Truckee’s ADU ordinance was most recently updated and became effective on Jan. 7, 2021. The path to meet those updates had several interim steps. In December 2019 and in response to state law changes, Truckee amended its development code with emergency ordinance 2019-10, which included a ban of short-term renting ADUs not permitted prior to Jan. 1, 2020.
Last fall, seeing the writing on the wall, the Bradys reached out to JRG Attorneys at Law to review the town’s proposed change. In a Sept. 22, 2020 letter on behalf of the Bradys to the town council, attorney Jason Retterer asserted five reasons to stall the decision: supervised ADUs are the most ideal type of STRs; ADUs do preserve local workforce housing; travelers are seeking STRs during Covid-19; the ADU prohibition is arbitrarily singling out one type of STR; and that the decision was a violation of equal protection.
“The 14th Amendment provides that no state shall ‘deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws,’” the letter stated in part. “… Allowing those who own single family homes the ability to STR while also prohibiting ADU owners those same rights without presenting any data or research to back up the decision is a constitutional violation.”