Column: Connecting Tahoe through Workforce Housing

More than a decade ago, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) needed to bring the basin together to gain consensus on environmental priorities and the sustainability of our communities. Through the Regional Plan Update, thousands of community members collaborated on a unified vision for the future of Lake Tahoe. Major strides in environmental improvement have been achieved from all sectors since.

Today, there is region-wide consensus that housing and transportation are among the greatest issues of our time. The severe decline of affordable housing options in the Lake Tahoe Region is affecting environmental quality and the vibrancy of our communities. Safe, thriving communities help provide the infrastructure, workforce, and investment needed to ensure Lake Tahoe’s built environment supports a sustainable natural environment. A common topic in the public discourse around housing is that transportation solutions are integral to good housing solutions.

It is estimated that more than 40 percent of Tahoe’s workers commute from outside the basin. A Placer County study estimated the average worker living outside the Tahoe/Eastern Placer area travels nearly 40 miles each way for work, or roughly 80 miles daily. The result is more harmful vehicle emissions in the basin, and on peak days Tahoe’s two-lane roads are often congested with commuters, residents, and visitors alike which can impede transit and create unsafe conditions for cyclists and walkers. Meanwhile, workers and families who would rather live in the basin aren’t able to support local businesses and enjoy the quality of life that many take for granted.

TRPA is leveraging regional land use policies and the growth management system to connect Lake Tahoe through affordable housing. Bringing residents and workers closer to town centers is fundamental to successful transit and safe, walkable communities. New affordable housing policies adopted by TRPA since 2021 have focused on creating a more compact development footprint in Lake Tahoe’s town centers with a mix of uses close to transit and services, including more deed-restricted workforce housing. Slight increases in density in these areas promotes housing for local workers while maintaining regional caps on new development and advancing environmental improvements that protect lake clarity.

Not only can these changes increase the availability of affordable housing, they are fundamental to getting people out of their cars and improving access and mobility, especially for underrepresented communities. The Regional Transportation Plan aligns town center improvements with continued investments in transit, trails, and technology.

TRPA also shares the community’s concerns around emergency response and evacuation preparedness and the agency is assisting fire and law enforcement agencies with coordinated evacuation planning. The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded Tahoe with a $1.7 million grant to help emergency responders and transportation agencies address vulnerabilities in Lake Tahoe’s transportation system and communications infrastructure in the face of more wildfires and extreme weather events. It is critical that public agencies and community-based groups work together to ensure we are prepared for integrated and safe evacuation during emergencies.

Project by project, there has been significant progress in the basin. Even before new housing policies came online, TRPA approved 250 deed-restricted affordable housing units in the basin. Currently, more than 300 units of deed-restricted low-income and student housing are under construction and the agency has issued 34 permits for new accessory dwelling units on residential parcels region-wide. In transportation, since 1997, nearly 200 miles of trails have been constructed or improved, partners have finished 17 complete street projects, and free-to-the user transit and microtransit are reaching more residents and visitors than ever before.

But Tahoe’s future relies on a comprehensive approach that changes the pattern of past development. Through the Connections 2050 plan, TRPA is updating the shared vision for regional transportation with a particular focus on equity, walkability, town center revitalization, and managing Tahoe’s recreation corridors. Our Governing Board will be considering this important plan update in 2025. Meanwhile, through our Cultivating Community housing initiative, we are modernizing land use policies and establishing long-term, two-way engagement between agencies and the public with an emphasis on priority communities. At the first community workshop on the South Shore last week, TRPA planners listened to many compelling stories as well as great ideas to address housing issues, and a North Shore workshop is scheduled for October 7 in Kings Beach.

Looking back over the last decade of progress under the Regional Plan, it’s clear that when our mountain community pulls together, we can rise to any challenge. Go to tahoeliving.org to become a voice for equitable solutions to workforce housing in the Tahoe Basin and to share your priorities for mobility improvements, visit trpa.gov/connections2050.

--Julie Regan is Executive Director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.