Time running out to relocate historic Barton Ranch Complex

Unless someone comes forward with the manpower, location and money needed to relocate the historic Barton Ranch Complex at the "Y", it will be torn down. Barton family members were granted the approval for demolition during Monday's Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) special hearings officer meeting.

The public has 21 days to file an appeal to the decision or the TRPA can approve the demolition.

Just three people sent in letters to hearing officer James Baetge in support of keeping the buildings, and one person phoned in a comment in support of the Barton family. Even though there was a crowd in the hearing room, the only people that spoke before the officer were two Barton family representatives, planning and permitting consultant Gary Midkiff and Kirk Barton Ledbetter who have been working on the future of the deteriorating buildings since 2008.

The Barton Ranch Complex of buildings adjacent to the South Y Center were built in the 1930s and 1940s and served as a family summer home for years. They have fallen into disrepair and have been boarded up for years. Vandalism and break-ins have been a common occurrence on the four-acre parcel. On a recent visit to the bar, Ledbetter said there was a tent, empty alcohol bottles and apparent drug operations.

Failing floors, mold, and asbestos are apparent in the structures according to a TRPA staff report. Ledbetter said keeping the buildings are now a health and safety hazard.

Still, many residents and Lake Tahoe Historical Society members would like to see the buildings restored so a big piece of South Lake Tahoe history can be preserved.

In a letter published this spring by the former Historical Society Board President, she said the small, non-profit group wouldn't pursue the preservation of the buildings. The author of the letter as well as several board members are no longer part of the organization.

Lee Vestal, a current board member, has been actively pursuing options to save some of the ranch buildings. He's been in conversations with a national non-profit and other interested parties, but so far nobody has been able to step in.

"The Board was only able to stop the process for the last 18 months," said Diane Johnson, current Lake Tahoe Historical Society Board President. "Lee (Vestal) has worked hard to get something done. We didn't have time to get a board response today as we just learned of this hearing on Friday."

Vestal also met with the Conservancy and the City of South Lake Tahoe. Due to the Ranch's historical status, they turned over the decision of demolition to the TRPA.

"We need someone to step in and save the buildings," said Johnson.

According to Midkiff, the family would be okay with the buildings being transported to another location. "If someone stepped forward now to move buildings, the family would say 'go for it' as long as it's done quickly," he said.

When asked when the buildings would be torn down, Midkiff said it depends on what happens over the next 21 days when people have a chance to appeal the hearings officer's decision.

During Monday's hearing, Ledbetter held up a sign that his daughter Brandi Brown found on the ranch's fence this weekend. It said "History vs. Greed."

He said it is very difficult to see the old buildings in their current shape. "Those days are behind us and can't recapture them in this location" said Ledbetter.

The Lake Tahoe Historical Society has the Osgood Toll House behind their museum's location on Lake Tahoe Blvd. A recent fundraising effort raised enough money start stabilizing the building which is the oldest commercial building still standing on the South Shore. An architect is currently creating drawings about what can be done so the public can go inside. The Tahoe Douglas Rotary Club recently cleaned it out and documented all of the contents.

Ideas have circulated recently about having a couple of the Barton buildings moved, possibly to a location near the Toll House. The Historical Society said they would love to hear from someone who has the manpower and funds to do so.

And now they just have 21 days to accomplish that.