Dear Friends:

As you may recall, much controversy was raised in 2023 when Tahoe was placed on the Fodor’s “No List” for travel in 2023, citing that Lake Tahoe was a destination where nature “needed a break”. Naturally, certain entities rushed to claim that Tahoe was not experiencing too much tourism and encouraged visitors to continue to come. A year later, Fodor’s revisited the tourism situation in Lake Tahoe and found “the news isn’t good”.

“A year after landing on our annual cautionary tale, trash, traffic, and tourism in Tahoe still seems murky.”

- Fodor’s “Is Lake Tahoe Still on the Fodor’s No List?”

The article discusses a multi-partner Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Plan promoted by the tourism industry, land use authorities, and other partners as the solution to our woes. But we have seen numerous iterations of plans that promise to figure out how to solve problems yet include no binding commitments or consequences for failure to address the problem.

Meanwhile, the TRPA - the agency charged with protecting the environment based on the idea that there is a maximum capacity beyond which environmental degradation occurs - has continued to promote more development that will increase both residential and visitor populations. How much more can our lake and roads handle, and what happens when the next wildfire rages in the Basin on a peak summer weekend while residents and visitors are already stuck in gridlock?

This is why FOWS continues to push for responsible land use planning based on sound environmental analysis of existing conditions coupled with current science-based forecasts and trends related to climate change, wildfire danger, and other factors. We remain concerned that the projects and plan amendments currently in the pipeline or recently adopted/approved will continue to increase residential and visitor populations without first mitigating existing impacts to the environment and public safety.

As always, we will keep you updated on West Shore activities and other projects in our bi-monthly newsletters. We look forward to your continued feedback and support, and encourage you to contact us with any additional ideas or questions you may have.

Sincerely,

As outlined in our previous newsletter updates, Placer County and TRPA proposed separate sets of plan amendments in 2023 that increase density, height, population, traffic, and contribute further to public safety concerns associated with emergency evacuations and access. Although questions remain about whether the amendments will actually lead to more truly affordable housing as the agencies claim, the public and conservation community are extremely concerned that both agencies relied on outdated information from environmental evaluations performed in 2011 and 2016. Conditions have no doubt changed and we believe an updated environmental analysis based on existing conditions should be performed before adding more people and traffic to our limited roadways. The following information provides updates regarding the two agencies’ amendments.

Placer County Tahoe Basin Area Plan (TBAP)

Despite extensive community concerns and litigation filed against Placer County’s adoption by FOWS and others, TRPA’s Governing Board (GB) approved the TBAP amendments at their January 2024 meeting. However, the TBAP amendments do not comply with TRPA’s even more development-friendly code amendments approved in December 2023 (see below) and Placer County has one year to provide evidence that the TBAP amendments can meet or exceed the financial effect of TRPA’s amendments in order to “opt out” of being subject to the full suite of TRPA’s amendments.

FOWS is one of three organizations that filed a lawsuit against Placer County in November 2023 for failing to meet the environmental review required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which requires new analysis when conditions have changed and new information is available. At this time, the lawsuit is proceeding through the next steps prescribed by California law. According to TRPA’s attorney, the litigation will not prevent the amendments from being implemented if applications are submitted.

FOWS and partners have launched a fundraising campaign to help fund the costs of the lawsuit. We sincerely appreciate the generous donations that have been coming in to date! However, we still have a way to go to reach our goal of $40,000 and continue to seek additional donations, which are tax-deductible. Click here to donate.

TRPA “Phase 2 Housing Amendments”

Homewood Mountain Resort (HMR)

We are currently waiting for HMR/Discovery developers to submit an application to TRPA to amend their Master Plan. FOWS will soon be meeting with Discovery to resolve issues that are still outstanding regarding the Master Plan amendments. In the meantime, the community-led group Keep Homewood Public (KHP) continues to monitor the project. Recently, the following information was posted on the KHP Facebook page:

Have you seen our "4Ps Report Card" yet, summarizing the questions we've asked of Discovery, and their answers (or not)? The questions are organized by each P: public access, persons at one time (PAOTs), pricing, perpetuity, and other questions.

The post provides a link to a list of numerous questions and concerns that are being tracked and the developer’s responses (or lack thereof) to date. KHP, FOWS, and others will continue to monitor the process.

Boatworks Redevelopment Project

On 1/31/2024, Placer County and the TRPA released the Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the “Boatworks at Lake Tahoe” Redevelopment Project (Project) in Tahoe City. The proposed Project would redevelop the existing Boatworks Mall, the Inn at Boatworks, and El Dorado Savings Bank building into a mixed-use development including hotel lodging, residential condominiums, and commercial spaces.

While FOWS supports a revitalized Boatworks project, there are concerns about height/mass, parking, recreational access by the public, diminished scenic views, density/population, emergency access, focus on high-end tourist accommodations, guarantee of employee housing, and other factors. FOWS submitted comments on the NOP (read here). At a public meeting held in late February it was announced that Placer County would review all NOP comments in March for consideration in the preparation of the Environmental Impact Report/Statement (EIR/S) that will be prepared for the project.

Application documents to TRPA can be accessed here.

Meeks Bay Resort Restoration Project

FOWS reached out to project leaders regarding the status of the release of the Final EIS/EIR, which has been significantly delayed from the original schedule. They responded that the final decision documents have been prepared, however there have been new “Sensitive Species” listings by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and although the project may have no impact on the newly listed species, the EIS/EIR still needs to address the changes. Further, the consultation process with the State Office of Historic Preservation is taking longer than anticipated. The final EIS/EIR will be released as soon as these steps are completed. More information is available on the project’s website.