S. Tahoe real estate group getting involved in TRPA Regional Plan
During the Jan. 17-21 California Association of Realtors business meetings in Indian Wells the South Tahoe Association of Realtors received a $5,000 state impact grant. It will be used to pay for STAR Governmental Affairs Director Hayley Williamson to attend the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Regional Plan Update meetings.
In addition, the grant will allow STAR members to learn about laws affecting the region through advocacy and policy education such as zoning ordinances, height restrictions, and community goals TRPA is considering.
TRPA has requirements instructing real estate agents to give out disclosures regarding TRPA regulations to homebuyers and home sellers.
CAR recognizes TRPA could have an effect on the whole state, according to Theresa Souers of STAR.
“If the TRPA passes ordinances mandating point-of-sale issues, it may set a precedent for other point-of-sale mandates across the state,” Souers said in a press release. “Furthermore, since the TRPA must abide by California’s new sustainable communities laws passed in 2010, how the TRPA interprets and implements these California statewide laws will set a statewide precedent. For this reason, CAR has encouraged STAR to seek a similar grant on the national level and offered to assist in the effort to do so.”
It is interesting to note that Realtors are concerned that TRPA moves may affect all of CA – with reference to SB 375, the “Sustainable Communities Strategy” (Steinberg), as it concerns their “bottom line”: the 375 SCS is essentially a “there is no there there”, as initial programs have already faltered, given that the ‘strategy’ involves the community paving its’ own way when going “sustainable”. . .
This of course will prove not to be “sustainable”, as ‘solutions’ will be (and are) all over the map, satisfying only CA hubris that something is being done – a political reward but not necessarily a better and safer way to live.
The fact that TRPA is now going on 6 years behind (the latest promise is at the very end of this year) only compounds the difficulty of sustainable success, as their update will undoubtedly rely on obsolete (and hubristic) structural changes. . .
TRPA tried to rely on themselves for several years before engaging Mr. Zuckerman, only to now engage Mr. Stockham to preside over the remains, and “pull it out of the fire” – which does not hold much promise either.
Now that their budgets and viability are in question, you’d think that they might want to strengthen simpler, more robust answers, but, alas, it appears that the issue may once again further complicate substantial relief.
“Policies equal to the scenery” (?) – not quite yet. . .