Meyers Area Plan ready for community input

The Final Draft of the Meyers Area Plan was released today along with the associated joint environmental document. This draft updates 20-year old policies to streamline permitting for small projects, improves consistency between El Dorado County and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) policies and standards, promotes recreation and bicycle/pedestrian improvements, establishes zoning to better reflect current conditions, conserves land around the Upper Truckee River, formalizes a local citizens advisory council, and integrates design standards and guidelines.

The Meyers Area Plan is meant to serve as the comprehensive land use and zoning plan for the community of Meyers, consistent with the Lake Tahoe Regional Plan (Regional Plan) and the El Dorado County General Plan (General Plan). It will replace the 1993 plan that, as with most area plans, was supposed to be in place for ten years. The new plan is intended to realize the Meyers Community Vision, assist in achieving and maintaining TRPA’s Environmental Threshold Carrying Capacities, implement the Tahoe Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Sustainable Communities Strategy, and implement the policy direction of both the Regional Plan and General Plan.

During public meetings, many residents of Meyers voiced their concern that their ideas were not being taken into consideration and the new plan calls for a Meyers Advisory Council (MAC) to have an active role in providing recommendations to the Planning Commission, County Board of Supervisors, and/or TRPA on the implementation of this Plan.

El Dorado County will establish the MAC which will have regularly scheduled and publicly noticed meetings. The MAC will have seven members made up of residents or property owners in the Lake Tahoe Region of unincorporated El Dorado County. Those seven will represent business, environmental, recreation, and other appropriate interests necessary to carry out the vision of the Meyers Area Plan. The MAC shall be comprised of elected board members of a Municipal Advisory Council or other appropriate special district, or if no appropriate entity exists, the MAC members may be appointed by the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors.

Starting September 6, the plan will be circulated for 30 days. Once this period is completed there will be public hearings on the plan held by both the County and TRPA.

Plan has created separate and distinct uses and standards for each of the five zones in Meyers.

Highlights of the plan:

In the center of Meyers, no single family homes would be allowed under this plan but condos, multi-family units and bed and breakfast facilities would be allowed.

In order to promote small business, 17,000 square feet of Commercial Floor Area (CFA) will be reserved to ensure sufficient CFA is available for as many projects as possible.

Plans call for as many water quality improvement projects as possible as well as the protection of four landmark trees (two large Jeffery Pines and two Sierra Junipers).

One goal of the plan is to encourage the development of a permanent multi-use community plaza in Meyers that provides public recreational and visitor services for a variety of ages and user groups.

The Department of Food and Agriculture has no immediate plans to change the existing Meyers Inspection Station. Its long range objectives include the possibility of relocating the inspection station to a point further west past the intersection of US 50 and SR 89.

The 30-day comment period for the Notice of Intent, /Mitigated Negative Declaration , and Initial Study ends on October 6, 2017. Comments should be submitted to the County at:

El Dorado County
924 B Emerald Bay Road
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
Attn: Brendan Ferry

An informational briefing on the Meyers Area Plan has changed dates and is now planned for the October 25 Regional Plan Implementation Committee meeting which is taking place at the TRPA office located at 128 Market Street, Stateline, Nevada.

The 145-page plan is available here: https://edcgov.us/Government/Meyers

The 439-page Initial Study (CEQA) and Initial Environmental Checklist (TRPA can be found here: https://edcgov.us/Government/meyers/Documents/Meyers_AP_IS_IEC_Sept2017_Final_Draft.pdf