Letter: City needs to hold onto their leverage in Loop Road housing proposal

When is low-income housing developed by a Transportation Agency? This seemingly simple question is looming before our City Council and has been pushed back to the next City Council meeting. It is, in fact, the first domino in the efforts of the Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) to move forward with the Loop Road II Project. Rather than having the discussion as to whether the City even supports the Loop Road Project that voters overwhelmingly voted to have a say in, we are presented with a seemingly benign affordable housing project that can only be built if the road is moved and residents and businesses evicted.

Everyone agrees that we need more low-income housing. The question is, should we remove existing low-income housing to build new low-income housing that can only be built if the Loop Road II Project proceeds. The City should seek grants to fund new low-income housing but not if that housing will result in committing to the Loop Road II Project. Doing so will result in the eviction of people from their businesses and properties without accommodating all who stand to lose their homes.

The bottom line is this:

If the City Council agrees to support the TTD effort to build affordable housing, the City Council is then signing off on moving forward with the Loop Road II Project and effectively walking away from the only leverage the City has on this project, control of the land in question.

The City’s ONLY leverage with the TTD and the TRPA is the ability to restrict if land can be taken for this project or not. The low-income housing proposed can only happen if land is taken to build the new development. Once the City has crossed that bridge, there is little the City can do to stop or lead this issue aside from pointless statements. If the City truly wants to have a say on the Loop Road II Project, they need to have those discussions and make those agreements first, before signing up for the seemingly benign low-income housing that we would otherwise normally want. Once that first domino falls, what leverage does the City have left in any of this… None at all!

-Scott Ramirez, Resident of South Lake Tahoe