Old Winery Court neighbors coalesced under a battle cry of ‘Stop Pacaso’—and signs demanding as much soon sprang up.
not part of our preparedness community.” The neighbors—and their counterparts in Napa County— took action, forming StopPacasoNow, hanging banners, sharing their concerns with their elected officials. Local governments responded. The City of Sonoma in January 2022 unanimously approved an urgency ordinance prohibiting timeshares and fractional uses in all parts of the city. The City of St. Helena demanded
County Board of Supervisors voted to change the county’s timeshare regulations. Timeshares are now only allowed in areas zoned for lodging and tourism. Short-term use of fractionally owned homes is defined as timeshare use and is limited to the county’s recreation and visitor-serving zoning districts. The regulations make clear
that properties with fractional use ownership are governed as timeshares, and that timeshares are limited to preserve housing for long-term residents. StopPacasoNow activist Smith says her group is fine with the Sonoma County regulations. “We have no objection to timeshares in, say, business districts, just like hotels are fine there,” Smith says.
“We won’t have won until the house across the street is no longer a Pacaso property.” —Pat Smith
that Pacaso cease its timeshare operations within city limits. However, Pacaso sued the city in April 2021, saying it wasn’t a timeshare. “Even though they had been hit by a lawsuit, the city did a brave thing,” Smith says. The city amended its code to specifically mention fractional homeownership even as the lawsuit continued. The lawsuit was settled in
‘A true real estate asset’ A Pacaso home in the Tahoe
February 2024. The compromise: Pacaso can continue to manage its four existing homes in the city, but agreed not to add any more. This means that timeshares are not completely banned in St. Helena. Like St. Helena, some other North Bay governmental entities didn’t ban timeshares altogether, but placed various restrictions on them, such as the location. The City of Napa has an ordinance that prohibits timeshares in and around downtown and in residential districts—and requires a use permit for timeshares in other locations. County boards of supervisors have jurisdiction over unincorporated areas, and in April 2023, the Sonoma
area—a location already overrun with tourists during the winter season—seems like a good example of an appropriate location. One of that home’s eight fractional owners gave some insights into what people like about Pacaso. “It’s basically turnkey when you arrive—the experience of going to a lovely hotel, but it’s your own home,” says Deborah Redlin, whose primary residence is San Anselmo. Her Pacaso residence is in Olympic Valley, formerly known as Squaw Valley; she and her wife purchased the one- eighth ownership in 2020. “It’s wonderful to be able to predict that you will have all your belongings there—each family has a set location in the garage to store all of our things,” Redlin says. “It’s all
April 2024
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