Controversial North Tahoe development halted by court action

Sierra Watch, Mountain Area Preservation, and the League to Save Lake Tahoe are celebrating a court decision handed down Monday that halts the controversial Martis Valley West Project, a massive North Tahoe development proposal.

Placer County Superior Court issued an order to vacate and set aside Placer County’s 2016 approvals of the project, focusing on Placer County’s failure to provide sufficient analysis of the project’s impacts on emergency evacuation, such as in the event of a wildfire. The proposed project is located in a very high severity fire zone.

The conservation groups contend that the region’s community benefits from the stoppage of a project that would threaten public safety, the local environment and Lake Tahoe.

The Martis Valley West Project was planned on 1,052 acres adjacent to the Northstar California Resort, west of State Route 267. The project was going to add residential and commercial properties.