Full house at Supervisor's annual South Lake Tahoe meeting

Once a year the Board of Supervisors trek over the summit to South Lake Tahoe for their scheduled meeting, and if the full house of citizens is any indication, more than one of their 41 yearly meetings should be held on the eastern slope.

One agenda item brought Shingle Springs residents to town while another brought in a lot from the Meyers community.

A workshop on the Meyers Area Plan took up most of the morning with more than a dozen people getting up to speak on the plan. It was obvious early on that there isn't one point of view on what the Meyers plan should look like except that it appears everyone is in agreement that they want to make it a better place.

The original Meyers Area Plan was put together but a group of citizens in 1993 under the assumption it would be looked at again in five years for needed adjustments, if needed.

There have been community meetings and a formed advisory committee to look at the plan. It has been tweaked to incorporate many of the ideas presented during these meetings. Supervisor Brian Veerkamp summed up the plan: "I think you're very close and you've done a very good job."

Mis-information and what one supervisor called "intimidation by some in the community" have lead to many angry Meyers residents. Some are angry at a perceived lack of transparency in the process while others think their idea of what is good for the community is the only way. Supervisor Norma Santiago said, "there are some negative aspects as to how the community is treating each other. There are retaliations of businesses and people and it's a sad outcome of this process."

The Supervisors told the Meyers community to come to the tentatively planned December 5 followup workshop prepared. They want the citizens to bridge the gap in direction on how the Meyers Area Plan should look.

A grassroots effort from the Shingle Springs community presented 9,858 signatures in favor of protecting the historical and rural status of the county. The asked the Supervisors to look at the 2004 General Plan land use policies and zones and actually implement what the voters asked for 10 years ago, including the scenic byway status.

The group presented what is called the purple plan. It implements what the general plan states. They are the same people behind Measure O on next week's ballot (their stance is a Yes on O and a No on N).

The Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 to send the proposed initiative for analysis and complete it within 30 days.