Opinion: Tahoe City residents being ignored in planning
This is one vision for a section of Tahoe City. Rendering/Design Workshop
By Melody Monk
As a long time Tahoe City resident, arriving in 1972, I am concerned the Tahoe City Community Plan decision making process has been seized by special interests: Tahoe City Public Utility District, Chamber of Commerce, and the Resort Association.
I attended a Tahoe City “visioning” meeting May 8, 2013, at the Gatekeepers Museum and found that the committee members, sadly, had no patience for any public comment, and second homeowners and locals appear to be left out of the conversation. We live here, what do we all really want?
The committee members are hell bent on maximizing development, scale and height. I guess this is only natural for the Chamber of Commerce, Tahoe City business owners, the Resort Association, and now the TCPUD as owners of the golf course. Although the Tahoe City Golf Course was purchased with supposedly no intent to develop it, now there is talk of a huge hotel right on that golf course, which was purchased with our public money.
Most of us moved up here, being willing to live a harder lifestyle in the mountains, to be among nature and our beautiful and very rare clear lake, and to take care of that gift. No one at the meeting was speaking about what we leave future generations, the vastly growing algae in Lake Tahoe, the animals or the forest or the detrimental effects of large resort development. It brought tears to my eyes, literally.
TRPA designated “Town Centers” as areas targeted for redevelopment. Tahoe City is a designated town center that would shockingly allow up to 56 feet in height and 40 units/acre density compared to the present allowable 34 feet in height and 15 units/acre density. That’s a huge difference. The Tahoe City team is even going for the maximum height allowed of 56 feet. To give you a comparison, the new unsightly Domas building in Kings Beach is 48 feet. Interestingly, the Kings Beach Plan team doesn’t want heights greater than 48 feet and those only on the mountain side of the highway. Smartly, they want to keep the low scale beach feel. I’d like to see the same in Tahoe City. Why visit Lake Tahoe when you can’t even see the lake?
In the last few minutes of the meeting, the team all agreed to incorporate more parcels into the Tahoe City Town Center: the Golf Course (owned by the TCPUD using our money), “64 Acres” where the empty and little used Transit Station is located, and the lakefront parcel located between Tahoe Tavern and Tavern Shores. These three large parcels will be zoned “mixed use recreation”, which with these changes certainly doesn’t mean open space. Recreational use businesses can, and probably will, fill the area because they can.
This is all justified by “trying to save a dying Tahoe City”. I wonder about the wisdom of embracing large resort development like Northstar and Squaw’s new condo proposal and water park (we need this by Lake Tahoe?) as the solution to the economic woes of the recession. It seems to me low scale development on the order of Truckee, Calistoga, Santa Cruz, Carmel, Yountville, and Healdsburg … authentic mountain charm, is the real solution. These are the places people really want to go.
How can Tahoe City compete with Northstar’s horseback riding, golf, tennis, pool, bike trails, skiing, and skating rink, and why would we? Don’t get me started on the proposed Northstar roller coaster. What? Tahoe City has Lake Tahoe and bike trails, but it needs its open space and opportunities for recreation. Let’s have more to do, more quality low scale lodging, and the right amount of commercial given the limitations of our infrastructure and small population. Please!
We’re already at maximum capacity for the summer and New Year’s holidays. And that’s the stated opinion of the Chamber of Commerce. We don’t want to look like South Lake Tahoe. Let’s keep our quaint charm. Who wants to leave the city to visit just another overdeveloped city?
Please, people, get involved and find out what is in store for you if no one becomes aware of what is being planned or takes any action. Gentrification is not good. Read “Down Hill Slide” by Hal Clifford to see what happened with the rape of Vail. Don’t be fooled by the “green wash” postcards being mailed. Please check it out yourself. I’m honestly scared for our beautiful jewel, Lake Tahoe.
Melody Monk is a resident of Tahoe City.
“We don’t want to look like South Lake Tahoe.”
Hear that? We are the poster child for Ugly up here. The rest of the lake uses us as an example of how NOT do do things.
City Council; are you listening?
“We don’t want to look like South Lake Tahoe.”
Hear that? We are the poster child for Ugly up here. The rest of the lake uses us as an example of how NOT do things.
Public, are you too listening?
No one wants to look like South Lake Tahoe —- not even South Lake Tahoe
“We’re already at maximum capacity for the summer and New Year’s holidays. And that’s the stated opinion of the Chamber of Commerce”
Then why would Tahoe City want to pay for Snow Globe during the New Year’s holidays. Or South Lake Tahoe, for that matter. Makes no sense.
Thank you, 4-mer-usmc, this is a TEAM effort here.
First of all, Dogula, you have stated on previous posts that you live in the County. Are you part of the Meyers community meetings to make Meyers better? If not, why not? If yes, are you happy with the progress in the County? Just curious.
David, you told me once you were from Riverside. Been back there lately? It’s better here.I’m trying to understand why you are so negative about our town, but I just don’t get it.
And, most important, this is a team effort in this town. Please stop expecting your City Council to have magic wands. First of all, there is absolutely no way we are ever going to make everyone happy at the same time.
We are five people, who spend on average, 25-30 hours each, per week, reading, going to meetings on recreation, the Chateau project, STPUD board meetings, TTD meetings,El Dorado County meetings, City project meetings, community concern, event, or idea meetings, state meetings, City Council meetings, and we do this for about a hundred dollars a week. We do this around our work schedules, because we still have to earn a living to pay our bills too.
