Squaw significantly scales back growth plans
By Ed Fletcher, Sacramento Bee
In the face of a community backlash, the owners Squaw Valley ski resort announced plans Monday to scale back their proposal to expand an existing village at the base of the mountain.
The new plan – dubbed “The Right Plan” on the resort’s website – calls for a series of buildings housing 1,493 new luxury bedrooms. That’s less than half the 3,400 bedrooms proposed in the company’s 2011 plan. Monday’s revision is the second revision of the development proposal by Colorado-based KSL Capital Partners LLC.
Chevis Hosea, the company’s vice president of development, acknowledged the firm was a little surprised by the level of resistance to its 2011 proposal. He now says the company has a better plan after listening to its customers and the community.
Stepner, one of the founding members of Friends of Squaw Valley, said there are battles ahead once the exact site plan and building design aesthetic come into focus, but he said he was pleased with how far Capital Partners moved from the old plan – dubbed by some as a Disneyland in the snow.