Project Review

To prevent a disturbing new precedent, the League has appealed an adverse court ruling in its case regarding the Sierra Colina subdivision on Nevada’s South Shore. The TRPA’s 2009 approval of this project represented the first time in nearly 40 years that the agency permitted a new residential subdivision without counting its private road against the overall coverage limitations for the project. If the development is allowed to proceed as proposed, large lots throughout Tahoe will become easier to subdivide and develop, while pavement and coverage that endanger Tahoe’s clarity will increase.

The 50-unit residential subdivision called Sierra Colina Village is planned for previously undeveloped land beside Burke Creek in the Stateline/Kingsbury area. The League and numerous other organizations and residents expressed concern, and the League initiated litigation challenging the exemption of the new subdivision’s road from coverage limitations.

Read the League's court complaint.

Read our October 2008 comments on the Sierra Colina DEIS.

The US Forest Service is proposing a campground "retrofit" project for the Camp Richardson Resort campground that will include not only stormwater treatment, but an increase in the number of large (pull through) RV hookup sites over what currently exists on the site. In addition, the Forest Service is proposing to reduce the overall number of non-hookup (tent-sites) in the campground. Proposals also include developing large RV hookup sites in areas that are currently open space, and removing approximately 950 trees, including old growth specimens in the campground area. The League has numerous concerns and questions for the Forest Service on this project.

Read the League's April 2009 comments on the Camp Richardson Resort Campground Project.

In April, 2011, the TRPA Governing Board approved Boulder Bay, a project to give the Tahoe Biltmore hotel-casino on the North Shore a "facelift" by tripling the number of rooms to 275, adding 59 condos and 158 parking spaces, and erecting at least eight buildings between 45 and 75 feet tall that defied TRPA height limits.

In, 2008, responding to proposals for widespread development on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe, the League conducted an analysis of the extensive cumulative impacts associated with all the projects in a three mile section of the Tahoe Vista, Kings Beach and Crystal Bay communities. Read the report.

Homewood Mountain Resort plans to build an all-season resort with 349 residential and hotel units along Highway 89, a two-lane road that already experiences significant summertime traffic gridlock. During snowy conditions, this highway is frequently closed just south of Homewood, leaving only one available travel route through already-congested Tahoe City.

Heavenly Mountain Resort in 2010 proposed relocating its Umbrella Bar, and constructing a new lodge and safety hazard reductions on California Trail. The League expressed concern that these projects should conform with the approved Heavenly Master Plan. Discrepancies in coverage should be addressed and potential impacts to soil, vegetation and water quality should be avoided or properly mitigated. 

Read the League's January 2010 comments on the Heavenly capital projects. 

In 2009, the League expressed concern about the Basin-wide implications of seemingly minor Community Plan boundary line realignments.

Read the League's statement on the Kings Beach Community Plan Realignment Amendment that was approved by the TRPA Governing Board on July 22nd, 2009.