tahoe regional planning

Several key public service positions have been filled the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA).

Tom Lotshaw has been hired to work as TRPA’s Public Information Officer. He replaces Jeff Cowen, who worked for TRPA in that and other roles for eight years.

Lotshaw graduated from Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in public affairs journalism and has seven years of newspaper reporting experience. He worked most recently as a reporter for the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Montana, and as a reporter and photographer for the Tahoe Daily Tribune.

The Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) was awarded over $150,000 to look into providing safer, more walkable and bikeable off highway routes around South Tahoe Middle School (STMS), Bijou Park and Lake Tahoe Community College. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) awarded the grant as part of their $500,000 "On Our Way" program grants.

Another public workshop to get feedback from the community will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 19, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the STMS Multi-purpose room.

Divers are mobilizing at the mouth of Emerald Bay to start removing 5 acres of rubber mats that were laid on the lake bottom two years ago for a pilot project to control Asian clam populations in the area.

Divers are anticipated to be working in the water through November, so boaters are asked to exercise caution when entering and exiting Emerald Bay and obey a no-wake zone that extends 600 feet from shore at Lake Tahoe.

There were two workshops held on Thursday at South Tahoe Middle School to help identify the safe and unsafe routes students take to school each day on foot or on their bikes. From 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., school officials, staff from Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), the Lake Tahoe Sustainability Mobility group and members of the public were stationed at locations on the streets around the school to monitor traffic, car speeds and safe routes the students were taking to get to school.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) approved two grow domes to be installed at Sierra House Elementary School. Ground is being broken on the project area this weekend and the project is expected to be completed by the end of November.

The five month long grading season in Lake Tahoe ends on October 15 and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) has made it easier for builders to request an extension.

TRPA now has an online system to handle the requests in order to improve customer service and eliminate the need to people to drive to their office.

Grading season for construction projects in the Lake Tahoe Basin extends from May 1 to October 15. Soil disturbance during wet conditions can harm the lake’s water quality. Outside of the grading season, soil disturbance activities generally require an exception.

“A breakdown can pave the way for a breakthrough,” California Governor Jerry Brown said at the Lake Tahoe Summit on August 19.

The governor was speaking about the challenges people face in looking beyond their differences for common ground, whether that’s working to craft the $7.5 billion water bond California voters will consider in November or working across state lines to protect and restore Lake Tahoe.

The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority would like to thank all of our community members, visitors, businesses and agencies who have helped keep our Lake Tahoe beaches clean throughout a busy summer season. Debris on Lake Tahoe’s beaches affects everyone’s enjoyment of the lake, and trash and debris on the beaches and streets can easily find its way to the lake and adversely impact lake clarity, water quality and wildlife.

An environmental impact report on the Heavenly Epic Discovery Project is ready for public viewing. The new project, located at Heavenly Mountain Resort, will expand their summer activities to include more canopy tours, hiking and biking trails as well as interpretive activities.

Since 2011 the U.S. Forest Service has allowed more summer activities on national forest lands.

The following increase in activities are being proposed:

Locals and visitors alike enjoy riding bike in Lake Tahoe on a daily basis, and there is now a new tool for cyclists to use: a newly updated bicycle trail map showing all of the trails on the North and South shores.

With the addition of new trails around the basin, the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition (LTBC) found it necessary to update the Lake Tahoe Bikeways Map. The newest stretch of trail from Fallen Leaf Lake to Baldwin Beach didn't make the printing deadline according to Ty Polastri, LTBC Project Director.

The Sierra Business Council is hosting Peak Innovation, a conference for Lake Tahoe locals, small business owners, communities and local governments. During the conference, Dr. Peter Gleick, an expert in water issues especially in the context of economic and environmental justice, will be at the conference which takes place October 8-10 in Tahoe City. In a National Geographic science blog, Gleick recently repeated the common question, “Why, if the California drought is so bad, has the response been so tepid?”

Crews have been working on an underground stormwater system in the Bijou area of South Lake Tahoe. The work is causing both Fairway Drive and Bal Bijou Road to have detours during the week but open and no controls on weekends.

Work is wrapping up with the installation of a box culvert for Bijou Creek and work is now focused on new curbing and inlets. The Bal Bijou storm drain system will be connected at US 50 next week, with curb installation to follow.

Tahoe Resource Conservation District watercraft inspectors intercepted a boat on Wednesday that had quagga mussels and an unidentified snail in the boat's anchor locker.

