Bijou Market Place approved by South Lake Tahoe Planning Commission

Going away is the Knight's Inn, and in its place will be Bijou Market Place. Halferty Development today announced the name of their South Lake Tahoe project that was formerly known as Bijou Park Creek Watershed Management Southwest Corner Project.

During Thursday's Planning Commission meeting, the commissioners unanimously adopted the resolution that certified the project's Initial Study, Mitigated Negative Declaration, Initial Environmental Checklist and Mitigated Finding of no significant affect. They also approved the permits so now Halferty Development can move forward.

The design of Bijou Market Place will be a mountain theme, full of wood and stone that fit the City's design guide, walking and areas and a new feature just added, a gathering place at the corner of Ski Run Blvd and Highway 50 where people will have views of both the lake and the mountains.

Halferty COO Chris Peto thanked City staff for four years of hard work on the project. He said his company is known for their neighborhood shopping areas that mix local and national stores. The only lease that has been signed so far is with Whole Foods the anchor of the corner project. This Whole Foods 360 will be unique with its "Friends of Whole Foods" sit-down dining area that will offer outside eating. Peto said this is a new concept for Whole Foods. Other retailers may include a salon, bank and other typical small shopping area tenants. The gathering place at the corner will come between an opening between two retailers.

"We are excited about this opportunity," said Peto.

Now that the project has been given a green light, Peto can move forward with signing the other tenants.

He spoke with neighbors about their concerns before the plans were drawn. They had concerns about the height of the stores as some of them have views of the lake from their balconies. The roofs of the corner stores will be lower than the homes, keeping their views open.

The City retains the property along Lloyd Avenue and through the area where a stream will be daylighted, which means the stream will come out of pipes and see the light of day. The City has applied for a grant from the California Tahoe Conservancy to rehabilitate the stream zone here and help prevent thousands of pounds of sediment getting into the lake via the Ski Run Marina.

Bijou Market Place is already spurring interest from neighboring owners that want to improve their properties. Mike McKeen owns the building at the corner of Highway 50 and Herbert (he also owns the land where Herbert Avenue is). He'd like to create a new building that fronts Highway 50 instead of Herbert and giving his tenants a new and improved location. The owner of the Ski Run Marina is also happy to see Halferty in the neighborhood.

The public had 30 days to review the environmental documents for the two properties Halferty bought from the City. The Planning Department found no significant impacts as all concerns were, or will be, addressed. One nearby homeowner wanted to make sure those who currently walk through his private property to get the highway will have a place to walk through the project, and there will be a path created. Another wanted to make sure there were no two-story buildings on the corner while a third comment wanted to make sure trash bins weren't located near their fences.

Bijou Market Place reduces 4,000 square feet of current coverage and will provide 184 parking places along with 88 spaces in the garage than come with the property.

The current Knight's Inn provides the City with about $85,000-100,000 a year in Transient Occupancy Taxes (TOT) and the current "southwest corner" pays no property tax since it was owned by the City. Now that corner will provide property taxes that must go to pay down the Redevelopment debit, and the new retail and other lot will provide a new tax base.

"This is a huge financial gain for the City," said SLT City Manager Nancy Kerry. She also sees the project spurring new development just as the Harrison Avenue project did. In her five-year financial plan presentation to the City Council next Tuesday, Kerry will talk about the need for more reasons for people to stay and shop in South Lake Tahoe and not leave "the hill" for those purposes.