weekdays) and that occupancy limits tied to assigned parking provide an administrable standard. Multiple speakers urged that broader changes to Article 319 should be made through a county-wide code review with community input rather than via isolated variances or appeals.

Appellants and applicants have the standard appeal routes set by Washoe County Code. For the STR matter, the Castagnolas were told they may appeal to the Board of County Commissioners in writing within 10 calendar days of the written decision; staff provided the planning office telephone number at the hearing.

Ending

The Board of Adjustment concluded the public hearing on the agenda items and took the listed actions. Several members asked staff to bring future items or code-review options back to the commission process if the community wishes to revisit the STR occupancy-by-parking standard.