We do this because we are trying to help our town. We can’t do this alone. There is a lot a citizen can do to help. Go to a clean up day. Think of some positive solutions (some of you have called or met with me, and we are looking at these), and understand we live under more regulations than any other area I know, so it may take time. Clean up your own neighborhood or business. If you have extra time and skills, volunteer to help a business (even planting some flowers helps!) or contact Habitat for Humanity and help someone in a neighborhood. Realize you don’t get what you want all the time, because someone else wants something different.
How is your home budget? Can you do everything you want to do right now? Neither can we. Sometimes it is a matter of money, and we are struggling to keep services, do maintenance,and are currently putting millions into storm water and erosion control projects, upgrading some of our infrastructure, and building/employing on some construction projects. If money were unlimited, there would be a lot more improvements.
Interestingly enough, when my friends or family come here, their comments are more like: “Wow! The high school is awesome!” “OMG, Lakeview Commons is incredible!” “Ski Run Farmer’s Market rocks!” “Great bike trails, and I see you are doing more!”
“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Positive thinking can bring positive results. “Whether you think you are a failure or a success, you’re right.” – Henry Ford
Jo Ann, AS someone I agree with most of the time, I have to point out that in addition to the $100.00 per week you get paid, you should also mention council members are offered medical, dental, and vision coverage which could cost as much as $400.00 per week or more, per member.
JoAnn, I’ll just say that I am happy that I live in the county EXCEPT when I pay the extra city taxes and fees, as we all MUST do business in the city. Not much choice there. But yes, I like the way Meyers is looking and progressing. Slowly.
Tahoe City is dying because they do not have any parking and during the summer it takes an hour to drive across town. Until those issues are addressed people will be just as happy to go somewhere else.
Yes Lou, we do get benefits, but I do want to remind people we can’t use those benefits to pay any of our bills. I rarely get sick, and because this is a temporary position, I continue to pay my own private coverage. I am not ungrateful, but just like anyone else with benefits, you can’t use those benefits to pay the rent or electric bill and it doesn’t put gas in the car to go to all those meetings. Just asking for perspective, but do appreciate your general understanding and support.
To Melody Monk,
I will politely ask you to not downgrade my home town of South Lake Tahoe. I’ve been a resident here since 1962. A property owner since 1974 and my family vacationed here in the 40’s and 50’s. So I have some roots here and don’t take kindly to people bad mouthing South Shore.
I love this little town, just as I love all the communities that surround the lake. Homewood, Tahoma, Tahoe city, Crystal Bay are all great places to visit.
I know we can’t bring back “Old Tahoe” to So. Shore but we are working on making it better. More bike paths, possibly another dog park, cleaning up some blighted properties on 50 and private residences in our neighborhoods, re-development projects are constantly on-going despite all the red tape thrust upon us by the myriad of agencies, committees and groups that want to hold things up per their own agendas.
So Melody, we here on So. Shore are a work in progress. Slow? Yes, at a snail’s place at best. We’ll get there eventually, probably long after my ashes have been scattered about the waters of “The Lake in the Sky”.
Take care Melody, and be nice to your neighbors around you as well as across the lake.
Old Long Skiis
So Tahoe City is nicer? How can that be? They don’t have a City Govt./Bureaucracy to take care of things up there, or to go out & waste money hiring consultants?!
Our elected officials DO put in a lot of time, for minimal compensation and at least half the people mad at them all the time!! But worth noting that after being a City for 47 years, we’re still playing beautification catch up with Tahoe City!
Most of you are missing the point with Ms. Monk’s message – the “Town Centers” are supposed to also be about ‘sustainable communities’ (at least according to $ 1.8 million dollars in grants received), yet no more than lip service is offered about that. . . while “deliverables” are met (i.e., consultants from everywhere but here), ‘sustainables’ are not. . .
“Ignorance is bliss, unless you’re surrounded by it”…
Planning, indeed. . .it’s almost better when they emphasized ‘regulatory’; at least everyone knew what they were dealing with then. . .
“Planning precedes performance” – plans which are always done prior to the meetings; and “precedes performance” by how much (?), given that some of these things were discussed over 15-20 years ago now, with but few exceptions. . .
Nothing new under the sun. . .
I think the usual kneeJerk reaction by some people responding to this article are missing Melody M.’s point in her penultimate paragraph.
I think she is obviously talking about the summer holidays and New Years typical overdose of visitors that make So. Shore such a crazy place during those max. capacity times. She wants Tahoe City to avoid trying to compete with that crowd and be an alternative Tahoe experience.
JoAnn, My comments were about the council members benefits, not you in particular .
“We don’t want to look like South Lake Tahoe.”
The city government should pay attention to that phrase. Everyone looks at South Lake Tahoe as what not to turn into.
And consider this – South Lake Tahoe is the ONLY municipal government in the Lake Tahoe basin. Everywhere else is unincorporated.
Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem!
It seems like Tahoe City is trying to pull a “Homewood” to justify increasing density and building height in the town center. A tourist town is always going to be a tourist town with slow seasons. They need to make the commercial businesses more “local friendly”. We can’t change the culture of visitors to this area; they like summer vacations and ski trips; kids go to school during the slow season.
The fact that the committee/PUD are talking about putting a hotel on public land (the golf course) just seems plain wrong. That area should remain as a community space, either a nice park or community center like Truckee has. No wonder so many Tahoe City residents have moved to Truckee, they have better community amenities.
I always find it interesting how they never include all the 2nd home/vacation rentals as tourist units. We definitely have no short supply of those.
Joann, glad to hear that you view this as a temporary position. I hope by temporary you are not looking at the word in the same light that Cole and Davis and Laine have looked at it.
BTW, benefits and pay are something that you can raise at the next city council meeting. Would gladly like to see them double your salary in exchange for no medical benefits. Not sure some of your unhealthier council- mates would agree……but give it a go.