Special Planning Commission meeting to address new building standards and cannabis permit

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There will be a special meeting of the South Lake Tahoe Planning Commission on Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 3:00 p.m.

First on the agenda is a possible vote on an update to City Code and the design standards included in it after receiving a grant from the State to do so. There have been public workshops and meetings with contractors and developers, along with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), to get their input on the updates the standards.

The new standards would reduce the minimum parking requirement for studio and one-bedroom units from two spaces to one space. The proposed standards also replace the requirement for a parking study and use permit to further reduce the standards for multi-family projects but place a deed restriction on the property which would make the property owner responsible for parking management to reduce impacts on a neighborhood. They also support the addition of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in accordance with state law but TRPA still has additional limitations and requirements for ADU development.

The new recommended standards also require installation of a bear box for single-family, duplex and triplex uses and limits the amount of second story cantilever in the front and rear yard setback to five feet. For a full list of changes recommended to meet the new state requirements, go to the agenda HERE and click on the agenda item.

The other item on the Planning Commission Agenda is a request for an amendment to the cannabis use permit for Perfect Union SLT, LLC to be transferred from the approved entity to James Tahoe LLC. The approved location for a cannabis microbusiness at 2227 James Avenue #5.

The commission can vote to permit transfer from Perfect Union SLT, LLC to James Tahoe LLC, and recommend that the City Council adopt an ordinance amending the Development Agreement to change the entity name accordingly and extend the deadline to be open for business by six months; or deny the amendment to the Cannabis Use Permit to permit a transfer from Perfect Union SLT, LLC to James Tahoe, LLC, and recommending that City Council not adopt an ordinance amending the Development Agreement to change the entity name accordingly and extend the deadline to be open for business by six months.

Perfect Union SLT, LLC had planned to go into the rented space on James Avenue with two local representatives, Scott Peters and Leon Abravanel. Perfect Union operates several cannabis dispensaries in California and teamed up with the South Lake Tahoe men to get one of the available microbusiness licenses. According to the meeting's agenda, Peters and Abravanel and attorney Melissa Sanchez, who was on the original microbusiness application, included a binding letter of intent to lease the subject property to Perfect Union SLT, LLC, the property owner apparently leased the property to Ms. Sanchez instead.

"These requested changes are a result of an apparent internal dispute between the original project partners including the property owner," said the City's Director of Development Services Hilary Roverud in the staff report.

MWG Holdings, owner of Perfect Union, has asked the commissioners to deny the extension request. Sanchez has asked the commissioners to consider the new financing they've received in order to move forward with a new business plan and recommencement of remodeling of the property.

The meeting will be held virtually and participation information is available here https://www.cityofslt.us/84/Watch-City-CouncilPlanning-Commission-Me.