Council votes to sell two parcels that would have been used in relocation of US-50 in South Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Two lots owned by the South Tahoe Redevelopment Successor Agency will go on the market for affordable housing after City Council voted 3-1 to sell 3900 and 3908 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Mayor Devin Middlebrook was the lone dissent and Councilmember Cristi Creegan was absent.

During its meeting this week, the council moved to get rid of the two lots that would have been used to realign US-50 through the residential Rocky Point neighborhood, commonly known as the Loop Road. They are a total of 1.16 acres and the estimated value is $1,000,000.

Council had previously directed staff to analyze the use of the property as an alternative to the Loop Road, officially the US 50 Community Revitalization Project. Director of Public Works Anush Nejad had suggested the US 50/Pioneer Trail intersection could be relocated through the two lots before the highway would then be moved behind the casino corridor via Heavenly Village Way and Park Avenue. This proposal would have also prevented all through traffic through the Rocky Point neighborhood with barriers behind Raleys, thus 100 percent of traffic moving through and around the Stateline area would have to pass through in front of Raley's/Crescent V Center on US-50/Lake Tahoe Blvd.

Based on this analysis and input from Caltrans, using the property for a
relocated Pioneer Trail intersection did not achieve an acceptable level of service.

Since both of the road realignment plans were denied, the two lots will be disposed of for an affordable housing development which at this time is not identified.

Tahoe Transportation District has an active permit for realignment of the highway through the two lots, but the city manager and city attorney said there would be no legal exposure with the decision to sell.

The Surplus Land Act requires the release of a Notice of Availability, a 60-day response period, and potentially a 90-day negotiation period with any entities responding with interest in developing the property. Should the City not get any takers, the future of the lots will go back to the council. The Surplus Land Act requires the property to be used as affordable housing, if no buyers are identified through the process, there is no requirement to sell as affordable. The City has a commitment to building affordable housing and would

With a value of $1 million for the land alone, interested affordable housing builders will have to create a viable project in the tourist-core mixed-use zoned area.

Nejad said they will continue to look at traffic-calming issues in the Rocky Point neighborhood. He said there are a number of tools that could be used, up to and including blocking traffic from going through from Pioneer Trail.

A mobility hub and better transit service would be a solution to congestion on US-50, which is what the road realignment was trying to provide. These two items will continue to be discussed and creative solutions evaluated.

They looked at the possibility of a roundabout at Pioneer/50, but it uses a large footprint and a wide two-lane circle would be necessary to handle the traffic at a minimum.

We have an opportunity to do two things, bring more affordable housing, and use an underutilized property for something good, said Councilmember Tamara Wallace of their vote. The current council has been against putting the highway through the neighborhood and the use of eminent domain to buy properties so they could be torn down for US-50.

"The City has done what we should do, and that is protect our neighborhoods and protect our workforce housing," said Councilman Cody Bass. He wants a parking structure to be looked at for the Y area of South Lake Tahoe to ease traffic to Emerald Bay as well as a mobility hub. He also wants to explore moving of the traffic light and intersection at US-50/Pioneer Trail further to the west.