By Kathryn Reed

A nonprofit group has secured a contract for up to 10 years to be the concessionaire at Patton Landing in Carnelian Bay.

The year-round operation means free access to Lake Tahoe for non-motorized watercraft, a small sledding hill, plowed access to parking, and food vendors who will all have a connection to Tahoe.

“We’re keeping it as much Tahoe as we can,” Phil Caterino, executive director of Alpengroup, told Lake Tahoe News. “It will also be opened as a place for community groups to do fund raisers.”

Patton Beach, Carnelian Bay

Alpen Sierra Coffee, Tahoe House Bakery and Tahoe Candles are some of the businesses involved in Blue Warrior Café, which is slated to open in March at the site. The year-round facility will have hot drinks, food and environmental information.

The agreement with Alpengroup was approved by the California Tahoe Conservancy board on Jan. 29.

The state agency acquired 7.1 acres in Carnelian Bay between 1986-92 to give the public access to the lake. In 1999, $1.8 million in improvements to the 2.2-acre Patton Landing site were completed – including 21 parking spaces, picnic facilities, rest rooms, patio, 723-square-foot structure and interpretive panels.

The problem has been finding a concessionaire who lives up to the full agreement. Alpengroup has been the interim concessionaire.

The agreement that was approved last month is estimated to save the CTC $40,000 a year in utilities and maintenance.

“If we break even and cover our overhead, we have met our mission,” Caterino told the board.

The beach, located between Kings Beach and Tahoe City, is rocky. Caterino said he’s been surprised by how many people have been using the area this winter. But he said with the lot being paved, it draws people in.

“A lot of people are excited,” Caterino said of the fact the area will be open year-round with free access to the lake. Lack of parking for kayakers is a huge issue at Lake Tahoe, as is public access to the water.

His group sees this as an environmental and a business opportunity.

Part of Alpengroup’s mission statement is, “To build private and public partnerships to solve immediate problems with inventive and decisive intervention while recognizing that only long term constructive planning and restoration will provide sustainable solutions for the future.”

Caterino said an underwater Webcam will be set up. Relationships with local lodging establishments are being worked on for kayakers-canoeists who want to paddle for more than a day or who want to use Patton Landing as a multi-day staging area.

The Lake Tahoe Water Trail Committee, which the CTC is part of, wants to create a lodge-to-lodge network for people who want to circumnavigate the 72 miles of Lake Tahoe.

For more information about Alpengroup, click here.