TRPA gives City of South Lake Tahoe more control over building permits

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) has entered into a new partnership with the City of South Lake Tahoe to streamline the permit process in city limits.

When the Tahoe Valley Area and Tourist Core Plans were approved, it opened the door for a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) so city staff can carry out TRPA's environmental review.

"The TRPA wants the community to thrive," said John Hitchcock, Planning Manager for the City. "They are comfortable with us taking the lead on projects."

The new MOU went into affect on Monday, September 14, 2015.

TRPA and the City previously had an MOU in place where the City would handle temporary activities; remodels, additions and new construction in residential areas; commercial development of floor space under 2,500 sq ft; minor additions of modifications in the Tourist Core Area; and signage.

The new MOU will give additional responsibilities to the City. They can now approve residential development within a regional center which is less than 100,000 square feet of new floor area; approve residential development within a town center which is less than 50,000 square feet of new floor space; approve commercial, tourist accommodation, public service and recreational development within a regional center which is less than 80,000 square feet of new floor area; approve commercial, tourist accommodation, public service and recreational development within a town center which is less than 40,000 square feet of new floor area; approve commercial, tourist accommodation, public service and recreational development outside of a regional center or town center which is 12,500 square feet of new floor space or less.

Now that the Tahoe Valley Area Plan and Tourist Core Area Plans are in place, Hitchcock said they will start on developing a plan for the remaining areas that will become and Area Wide Area Plan. With the new TRPA guidelines, the more of the community inside of an area plan, the more the City can approve. They hope to start that process this Fall.

Many upcoming large projects were waiting for the new MOU to take place, said Hitchcock. There is a new mixed use project in the works for the empty lot between Bev/Mo and Alpine Animal Hospital as well as new mixed use projects on empty lots in the Barton Hospital area.

TRPA has been working on communities taking over many permit issues once they created their own area plans within the Basin wide Tahoe Basin plan. TRPA wants to focus on writing and developing environmental policy instead of concentrating on things the communities can take on according to Hitchcock.