Letter to the Editor: The HOA no one signed up for

When the Tahoe Regional Planning Authority (TRPA) was established in 1969, its mandate was clear: to preserve, restore, and enhance the Lake Tahoe Basin's unique natural and human environment. Has the TRPA lived up to its promise, or has it become an unwieldy bureaucracy that hinders more than it helps?

I recently visited a house on the West shore of Lake Tahoe. The owners had a family cabin on the land since the 50s, but it was deteriorating and unsuitable for year-round use. After submitting plans to remove the old house and build another, 18 months later, they were no closer to getting permits. As if by magic, after hiring a consultant who was previously a TRPA employee, permits were granted.

I attended a Governing Board meeting where an applicant, after 5 years, hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct costs, and 5 duplicative approval hearings later got the right to submit plans to build tourist accommodations in the Tourist Core area near Stateline on what was the site of a dilapidated motel. To do this, he set aside nearly half of his parcel, dedicated units for achievable housing, and funds to try once more to restore a stream environment zone (that drains into a parking lot across the street). After years of waiting, he too felt the need to hire a consultant to get over this first regulatory hurdle. Other would-be developers at Homewood, Crystal Bay, and South Lake Tahoe are learning similar expensive lessons with multi-decade approval processes.

We’ve recently learned a new way to get the TRPA to pay attention; by suing them. Mountain Area Preservation sued TRPA for supposedly not spending enough time or money studying the impacts of affordable and achievable housing in the Basin (because 3 years and tens of millions of dollars weren’t enough for them). The outcome was a settlement which again, as if by magic, was announced shortly after the Governing Board agreed to give Mountain Area Preservation a seat at the next round of housing reform discussions.

Scope creep pervades the TRPA - they regulate the reflectivity of windows on lakefront parcels, the colors of the Margaritaville logo, police the waters, determine what kind and when aircraft can use South Lake Tahoe airport, require permits to remove trees on private property, tax - I mean “add a fee” to every car rental, spend years trying to create the perfect ADU regulations, etc. These are just a few of countless dubious programs with strained ties to their mission. Perhaps the most egregious example is their recent issuance of a warning letter to a property owner. Were they building an unpermitted structure in an environmentally insensitive manner? No; they warned the property owner about uses of the property that may occur in the future. It is not TRPA’s business what company and activities a private homeowner chooses to have on their private property - particularly for activities that haven’t even occurred yet. Telling someone how many people can swim in a private pool on private property that isn’t even in existence sounds like the actions of an Orwellian HOA board, not a planning agency.

This scope creep is having real, negative impacts on the Basin. In many cases, the rate of decay in Tahoe's built environment outpaces the TRPA's ability to greenlight necessary renovations and improvements. Buildings deteriorate, infrastructure crumbles and the overall quality of the region suffers while project proposals languish in regulatory limbo. This regulatory quagmire doesn't just affect aesthetics - it actively discourages investment in the region. Investors, recognizing the increased risks and below-market returns associated with Tahoe projects, are taking their capital and their jobs elsewhere. TRPA bears responsibility for creating a regulatory regime where virtually all of the projects being built are by developers with the largesse and timelines afforded by government subsidies and luxury houses that can pay their way to the front of the line. Meanwhile, the “for sale” and “for lease” signs on underutilized, vacant, blighted and end-of-life properties are a prominent feature of driving down Highway 50. The irony is palpable: an agency created to protect and enhance the region is now one of the biggest obstacles to its revitalization.

I want to be clear: I think that the individuals working at TRPA come to their roles with good intentions and bring their best selves to work daily. I’ve had coffee with several of them and believe they are driven by a desire to do the best job possible. However, good intentions result in bad outcomes. If we truly want to preserve and enhance the Tahoe Basin for future generations, we need an approach that is both environmentally conscious and economically viable.

On the eve of another Tahoe Summit and the possible reauthorization of the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, it's time for a serious reevaluation of the TRPA's role, scope and effectiveness. Streamlining processes, setting clear timelines for approvals, reducing uncertainty for those they ostensibly serve, devolving more authority to localities, and respecting private property rights could help break the logjam. The TRPA needs a reset; they can protect the Tahoe Basin from unchecked development without being the nosey HOA no one signed up for.

Seth Dallob is the COO of NexGen Housing Partners, a workforce housing developer with projects in metro Seattle. He is a candidate for the South Tahoe PUD Board. He and his wife are full-time South Lake Tahoe residents.