Tahoe Regional Plan Upheld in Court; Sierra Club and Friends of the West Shore Lawsuit Struck Down

Submitted by paula on Mon, 04/07/2014 - 11:00pm

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and League to Save Lake Tahoe are joining other local groups and individuals in applauding the decision today in Federal Court to uphold the Lake Tahoe Regional Plan. U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez found that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency acted properly in its Dec. 12, 2012 approval of an updated regional plan for the Tahoe Basin.

These Tahoe Regional Plan will guide all aspects of land management, development and planning in the Tahoe Basin for the next 20 years.

“We’re glad the case has concluded," said Darcie Goodman Collins, PhD, Executive Director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe, after the decision Monday. "This means Tahoe’s communities can move forward with certainty about their regulatory environment over the coming decades. We respect the concerns of our colleagues at the Sierra Club, Friends of West Shore and Earthjustice about the new regional plan. It is not a perfect plan, but the League to Save Lake Tahoe also recognizes that it has the potential to help Tahoe’s environment through multiple safeguards that require restoration and environmental improvements with any new development or redevelopment."

“This encouraging decision could not have come at a more critical time for Lake Tahoe,” TRPA Executive Director Joanne Marchetta said. “The pace of environmental restoration will accelerate under the new plan with more opportunities for healthy, sustainable communities.”

The lawsuit was filed by the Sierra Club and Friends of the West Shore in February 2013 following nearly a decade of public input to update the plan originally adopted in 1987.

“Since its passage, the League has continued to aggressively watchdog the implementation of the regional plan, ensuring that specific ordinances are enacted to protect Tahoe’s environment and restore Tahoe’s clarity, and ensuring that each jurisdiction creates responsible area plans with adequate environmental policies.”