TRPA

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board on Wednesday approved a temporary, transitional shorezone permitting process that will take effect in May and remain in place until January 2019 as the agency works to develop and adopt an updated Shoreline Plan this fall.

There are several reasons, as well as ideas for a solution, surrounding the traffic jams in Meyers that occur on many Sundays and holidays as vehicles leave the South Lake Tahoe area.

El Dorado County Supervisor Sue Novasel held another town hall meeting about traffic with almost 30 people at the Lake Tahoe Environmental Magnet School this week. She brought along El Dorado County transportation staff and was joined by the California Highway Patrol.

One thing is certain, something has to change or there will not be enough money to operate buses around the South Shore of Lake Tahoe. What isn't certain is how those changes will look, where extra funding can come from, or if services will have to be cut.

During Friday's Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) board meeting, options to keep a sustainable transit system in place for Lake Tahoe were discussed. Buses continue to operate at a loss and that cannot continue, according to the TTD staff.

South Lake Tahoe was the first city in California to carry the dockless bicycle sharing system, LimeBike, and now the community may soon be seeing the next generation, Lime-S.

At Tuesday's City Council meeting, Sam Dreiman, Manager of Strategic Development for LimeBike, and Jesse Patterson, Deputy Director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe, made a presentation to Council on numbers from 2017 and plans for 2018.

MEYERS and SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The El Dorado County Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Don Ashton has been making the rounds to communities throughout the county, explaining the budget through an informative presentation and discussion.

Most of the communities Ashton has visited have had 15-20 citizens in attendance, all asking questions and giving input in the budget process as Ashton and the Supervisors figure out how to save $20M over the next four years to meet CalPers pension liabilities.

With another building and construction season approaching, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) is launching a new Parcel Tracker available online to the public. Part of the Lake Tahoe Info portal, the Parcel Tracker provides a wide range of information for property owners and people considering buying or investing in property at Lake Tahoe.

With the March 6 South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting set to address the annual music festival SnowGlobe, the Parks & Recreation Commission held a special meeting to decide what their stance would be on the festival being held on the Community Playfields.

The new playfields have never had a soccer or football game played on them, but they are in need of a lot of repair after SnowGlobe unpacked and left after their Dec. 29-31 event.

Like many communities across the country, the Tahoe Basin is facing an affordable housing crisis. The high cost to buy or rent a home is simply unaffordable for most Tahoe residents. It’s a problem for people of many economic backgrounds, including middle-income teachers, nurses, police, and firefighters.

After Tuesday's normally scheduled 9:00 a.m. meeting, they will move to the Tahoe Beach Retreat & Lodge for an evening Cannabis Workshop to discuss upcoming regulations concerning the sales of adult-use cannabis in South Lake Tahoe. They moved to the larger venue due to expected participation.

On February 20, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., members of the public can give their input on what an ordinance concerning the sales of cannabis in city limits should look like. Besides council members there will also be representative of the Planning Commission and Cannabis Subcommittee.

The Cannabis Community Committee gave a presentation to the South Lake Tahoe City Council Tuesday, outlining the work they've done and recommendations for the City's ordinance for cannabis sales.

Fifteen members of the community came together as the committee and met with Mayor Pro Tem Tom Davis, Councilwoman Brooke Laine, Police Chief Brian Uhler, City Attorney Nira Doherty and City Staff member Lisa Watson to discuss and research issues facing legal sales of cannabis in the city limits.

Not all college seniors know what they'll be doing the day after they graduate, but Weston Park does.

The 23-year-old Sierra Nevada College student is majoring in sustainability with a focus on entrepreneurship. When he graduates in May he is committed to Tahoe Shed Company of South Lake Tahoe.

He has already hit the road running.

For Park's senior project he teamed up with Bret Hackett, owner of green builder Healthy Home Consultants and Tahoe Shed Company, to bring a new and secure shed to Bijou Bike Park.

Could there soon be a publicly-owned events center on the corner of Highway 50 and Lake Parkway on the MontBleu parking lot in Stateline, Nevada?

