Beautiful Lake Arrowhead draws tourists from around the world. These tourists often rent homes in the scenic Arrowhead Woods neighborhood, where they can access the lake with ease.
However, the influx of short term renters poses a question to the residents of Lake Arrowhead: Should short term renters be granted access to the lake, even though they’re not members of the Arrowhead Lake Association (ALA)?
Arrowhead Lake Association
Arrowhead Lake Association protects and operates Lake Arrowhead . This organization preserves the alpine lake and oversees a wide range of recreational facilities. To partake in everything Lake Arrowhead has to offer, you must first become an ALA member.
ALA Membership allows Arrowhead Woods residents to take full advantage of the ALA’s boating, fishing, waterskiing, wakeboarding, canoeing, and paddleboarding activities. To qualify for membership, residents must pay an annual fee and follow the ALA guidelines and rules.
Upon membership, residents are granted voting rights on all ALA matters. They’re also free to enjoy Lake Arrowhead docks, shoreline, lake, marina, parks, and beach club, depending on their level of membership:
- General Membership
- Beach Club Membership
- Dock/slip right Membership
Should Short Term Renters Have Access to Lake Arrowhead?
Many ALA members rent out their homes through services like Airbnb and VRBO. These services attract short term renters, who typically rent for less than 30 days at a time.
There are currently no specific ALA bylaws on whether these renters should be given access to their landlord’s ALA membership privileges.
Due to this ambiguity, the ALA’s Board of Directors has decided that it’s time to define the rules on short term renter access. The ALA members are scheduled to vote on the issue. There are two sides to this argument to consider, both having valid points and concerns.
Proposed Amendmendments to ALA’s Bylaws
The vote on short term renter access will take place between March 13th, 2020 and April 10th, 2020. The vote will determine which bylaw amendments will be implemented:
- Proposed Bylaw Amendment #1 – Restrict access to short term renters.
- Proposed Bylaw Amendment #2 – Allow complete access to short term renters except for the use of powerboats.
Let’s delve into the pros and cons of opening up Lake Arrowhead and its facilities to short term renters.
The Case for Excluding Short Term Renters
Since membership is a privilege, it comes with a level of responsibility. However, short term renters don’t bear any of that responsibility, as they don’t pay fees and may not fully understand the rules and regulations.
There are some concerns amongst ALA members that renters won’t properly respect the facilities. Since renters don’t pay their dues and have fewer ties to the community, they may be more likely to cause damage. This could increase the need for costly repairs, cleaning services, and other additional maintenance.
Should the ALA be forced to eat the cost of short term renters’ damage? Should official ALA members be forced to accept short term renters’ presence at the lake? These questions are rightfully up for debate.
The Case for Allowing Short Term Renters
When looking at the case for Bylaw Amendment #2, banning short term renters from the lake has far-reaching implications on the entire Lake Arrowhead community.
- Rental Properties Will Lose Business – Much of Arrowhead Woods rentals’ appeal is their proximity to the lake. Without lake access, landlords expect to see a sharp decline in interested renters. Some even fear that they’ll go out of business. Understandably, many rental property owners strongly oppose the ban.
- Reduction in Lake Arrowhead Tourism – Landlords aren’t the only ones who benefit from lake tourism. Owners of local restaurants, shops, and attractions also fear financial loss from this ban.
- A Decrease in Real Estate Value – Arrowhead Woods home values are bolstered by their potential for lucrative rental opportunities. By decreasing these home’s rental appeal, their real estate value may experience a downturn as well.
As you can see, the Lake Arrowhead community may face harmful financial impacts from a ban on short term renter access.
Reasonable Restrictions on Short Term Renter Access
Most ALA members agree that non-members should have some limitations placed on them at the very least. In turn, other ALA members are willing to restrict Lake Arrowhead access to short term renters, while still granting them access to most of the lake’s amenities.
For example, short term renters would not be allowed to use powerboats. However, they could still enjoy the following:
- Beach clubs
- Fishing
- Swimming
- The parks
- The dock and piers
- Kayaking
- Paddleboarding
If this amendment wins the vote, there will be a stipulation that ALA rental property owners must pay an additional fee of $1,000 per year to cover their renters’ usage of the lake. Short term renters will have to agree to follow ALA rules, regulations, and policies during their stay.
So Where Do You Stand?
As you can see, this debate is complex and involves a number of considerations. Both sides have sound intentions and want to do what’s best for their community. It will be interesting to see how ALA members vote on this issue in the coming months.
Sources:
Arrowhead Lake Association. Types of Membership.
https://www.ala-ca.org/types_of_membership.php
Arrowhead Lake Association. General Rules.
https://www.ala-ca.org/general_rules.php
Arrowhead Lake Association. NOTICE OF REVISIONS FOR VOTE ON WHETHER SHORT TERM RENTERS SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO LAKE ARROWHEAD.
