Camp Rich parking issues stall Forest Service’s plans

By Kathryn Reed

Parking along the road that leads to the Beacon restaurant has brought the U.S. Forest Service’s renovation plans for the area to a halt.

The federal agency has to go back to the drawing board on this particular aspect of the larger plan because people who live along Jameson Beach appealed the USFS decision from June 14. That decision was withdrawn this month, with letters going out last week to everyone on the project list.

“Although the project is billed as a BMP retrofit, it actually was the beginning of a wide-scale expansion of the Camp Richardson resort intended to maximize parking revenues at the cost of safety, the visitors’ enjoyment, the residents’ rights and most significantly the environment,” attorney Jacqueline Mittelstadt told Lake Tahoe News. “We see the project as ‘Disneyland on the South Shore’.”

Parking in the Camp Richardson area will be further studied by the U.S. Forest Service. Photo/LTN file

A dispute that still has not been resolved is who owns Jameson Road.

“Our project moves forward with the assumption it is a Forest Service road,” USFS spokeswoman Cheva Heck told Lake Tahoe News. For decades the feds have maintained and assumed liability for the road that is the access point for Camp Richardson Resort.

But that road also winds behind the marina to private residences. That is why they care what goes on with this road.

The Forest Service late this fall will release another environmental assessment for public comment, with the hope a decision can be made this winter.

“What we are going to do is more fully develop an alternative that addresses their concerns,” Heck said.

Inadequate traffic studies and lack of free parking are concerns of the opponents.

“Though the Highway 89 corridor involves some of the highest accident rates on the South Shore, the non-local traffic engineer for this project stated there was ‘no evidence’ of any traffic accidents, so no changes to the Camp Rich entry area were required,” Mittelstadt said.

More information about the project may be found online.