The plan to build the 88,420 square foot Tahoe South Events Center is now in the scoping stage where the public can weigh in and provide comments on the Tahoe Douglas Visitor's Authority (TDVA) proposal to construct the assembly, event and entertainment venue.

Washoe County, Nevada and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) are continuing to work together to streamline project permitting for their customers, and have announced a change in the permitting process for projects in the Washoe County portion of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Nearly 200 conservation professionals from around the country gathered back east this November to have a strategic dialogue about the state of landscape-scale conservation. Lake Tahoe was featured at the forum for the region’s cooperative restoration initiatives, and it was an honor to share the stage with such high-caliber conservation thought leaders.

The national forum showcased how people of all backgrounds are collaborating and working to conserve some of America’s most iconic natural areas.

Meyers, the commercial, public services, and recreation hub of unincorporated El Dorado County at the South Shore may soon have a new area plan.

The Meyers Area Plan is the comprehensive long-term plan for the Meyers Community and, if approved, will replace the original Meyers Community Plan (MCP) adopted in 1993. The MCP currently serves as the comprehensive land use and zoning plan for the community of Meyers, consistent with the Lake Tahoe Regional Plan and the El Dorado County General Plan. It was originally meant to last a decade, not the almost 25 years its been in place.

The updated Sierra Boulevard Complete Streets Project was presented to the community Thursday night, with changes incorporated after input from the public at their first meeting August 17, 2017.

Funded by grants, the .6 mile stretch of Sierra Boulevard starting at Highway 50 will have Class 1 and Class 2 bike lanes, parallel parking spots, reduced lane size, lighted sidewalks, underground utilities, landscaping, crosswalks and water quality improvements.

The heartbreaking fires in Northern California’s wine country this month have upended hundreds of thousands of people’s lives. In just over one week, the fires across Northern California burned more than 220,000 acres, destroyed 6,000 buildings, and killed more than 40 people. Our hearts go out to our neighbors in Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino counties.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU), along with partners Camp Richardson Resort and the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA), were recognized by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) with two “Best in Basin” awards for the Camp Richardson Resort and Campground BMP retrofit and the Kingsbury Stinger Trail Project.

The public has another opportunity to give feedback on the design of the U.S. 50/South Shore Community Revitalization Project on Thursday, October 5, 2017 at the Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Formerly known as the Loop Road Project, this one seeks to divert Highway 50 from its current location near the intersection with Pioneer Trail and move traffic behind Raleys and the casinos, then reuniting with the current location of Highway 50 in Stateline, Nevada with a roundabout.

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 Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board on Wednesday approved an emergency permit for Caltrans to remove hazardous dying trees along its highways and rights of way in the Tahoe Basin.

California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a tree mortality emergency in October 2015 because of widespread tree die-offs after several years of severe drought. There are now an estimated 102 million dead trees in California, with the greatest tree mortality in the Southern Sierra Nevada.

For 20 years, every August we’ve paused to reflect on our collective commitment to Lake Tahoe’s restoration at the Lake Tahoe Summit. This year, with U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein hosting the event, the issue of climate change will be front and center. Climate change poses incredible challenges for Tahoe, affecting not only the health of its famously cold, clear waters, but the health of its expansive forests and what is to become of our $5 billion outdoor recreation-based economy.

The city received some good news this week. We were successfully awarded $2.9 million in federal funds to complete all of the funding for the Sierra Blvd. Streetscape project-we are now 100% funded through construction. Kudos to Stan Hill with the City for his excellent grant application. Per Jim Marino, Asst.

A special meeting of the Douglas County School Board will be held on Monday, July 24 at 4:30 p.m. to discuss, review and vote on one of two options surrounding the sale of Kingsbury Middle School.

The district closed the school during the 2008-2009 school year due to declining enrollment. Zephyr Cove Elementary School and Whittell High School adjusted the grades the serve to absorb the middle school students. The district put the school building and property on the market in 2012 and it has now been vacant for over eight years.