Letter: One tax, one regulation, one study and one lawsuit away

The greater Lake Tahoe area is an object lesson in what happens when excessive bureaucracy creates problems that they cannot solve alone. The barriers to affordable housing and a diverse economy are a choice made for us by local and state politicians, unelected bureaucrats at TRPA, and lawyers and activists behind nonprofits that repeatedly assure us we are but one tax, one regulation, one study, or one lawsuit away from an eco-nirvana. Nothing could be further from the truth.

No one will argue that the 80-85 percent of wildlands in the Basin should be protected and preserved for future generations (though there are far too many trees per acre and not enough variety of ages, but that’s another problem for another op-ed). However, our urbanized areas have largely fallen into a 1960s-era stasis. In South Lake Tahoe, if a developer wanted to tear down a dilapidated summer cabin and construct a 4-plex (sacrilegious, I know, but stay with me), they face several challenges including single-family zoning, inability to park on streets in the winter, coverage restrictions, height restrictions, setback restrictions, etc. etc.

If the City wanted to help with zoning, they would first have to spend millions of dollars and multiple years preparing an Environmental Impact Report, which an environmental group would likely sue over, and the TRPA would take 3-5 years to approve. These are choices made for us.

People do live in places where they park on the street when it snows. Yes, it’s inconvenient for the folks whose cars get buried in snow, but it’s also not the end of the world. This is a choice made for us.

Similarly, coverage, height, and setback restrictions are choices made for us. We can protect the Lake by limiting runoff just as well in a 2 or 3-story building as a 60-year-old single-family house (all while using less energy, too). While a front yard is lovely to look at, I’d argue providing enough housing for a diverse workforce is of higher importance. These are choices made for us.

Even ADUs (smaller second dwellings on the same lot as existing homes and apartments) are functionally uneconomical or impossible due to some of the restrictions mentioned above. Some progress is being made on this front, but only begrudgingly, and only to be in compliance with California state law. Even these minor changes will take a year to be fully enacted. These are choices made for us.

The largest rent declines in this economic cycle have occurred exclusively where new luxury supply has been overbuilt. Those new units attract renters looking for a nicer place, which creates vacancies in the next-nicest units and lower rents for all. Instead, we have an obsession with deed restrictions and concentrating poverty in 100 percent affordable buildings that are built at a glacial pace. More density = more supply = lower rents; it really can be that simple.

We are not one tax away, one bureaucrat away, one regulation away, one government program away, one lawsuit away, or one study away from solving any of our demographic, economic, or affordable housing issues - and I’d argue, we never will be. At what point will our leaders, both elected and unelected, realize that a vibrant, diversified economy with more affordable housing and respect for our environment can only happen when they stop starving it from the resources it needs - land, labor and capital?

- Seth Dallob

Seth Dallob is the Chief Operating Officer of NexGen Housing Partners (www.nexgenhp.com), a leading company in transit-oriented, affordable, and eco-friendly housing in Seattle. He and his wife are full-time South Lake Tahoe residents.