IF most owners are for reasonable restrictions (i agree by the way) then why does the ALA put out a intentionally misleading and confusing Ballot on the issue??? Makes you wonder if the ALA and its board members is really neutral or if they are using the ALA to push their own personal agendas? Most STR’s are for reasonable restrictions .. however the notion of giving ALA a blank check for future years and unknown amounts is just unsettling. They have set up this vote to achieve a desired result. . they will undoubtedly incur large legal expenses defending what they have done/will do and that will result in increased dues to ALL members.
ALA power Grab will result in increased dues, restrictions on lake and trail access and restricting owners property rights. . who knows where this will stop?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic! We care what the community has to say, so we appreciate you sharing your stance. Feel free to share this post with a friend. We’d love to hear about their input!
As long as short term renters can NOT use powerboats as the amendment states, I am for allowing access to enjoy the lake for short term renters.
Hi David,
Thanks for sharing how you feel about this topic! The Lake Arrowhead community comes first and we appreciate what locals have to say. Feel free to share this post with a friend. We’d love to hear about their input!
Lake Arrowhead is a Private Lake , always has been.
NO short term rentals should not have any privileges .
if the village ever got their act together and rebuild the beach and removed the Carni-crap the public would have the village beach like it was in the 60’s.
This is a non issue , PRIVATE LAKE!!!
Hi Chris,
Thanks for sharing your stance. We appreciate hearing your thoughts on this topic! Feel free to share this post with a friend. We’d love to hear how they feel about this as well!
I would like to see less access to the lake for short term rentals. However, I believe the proposal of the ALA is not well thought out. It fails to address many instances that would be very difficult to enforce. For example, the boat show allows quite a few non-owners on the lake and can be more disruptive than productive to the Woods owners. The Ski school encourages non-owners (renters since they pay to play) to use the lake and often in the process, disrupts the paying owners of the Woods properties while boating and uses disproportionate resources such as lake patrol. Renters at the Hotel use kayaks on the Lake and fish off the Hotel dock. There are kayak rentals in Blue Jay. Where do you think they go when people rent a kayak? What about the ski races? Are those owners? Are they included in the new proposal? If not, why not? The charity events that shuttle non Arrowhead Woods participants use the lake without pay. What about all the people using the docks and fishing areas that are not Woods owners? The Arrowhead Queen shuttles hundreds of non Woods owners each day on the lake and charges a fee that makes them short term renters of lake property. Does this proposal exempt the Queen? Guests of owners (non-renters) – what is the policy for that? Many people use the ALA paths who are not Woods owners. Does the Sherriff’s boat pay a fee to be on the lake?
It seems like the proposal needs additional clarification to address the existing (intended and unintended) exclusions as well as defining short term rentals and once the proposal is enacted, how ALA would know whether a person using the lake is a guest or a short term renter. If there is enforcement, what would such enforcement cost and how will it be paid for? If existing rules on Lake access are not followed or rigorously enforced, how are new, tighter and more restrictive rules going to be enforced? I would like to see more discussion before this proposal goes into effect. What is the complaint process and who will follow-up on violations? Will there a increase in yearly boat and dock fees to enforce this? I need more information.
Hi Joe,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this topic! We care about the Lake Arrowhead community, so we appreciate you sharing your stance. Feel free to share this post with a friend. We’d love to hear about their input!
I think Joe has hit the nail on the head. There are so many unanswered question that the proposal does not address. Our property was purchased over sixty years ago and needless to say their was no such thing as a STR. We have seen folks at the beach club that differently do not belong. Kayaks are brought in from outside sources and STR’s are unaware of the safety rules of the lake. During high peak time we cannot even get out of our dock because of the people playing in the water.
And how would ALA enforce STR from using our am mentors, they sure can’t do it now.
Hi Jerry,
Thanks for sharing your stance on this topic! This community is important to us, so we appreciate you sharing your thoughts. We’d love to hear what other people have to say on this topic. Feel free to share this post with a friend!
The proposed rules by the board include restrictions that will impact all of us. The ability to have family and friends to our homes without us being present with them every moment and with proof necessary to prove our own right to be on the paths and lake at all times -not to mention the restriction to only 5 persons with us- creates and puts the community in a state of chaos. The present board has also seen fit to significantly raise fees for just about everything imaginable. The serenity of our lake community has been sadly already been damaged by the board’s Venezuela style attempt to over-regulate their neighbors with unneeded rules, fees and penalties. Enough with the agenda of disruption!
Found your post interesting to read. I can not wait to see your article.
Good Luck for your upcoming update.This article is really very interesting and
effective.
King regards,
Abildgaard Hessellund
We are considering buying a property in Lake Arrowhead and I am trying to find out whether this vote has taken place yet and, if so, what was the result? While we will be mostly using it ourselves, we would like to let friends/relatives enjoy our vacation home when we are not able to be there. It would be really disappointing if they are not allowed to be on the beaches or use the trails. At this point, we don’t plan on renting it out, but it might be a nice option in the future as well. I just want to make sure that we have all the facts before we make an investment. Thanks!