Conservancy to vote on $1M grant to City of South Lake Tahoe for Tahoe Valley Stormwater and Greenbelt project

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - At its next meeting, the California Tahoe Conservancy Board will consider awarding a $1,000,000 grant to the City of South Lake Tahoe to continue constructing the Tahoe Valley Greenbelt and Stormwater Improvement Project.

The meeting is on Thursday, June 15 at 9:30 a.m. at Lake Tahoe Community College in rooms U112 and U1113 and on Zoom. The full agenda and remote access can be found HERE.

The City will improve and expand shared-use trails around the Crossing at Tahoe Valley, McDonald's, My Thai, and other businesses and adjacent neighborhoods. The City's plans also include the removal of fill, restore wetlands, and build basins and other structures to reduce pollution from stormwater runoff.

Using the two lots in the project area that are owned by Conservancy (the land where the old smoke shop and urgent care were once located) and other public lands, the project will make the South Tahoe “Y” area more walkable and bikeable and will improve water quality draining to the Upper Truckee River and Lake Tahoe. The accomplish the project, the Board will also consider amending an existing agreement allowing the City to use the Conservancy land for the project to add the urgent care parcel to let the City build a basin, pathways, and seating areas on the new parcel and an adjoining lot.

If approved, the Conservancy will provide funding and a long-term license agreement amendment to the City to implement the Project.

The City is prepared to start Phase 1 with this funding, along with upward of $7M from the California State Water Resources Control Board. More funding, about $3M-$4M is needed to complete Phase 2, which is the central portion of the Greenbelt. The City had asked for $3M from the Conservancy to get that portion underway as well.

The resolution by the Conservancy should the Board approve:

Staff recommends that the California Tahoe Conservancy (Conservancy) make
the following findings based on the accompanying staff recommendation
pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21000 et seq.:

“The Conservancy, acting as a responsible agency, previously reviewed
and considered the City of South Lake Tahoe’s (City) Tahoe Valley Greenbelt and Stormwater Improvement Project (Project) Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) and adopted a mitigation monitoring plan (MMP) on March 12, 2020.

Since the Conservancy’s action on March 12, 2020, the City has proposed minor technical changes to the Project design. The Conservancy prepared an addendum to the MND (Conservancy Addendum) to review the potential effects of the modified Project.

The Conservancy finds that none of the conditions under the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines section 15162 requiring the preparation of a subsequent MND have occurred because:

a) The Project modifications do not constitute a substantial change that would require major revisions to the MND due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects; and
b) The Project modifications do not constitute a substantial change with respect to the circumstances under which the Project is undertaken which will require major revisions to the MND due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of the previously identified significant effects; and
c) There is no new information of substantial importance, which was not known and could not have been known with the exercise of reasonable diligence at the time the MND was adopted, showing any of the following: (i) the Project would have one or more significant effects not discussed in the MND; (ii) significant effects previously examined would be substantially more severe than shown in the MND; (iii) mitigation measures or alternatives
previously found not to be feasible would in fact be feasible and would substantially reduce one or more significant effects, but the project proponent declined to adopt such measures; or (iv) mitigation measures or alternatives considerably different from those analyzed in the MND that would substantially reduce one or more significant effects on the environment, but which the project proponent declined to adopt.

Based on substantial evidence, the Conservancy finds that the MND
and Conservancy Addendum are adequate, comply with the requirements of CEQA, and fully disclose and analyze the environmental effects of the modified Project. The Project modifications will not create any new significant environmental impacts beyond those already identified in the MND.

The Conservancy finds that the mitigation measures identified in the MMP that was adopted by the Conservancy on March 12, 2020, are applicable to the Project as modified, and conditions this authorization on compliance with the MMP.”

Staff further recommends that the Conservancy adopt the following resolution
pursuant to Government Code sections 66907.7, 66907.8, and 66907.9:

“The Conservancy hereby authorizes staff to: (1) award a grant to the City for up to $1,000,000 for Project construction; (2) process an amendment to the existing Project long-term license agreement to add Conservancy parcel El Dorado County Assessment Number (AN) 023-241-022, and to reflect changes to the Project on AN 023-241-023; and (3) to take all other necessary steps consistent with the accompanying staff recommendation.”