neighborhoods

All of us living in this tourist town understand a simple truth: our infrastructure is burdened with more than it can handle. Specifically, our roads. Each year, millions of visitors drive to Tahoe to enjoy the natural beauty of our home, but the damage this causes to our roadways is a serious problem. We need help making our community safer for driving, walking, and biking.

On Tuesday, a majority of city council agreed on a revised VHR (Vacation Home Rental) ordinance. In two weeks we will vote on the first reading of the ordinance and if a majority supports it, on November 7th would be the final vote to adopt the revised regulations and rules. The ordinance would then go into effect 30 days later.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Eight hours, and testimony from 29 people later, the City Council has crafted a new ordinance that attempts to strike a balance between locals and vacation home rentals (VHRs).

"While tourism is the lifeblood in our town, the residents are the heart and soul," said SLT City Councilman Jason Collin.

Passionate testimony from all sides was presented at Tuesday's meeting as has been the case for the 20+ meetings on the subject of VHRs.

The direction from the City Council to staff is to create an ordinance that will contain the following:

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There are two topics that fills the City Council chambers: Marijuana and Vacation Home Rentals (VHR). Interested residents and other stakeholders in the City's proposed changes to the VHR ordinance not only filled chambers, but filled seats surrounding televisions in the lobby where the proceedings were aired.

After almost six hours of presentation and conversation, the City Council voted to bring back the new ordinance in one month on October 5.

"Our job is to make a decision, not continuing to kick the can down the road," said SLT Mayor Austin Sass.

I founded LimeBike because I wanted my son and the future generation to live on a healthy planet. LimeBike aims to provide a sustainable solution to that first and last mile problem: how do we get people from a central location (such as their homes) to their destination (such as their office or the grocery store) in an affordable and accessible way while eliminating our carbon footprints? How do we get the future generations to change their behavior so we can save this planet?

The third Coffee With a Cop in the area this summer will be held on Tuesday, July 18 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Starbucks at the South Y Center in South Lake Tahoe.

The community is invited to meet with members of the California Highway Patrol South Lake Tahoe office, South Lake Tahoe Police Department, El Dorado County Sheriff. Stop by and discuss issues or just meet law enforcement in an informal, neutral location.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Starting later this month, the USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) will start using chemical treatment to try and eradicate, control and contain known infestations of invasive plants. Their focus will be on 90 sites covering 18.25 acres of sites inside the Lake Tahoe Basin.

"It was so frustrating and only so much we could do," recalled Kit Bailey of the U.S. Forest Service during Saturday's Angora Fire First Responder Remembrance Ceremony. "Its miraculous nobody got hurt."

On the 10th anniversary of the devastating fire that destroyed 254 homes as it burned quickly through 3,100 acres in the Meyers area of the South Shore, fire responders gathered at the Lake Valley Fire Department to honor those who served that day, and to honor the resilient community that supported them.

Join law enforcement at the next Coffee With a Cop event on Friday, June 30 at the Alps Haus Cafe in Markleeville from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Members of the California Highway Patrol's South Lake Tahoe office, Alpine County Sheriff and community members will come together in an informal, neutral space to discuss community issues, have coffee, and build relationships.

All community members are invited to attend.

Coffee with a Cop provides a unique opportunity for community members to ask questions and learn more about the Department’s work in Alpine County’s neighborhoods.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — On Tuesday, June 27, 2017, members of the California Highway Patrol South Lake Tahoe office, South Lake Tahoe Police Department, El Dorado County Sheriff, and community members will come together in an informal, neutral space to discuss community issues, have coffee, and build relationships.

All community members are invited to attend. The event goes from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on June 27 at Alpina Coffee Cafe.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif/Nev. - The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will begin the sale of personal use fuelwood permits at the Forest Supervisor’s Office in South Lake Tahoe on Tuesday, May 30, 2017, and at the Incline Village office on Wednesday, May 31, 2017. Permits cost $20 per cord, with a two-cord minimum purchase and a limit of 10 cords per household.

After the record-breaking winter we experienced in South Lake Tahoe, we also saw record-breaking amounts of litter throughout our community as the snow melted. On Saturday May 6th, 118 volunteers scoured South Tahoe neighborhoods to help clean it up and kick off the summer with a litter-free town. The groups covered fifteen different locations and gathered 1,484 pounds of trash and debris from our environment.