The boat was at the inspection point on Spooner Summit after arriving from Lake Mead, a known quagga mussel infested body of water. Once detected the boat went through two decontaminations and inspections, and then was allowed into Lake Tahoe.

Over the holiday weekend most than 725 boats went through the four inspection points located around the lake which represents a 17% increase over last year's count.

Looking for an enjoyable way to contribute to the Lake Tahoe community, either as a local or as a visitor?

Adopt-a-Beach is one of the nicest and easiest ways to protect this valuable and beautiful treasure and they're looking for several volunteers to help this summer. This program is sponsored by the City of South Lake Tahoe, Lake Tahoe Visitor's Authority, U.S. Forest Service, League to Save Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and South Tahoe Refuse.

The official dedication of South Lake Tahoe's 1.2-mile shared-use bike path that connects Elks Point and Round Hill Pines and provides access to Rabe Meadow with Nevada Beach and Round Hill Pines Resort will be held on Thursday, June 19 at 12 p.m.

The second segment of the Stateline-to-Stateline Bikeway, South Shore Demonstration Project adds to the existing path for a total of 2.2 miles. Meanwhile, the North Demonstration Project is expected to begin construction in 2015 and the first phase will connect Incline Village to Sand Harbor State Park.

Lake Vista Apartments is a 4.6 acre, 64-unit deed restricted affordable housing project on lower Kingsbury Grade in Stateline, Nevada. It was built in 2000 under a special agreement with the TRPA to replenish the Nevada side's affordable housing stock after the number of units at the complex on Kahle Drive was dramatically reduced in order to restore the meadow. The complex was built on a USDA affordable housing tax credit program which specified a minimum of 15 years of affordable housing use.

"On Our Way" grants totaling over $550,000 were awarded this week by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA). Six projects that aim at sustainability and improved mobility options around Lake Tahoe will now be able to move forward due to the grants.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and League to Save Lake Tahoe are joining other local groups and individuals in applauding the decision today in Federal Court to uphold the Lake Tahoe Regional Plan. U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez found that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency acted properly in its Dec. 12, 2012 approval of an updated regional plan for the Tahoe Basin.

These Tahoe Regional Plan will guide all aspects of land management, development and planning in the Tahoe Basin for the next 20 years.

A record-breaking 100 businesses will participate in the 2014 Business EXPO –“Tahoe South in ACTION” this Friday, March 28. The event begins at 4:30pm and continues until 8:30pm in Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Convention Center. It will highlight South Shore businesses’ goods and services to an anticipated crowd of 1,200 attendees.

The following vendors will exhibit:

A Hand at Home
Acker RV Rentals
Alpine Smith Snow Removal and Driveway Sealing
American Legion Post 795
Bank of the West
Barton Memorial Hospital
Beach Hut Deli
Beach Retreat and Lodge Tahoe

Clarity levels within the iconic blue waters of Lake Tahoe continued a decadelong trend of stabilization in 2013, according to University of California, Davis, scientists who study the lake.

Data released today by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC)and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency reported the average annual clarity level for 2013 at 70.1 feet. While the reading represents a 5 foot decrease over the previous year, it is still well above the lowest value recorded in 1997 of 64.1 feet and above recent years' averages.

An innovation in aquatic invasive species protection was unveiled last week at the Water Sports Industry Association’s 2014 Summit that could make Lake Tahoe and recreational water bodies around the nation safer from the spread of invasive species, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) said Friday.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) welcomes attorney Jessica Satre to its legal team as Agency Associate Counsel. Satre joined TRPA in November last year.

Most recently, Satre was a government affairs and legislative analyst for the law firm of Snell & Wilmer, LLP. She has also worked on Capitol Hill in Washington DC for Senator Harry Reid and held legal internships at the Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Department of Education.

With Tahoe South’s two annual fireworks celebrations meeting all state and federal standards throughout their 30-year history, area tourism officials strongly denounced a lawsuit that could threaten the annual July Fourth and Labor Day events as totally unnecessary.

In November, Joseph and Joan Truxler, of Zephyr Cove, Nev., filed a federal lawsuit against the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority and Pyro Spectaculars North alleging the twice-annual fireworks shows violated the Clean Water Act.

Network television meteorologists from around the country will head to South Lake Tahoe for a leading national weather conference January 8-11, 2014 and two of the sessions are open to the public.

Tahoe South's Annual Operation Sierra Storm Meteorologist's Conference features leading scientists and experts discussing newsworthy topics and trends.