Area Plan

Owens Financial, the owner of the mixed-use development project known as Chateau at the Village, is looking for a buyer, or buyers, for the 11.5 acre area in South Lake Tahoe once known as "The Hole."

As we welcome in 2016, the City of South Lake Tahoe would like to reflect on the accomplishments of 2015. The following is a summary of accomplishments during 2015.

Strategic Priority: Fiscal Sustainability
The most important issue facing cities and local agencies is continued steadfast attention to the budget, both short term and long term fiscal impacts.
· FY 15/16 budget adopted on time and without use of alternative revenues (3rd consecutive year).
· Adopted 5-year Financial Forecast and 5-Year Capital Investment Plan.

The City of South Lake Tahoe has been involving the community in several planning sessions, from the Tahoe Valley Area plan to the Recreation and Airport Master Plans. On Tuesday night, the latest plan for the Regan Beach area were unveiled to a group gathered at the South Lake Tahoe recreation center.

While attendance hasn't reflected a very large portion of the community, several dozen locals have played active roles at the meetings.

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.

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors will be holding their annual meeting in South Lake Tahoe on Monday, August 31. A full day is on the agenda, but very little will actually be in a meeting format.

At 9 a.m., Sue Novasel, the Supervisor from District 5, will give the Supervisors a tour of the new Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care at the corner of Al Tahoe Blvd and Pioneer Trail. They then move to the El Dorado Center at 10 a.m. for a tour of county facilities followed by a 11 a.m. tour of the Library.

The Governing Board of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency today unanimously approved the Tahoe Valley Area Plan the City of South Lake Tahoe created to guide community revitalization and environmental restoration in a district centered around the “Y” intersection of Highways 89 and 50.

Twenty years and many meetings later, the Tahoe Valley Area Plan unanimously passed the first of two final hurdles at Tuesday's City Council meeting.

In the first reading to adopt the three resolutions which make up the plan, Mayor Hal Cole and the City Council thanked everyone who was part of the long process to start shaping things up at the "Y". "This plan will have an impact for years to come," said Cole.

The Barton House is scheduled to be demolished and with its destruction there will be a loss of the history of South Lake Tahoe.

I understand that the house is proposed for demolition to make way for implementation of the Tahoe Valley Area Plan. I support the plan and its implementation because I think it has been done with care, good public input, and thoughtful discourse between landowners, residents and business owners and operators. The planning process in the City has been transparent.

If the long line at the entrance to the cafeteria at Lake Tahoe Environmental Magnet School on Wednesday evening was any indication, the Meyers Area Plan (MAP) meeting was going to be another contentious event.

The meeting was one of several that has been hosted by El Dorado County concerning the future plan for the community of Meyers. As one can imagine, there is not a single plan that all who live there can agree upon.

A preliminary environmental report has been completed on the Tahoe Valley Area Plan and is ready for public input.

This report is created so the agencies developing the plan can determine whether a nEnvironmental Impact Report (EIR), a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND), or a Negative Declaration is required for a project under California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) guidelines.

Almost twenty years later and the Tahoe Valley Area plan isn't in place, yet. John Hitchcock, the City of South Lake Tahoe Planning Manager, gave the Council another presentation on the status of the plan and where things stand as of today during Tuesday's City Council meeting.

First proposed in the early 1990's, the resurrection of the Tahoe Valley Area plan made great strides towards adoption in 2014 with Hitchcock holding four public meetings where input was requested, presenting the plan to TRPA three times, three times to City Council and twice to the planning commission.

The following is a summary of accomplishments during 2014 by the City of South Lake Tahoe.

Strategic Priority: Fiscal Sustainability
The most important issue facing cities and local agencies is continued steadfast attention to the budget, both short term and long term fiscal impacts.

· Implemented “budget watch” approach to financial analysis; a year-long effort evaluating state, national and global economic impacts for South Shore economy, and capital investment opportunities

The League to Save Lake Tahoe was granted $35,000 by the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation to support its land-use planning program. The foundation also added $200,000 to their endowment with the League.

