South Lake Tahoe housing crisis focus of community meeting

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The California Tahoe Conservancy and their State and local partners invite the public to a community meeting to discuss opportunities to help address the housing crisis in South Lake Tahoe on Wednesday, December 11 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

CTC owns two properties at the one, one 9.75 acres and the other 1.6 acres in 1989 for the purpose of using the non-sensitive portions of the lots for purposes consistent with the now current area plan.

In contrast with most of its nearly 4,700 properties in the Lake Tahoe Basin, the Conservancy Board has designated these two as “asset lands” that could support sustainable development consistent with local area plans. They are located in the Area Plan’s Town Center Mixed-Use Corridor and allowable uses include a rich mixture of retail, service, public facility, recreation, entertainment, and housing organized in a compact development pattern, creating an aesthetically-pleasing and safe environment for pedestrians, cyclists, and automobile drivers.

The public meeting is being held to get the community's input on these parcels and affordable housing development.

They want to learn the public's answers to these questions:

What defines a community for you?
What attracted you to Tahoe and keeps you here?
What community benefits are most needed here?
What amenities are missing from the neighborhood around these Conservancy properties?

According to a study by the Tahoe Prosperity Center, homes, both rental and ownership, are becoming less affordable for local South Lake Tahoe residents.

- The household income needed to afford the median-priced home in the South Shore is between $110,000 to $130,000. The actual median income for a South Shore household is $68,000.
- The percentage of residents occupying homes they own is dropping.
- Half of the employers surveyed have had employees leave or refuse job offers because they could not find suitable housing.
- Local affordable rental apartment complexes such as the Aspens and Sierra Gardens have waiting lists of over 150 households.

Join in on the process Wednesday in the Fallen Leaf Lake Room at South Tahoe High School's Student Union.