Letter: Meyers community needs to come together
To the community,
Meyers has a rich history behind what you see today. But in some ways it really hasn’t changed much.
Jim Wilson, land developer, began developing Meyers – then called Tahoe Paradise – in the 1950s. He traveled the world in search for the right recreational ideas for this new development. Wilson called Tahoe Paradise the Gateway to the South Shore. Wilson’s concept of a recreational location for sharing the magic of the outdoors around Tahoe Paradise wasn’t much different than the “vision” of Meyers’ folks today.
Long gone are the days when I worked at Fay and Lee Anderson’s Shell Gas Station putting on chains in winter and pumping gas, working as a car mechanic at Meyers Automotive, and playing real estate at Comstock Properties, Mountain Harbor Realty and Yank’s Realty. Somewhere back then I bought my first powerful stereo set from Joe Tveten.
Two years ago the Meyers community met in search of a “community vision”. It was apparent most Meyers, Tahoe Paradise, and Christmas Valley locals were not against carefully thought-out and responsible development in Meyers.
Meyers needs a combination of tasteful architectural development, parks and bike paths, and local job and revenue producing businesses. This should happen gradually.
The Meyers community has a new challenge. It appears we have outside corporate consultants-developers teamed up with TRPA and sustainability entities making their own plans for our community. These so called “sustainability entities” are largely comprised of TRPA staff, county planning agencies and corporate development consulting firms.
TRPA’s new agenda is to “sustain themselves” by joining forces with corporate developers/consultants for large scale commercial development within the basin.
This newly conceived partnership will produce revenue and development fees that will offset TRPA’s huge administration staffing and overhead.
The California Tahoe Conservancy has followed TRPA’s role change with a complete reversal of their original intent to protect Tahoe with their new revenue generating “Asset Land Sales Program”.
Agency incentivized large scale commercial development is devastating to Lake Tahoe’s air and water quality, and Tahoe residents’ quality of living.
If TRPA and CTC’s original intended missions are accomplished they should downsize or shut down.
Our local El Dorado County Supervisor Norma Santiago apologized for her involvement with One Globe Corporation and the “Catalyst Program” concept plan.
This misrepresentation of interest to her constituency did not set well with locals.
Some of us believe Supervisor Santiago may have a conflict of interest when she sits on multiple boards including the TRPA, the Tahoe Conservancy, the Sustainability Collaborative, and the county supervisors board.
These agencies and sustainability entities (TRPA, CTC, TMPO, LTSCP ) are additionally and separately funded with grant funds from the California Strategic Growth Council with our tax dollars. This additional grant funding seems to serve these agencies to work against us.
This SGC program’s original intent was to improve air and water quality, and promote a variety of other programs for the benefit of communities.
Our local fed, state and county agencies and the sustainable entities appear to be mainly focusing on only one of the SGC program aspects — commercial development — for self-sustainment and profits.
They have recently reapplied to the SGC for additional grant funding in the approximate amount of $995,000 stating, “The community of Meyers in El Dorado County in the South Shore of Lake Tahoe is the first community that is ready to use its Area Plan, funded by SGC.”
This Meyers Plan is not ready to use. We’re not done.
Making matters worse is our MCAC or Meyers Community Advisory Council representation has been very poor at best.
Most Meyers residents had never even heard of this council until recently when some of us brought this new Meyers Area Plan draft to their attention last month.
This Meyers Community Advisory Council literally hid in opposite corners of the room in the recent TRPA facilitated MCAC-community meeting on Feb. 26.
The MCAC did not make a single effort to speak or represent their community at their own meeting.
The Meyers community needs to take charge of its own planning.
Our primary focus should be on these four points in the draft plan:
(1) Height restrictions of new commercial buildings
(2) Density of commercial development units per acre
(3) Land use and zoning – partially to protect businesses we already have
(4) Limited corporate development — approved by a “legitimate” local committee
(5) Incentive giveaway of CFA floor space
Meyers community, you must voice your opinions now.
The next community meeting is again at the California Conservation Corps. building, 1949 Apache Ave, March 19, 6-8pm.
We can do this together as the Meyers community.
Respectfully yours,
John Adamski, Meyers resident