Once a year the Board of Supervisors trek over the summit to South Lake Tahoe for their scheduled meeting, and if the full house of citizens is any indication, more than one of their 41 yearly meetings should be held on the eastern slope.

One agenda item brought Shingle Springs residents to town while another brought in a lot from the Meyers community.

In a stunning step backwards from transparency the El Dorado County Planning Commission, holding a difficult to attend morning week-day workshop on the Draft Meyers Area Plan at City Hall in South Lake Tahoe on October 16, 2014, recommended yesterday that any new Meyers Area Advisory Council formed by the Board of Supervisor after adoption of a Meyers Area Plan not be subject to California’s Open Meeting Law, the Brown Act.

The El Dorado County Planning Commission will be holding a public hearing and workshop on the Meyers Area Plan at the South Lake Tahoe City Council Chambers on October 16 from 9 a.m. to noon.

The public has a chance to give input and share ideas on the plan which will be an update of the existing 1993 Meyers Community Plan.

The plan's goal is to:
1) Be a comprehensive land use plan for Meyers;
2) Realize Meyers’ Community Vision;
3) Provide consistent and simplified rules;
4) Assist in achieving Tahoe
Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Thresholds;

TahoeChamber has endorsed seven candidates for the upcoming election that best portray the values and abilities necessary to serve the South Shore business community. As directed by the TahoeChamber Board of Directors, the TahoeChamber Candidate Endorsement Committee (TC-CEC) used the pillars of the Chamber’s adopted Tahoe Future A South Shore Community Vision 2020 as the foundational criteria for evaluating candidates. The pillars include Economic Vitality, Quality of Life, Sustainability, Infrastructure and Intellectual Capital.

There are a few buzz words that are evidently going to be used during the El Dorado County District 5 Supervisor race this summer and fall.

Economic Vitality - An economy with sufficient jobs, products and services to support the community. A sufficient tax base provides citizens with police and fire, parks and recreation and public services needed by the population.

The Draft Tahoe Valley Area Plan and accompanying documents were released Wednesday, paving the way for finalization after agency and public review and upcoming comment periods. After community meetings and months of review and planning, the "Town Center" concept has been adopted along with "Greenbelt" portions.

The plan reflects the City of South Lake Tahoe's effort to rekindle the economic vitality and spirit of the Tahoe Valley Community. The plan outlines the community's strategy for resurrection.

The first El Dorado Supervisor Candidate's Forum held in the Tahoe basin this election season was held Tuesday night.

With the June 3rd election just a few weeks away, this was a great opportunity for voters to become informed on the candidate's views on a myriad of topics from teamwork and cooperation to economic vitality and mental health issues.

As Edgewood Properties moves forward with their plans to reconfigure holes on their golf course to accommodate for a new lake front lodge, they asked the City of South Lake Tahoe City Council today for a change in the area's general plan. The original Edgewood Tahoe plans were to have 100% of the golf course in the state of Nevada, but have now altered those plans to have some of the course venture into California on Edgewood owned land.

By the end of 2014 there will be a new casino on the south shore of Lake Tahoe. Park Tahoe Casino Resort will be the new name of the property currently known as the Horizon, according to Jon Park.

"Our family has a long history in Lake Tahoe and we are so excited to be a part of the continued success of the Lake Tahoe market," Jon Park said. "The renovations we have planned for the Project will be a major part of the continued vision of the South Shore Area Plan."

Information was circulating that Meyers was going to be taken over by large parking garages and other unwanted development including a Athlete's Village or Basecamp type feature, much of what was created by a now buried Catalyst Plan. "The Catalyst Project is dead," El Dorado County Supervisor Norma Santiago told the packed house at the California Conservation Corp (CCC) building in Meyers on Wednesday night.

A public workshop on the vision for the South "Y" area will be held on Thursday, February 27 in the South Lake Tahoe City Council chambers at 6 p.m.

Future planning and land use guidance for what is known as the Tahoe Valley Area Plan will be discussed as the City's project leaders seek input from the community as to what the area should be.

The Tahoe Valley Plan reflects the City’s effort to rekindle the economic vitality and spirit of the Tahoe Valley Community and to enhance the area's unique characteristics.