The Lake Tahoe region has a significant workforce housing shortage. That is not new, news to anyone who sits through endless commuter traffic and simply can’t afford to live close to where they work in the basin. Tahoe faces an urgent need for housing that low-income workers and mid-level professionals, such as teachers, nurses, and firefighters, can afford.
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) can and must deliver the housing Tahoe needs. To do so, TRPA will need to create targeted incentives for developers while also leveraging policy tools such as short-term rental restrictions, deed restrictions, rental assistance, and downpayment support. This is the only way to unlock existing housing, without exceeding the growth cap that’s designed to protect the lake.
There is only so much land in Tahoe that can be paved over if we’re going to limit runoff and other forms of water pollution. TRPA must proceed with caution as it develops new policies that address our workforce housing crisis. Some of the options TRPA is considering would make it just as easy for developers of “achievable” market-rate housing to access incentives as for developers to advance workforce and affordable housing, which is what Tahoe needs. Other policies under consideration could weaken water quality standards and must not be allowed to move forward.
The TRPA is on the cusp of making critical decisions that will either provide workforce housing built the right way, or lead to even more luxury developments that sit empty half the year. Once they set that course, we will not be able to turn back.
Now is the time to speak up to ensure we’re building the right kind of housing in Tahoe – housing people can afford, and that maintains lake clarity. Learn more at mountainareapreservation.org/the-housing-tahoe-needs.
-Alexis Ollar, Executive Director
Mountain Area Preservation