As the snow melts from this record-breaking winter, the litter and debris that has been covered up for months is starting to show. Volunteers are invited to get involved and help kick off this summer with a clean, litter-free town at the Clean Tahoe Program’s 2nd Annual “Spring Clean” event on Saturday, May 6th from 9am-noon.

Friends, family and volunteers will gather on Sunday, April 9 to participate in a search for the 62-year-old woman who went missing from a South Lake Tahoe motel Monday.

South Tahoe Refuse is rolling out a Bear Box loan program for their customers living in both California and Nevada at Lake Tahoe, including South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County and Douglas County customers.

Customers can purchase a box up to a value of $1,300 from approved vendors and repay the cost through a $65 increase in their quarterly refuse bill.

Many drivers plan ahead when planning their travel along highways in interstates across the county. Want to miss rush hour? Don't hit that city in the morning and late afternoon. Mad dash to Santa Cruz on a warm Saturday? Leave early in the morning or go the night before to miss the backup of traffic.

Smooth travel over Highway 50 in the Sierra requires the same planning or one will get stuck in heavy traffic on Friday evenings heading to Lake Tahoe, or Sunday mornings leaving Lake Tahoe (or the day after a holiday).

Sunday traffic heading west from South Lake Tahoe has been a major problem from the city to Meyers all winter long. Last week, on March 5, there were reports of travel time on the 9.3 mile route along Highway 50 from Stateline to Meyers taking eight hours, and from the Y to Meyers, four hours for the 4.3 mile trip.

El Dorado County Supervisor Sue Novasel is inviting all county residents to join in a discussion about the traffic congestion in Meyers every weekend and holiday, hampering locals in their movement along surface roads and the highway.

As visitors depart South Lake Tahoe, many have become aware of side streets via google and phone apps, thus finding another route that they think is getting them around the backup.

The City of South Lake Tahoe's second workshop on vacation home rentals (VHRs) drew about 45 people in person Wednesday, while several others participated from home via the internet. As is every discussion about VHRs in the community, passions ran high and differences were apparent.

Long time South Lake Tahoe locals have been heard in town saying, "This is just like winter used to be." Without many serious snowstorms in the past several years, forecasts of 2-3' feet are catching many by surprise as they find themselves unprepared.

The City of South Lake Tahoe is reaching out to residents with advice to stay safe, how to be prepared, how to handle berms, and updates on the City's preparations.

Friday-Saturday, January 20-21

Due to ongoing power outages and damage caused by extreme winter conditions in Lake Tahoe, a West Shore Safety Assessment Operation is being coordinated by a group of local agencies led by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) and North Tahoe Fire Protection District (NTFPD) to make sure residents are safe. Other participants include the Placer County Office of Emergency Services, Meeks Bay Fire Protection District, Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue, and NTFPD Community Emergency Response Team are coordinating a West Shore Safety Assessment Operation.

If the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecast is correct, South Lake Tahoe could see the largest rain/snow weather event since the memorable floods of 1997 and 2005.

Those traveling to South Lake Tahoe, and those that live here, are being warned to be prepared for the storm which is slated to reach the Sierra overnight Saturday and last until Monday.

2:15 p.m. update - All power has been restored to Liberty Utility customers in Lake Tahoe.

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9:30 a.m. update - About 394 Liberty Utility customers are still affected by the power outage on Grizzly Mtn Drive, Arapahoe Street, Kickapoo, Snowflake, South Upper Truckee Drive, Reindeer Way, Woodchuck Court, St. Nick Way, Santa Claus in Christmas Valley. They expect to have all back on line by 11:30 a.m. today.

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Two Markleville, Calif., men were arrested on December 17 after a Department of Fish Wildlife warden caught them near Diamond Valley Road and Airport Road (Alpine County) as they attempted to "spotlight" deer.

According to Lt. Chris Stoots of California Fish & Wildlife, Ramsey Gene Horse, 29, and William Eugene Berreman, 26, were allegedly driving a Ford sedan with an artificial light in an attempt to spot and kill deer, an illegal action called spotlighting. They also had two loaded rifles in the back seat.