City moves forward with annexation of 2600 acres around Heavenly without support of resort

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The City of South Lake Tahoe has been trying to get Heavenly Mountain Resort to support its plans to annex the land where the California operations are located. Heavenly is an island in the middle of the South Lake Tahoe city limits, leaving it to be serviced by El Dorado County while those going to enjoy the resort use city streets and services.

There is no way to Heavenly's California side without traveling on city streets. To remedy this situation, the City of South Lake Tahoe has been seeking to annex the area into city limits, so tax dollars generated at Heavenly will pay for city services. They asked the resort to support their annexation efforts, but so far, Heavenly hasn't partnered with the City on this mission.

As a result, things are changing. The South Lake Tahoe City Council has long been clear about holding no discussions about parking around the resort on city streets until Heavenly publicly supports their bid for annexation.

Starting in 2013 there was a parking agreement in place between Heavenly and the City that allowed overflow parking from the ski area onto city streets during peak days. Heavenly paid the City $20,000 per year to cover expenses. In 2023 that agreement was amended when the resort started charging for parking on its lot, with an anticipated daily overflow onto city streets. Heavenly paid $54,320 for the use of parking not only on neighborhood streets but also along Ski Run Blvd. Heavenly also agreed to assist the City with timely snow removal and application of deicer and abrasives
on the streets that are covered by the agreement. Snow removal, sanding, and deicing were primarily performed by Heavenly, using its equipment on some streets. Last year, Heavenly also paid $106,382 to the City for a partial payment on the resurfacing of Ski Run Blvd.

There will be no parking this winter along Ski Run south of Pioneer Trail and the only parking on city streets near the resort will be for residents in the area with permits. Heavenly has released a transportation plan to get people to the resort on shuttles and buses to try and alleviate what could be a messy backup of vehicles trying to hit the slopes.

At the City Council meeting two weeks ago, Heavenly's Vice President and General Manager Shaydar Edelmann, spoke to the council in addition to presenting them with a letter.

"Heavenly respectfully objects to the City’s proposed annexation of the Heavenly Mountain Resort area located within El Dorado County, California, and requests the City Council terminate all proceedings to pursue annexation," stated Edelmann in the letter.

The letter continued, "While we remain eager to partner with the City on mutually beneficial ideas for the future of our community, the City has yet to articulate any tangible benefits of annexation for the City, the community, or the resort. This is a highly complicated topic, and the City's annexation analysis is preliminary and incomplete, lacking due diligence, business planning, or consideration of how it will impact taxpayers. To date, the City has not provided a report detailing the specifics of the proposed annexation, the costs to the community of annexing the resort, the benefits the City hopes to gain, and any associated risks. Instead, our long-standing positive relationship with the City has been intentionally damaged as it attempts to coerce Heavenly into a premature commitment to a vague annexation proposal, despite the resort’s commitment to ongoing good-faith conversations. The City’s attempts to strong-arm the resort into annexation unnecessarily increase costs to the City and ultimately taxpayers, negatively impact the whole community, and do not inspire confidence, all of which add to the resort’s concerns about being annexed into the City."

The City has placed "No Parking" signs on upper Ski Run Blvd., as well as other streets skiers have used to park, along with residential permit-only signs. The Public Works department has also placed electronic signs on Ski Run and Keller for when chain controls are in place. The police department will determine if those chain control areas need to be manned.

With what looks like an impasse, city staff will be reaching out to El Dorado County staff to begin property tax and sales tax negotiations. An application to LAFCO is expected to be made in the first quarter of 2025, according to Hilary Roverud, the South Lake Tahoe assistant city manager.
LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission) is a state-mandated regulatory agency with countywide jurisdiction created to discourage urban sprawl and to encourage the orderly and efficient provision of services, such as water, sewer, fire protection, etc.

The City says it remains committed to work to inform Heavenly of the benefits of annexation.

"Heavenly cares deeply about our South Lake Tahoe community, and we are committed to ongoing, productive conversations with the City that have been a hallmark of our long relationship," said Edelmann.

On the November 18 Council consent agenda there is a second reading of a new ordinance to pre-zone 30 parcels in the Heavenly area to be included in its annexation plans. The parcels add up to 2,800 acres and include the portion of Heavenly Ski Resort in El Dorado County, the portion of Van Sickle-Bi State Park in El Dorado County, and adjacent private parcels. The majority of the parcels are held in public ownership by the United States Forest Service, the State of California, and the South Tahoe Public Utility
District. Eight parcels are held in private ownership.