To the community,

I would like to thank everyone who contacted the Lake Tahoe Historical Society and myself regarding the Barton Ranch property. I have had such a wonderful response from members of our community who would love to see this property saved rather than demolished. It is unfortunate that the Lake Tahoe Historical Society cannot just write a check and save the property, but perhaps the community can find a solution that is agreeable to the owners and involves our city and the community in a joint effort to maintain this piece of property.

The LTHS has been working on this project behind the scenes since late last fall. When it seemed that more was needed, a letter dated March 21 was sent to Shelly Aldean, the Governing Board chair at Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. On March 28, the “Notice of Availability of Negative Declaration” was published. On March 29, the LTHS sent a copy of the March 21 letter to Shelly Aldean at TRPA and to Nancy Kerry, city manager of the city of South Lake Tahoe. To date we have not received a reply from Ms. Aldean at the TRPA nor from Ms. Kerry at the city of SLT.

The closing date for comments on this negative declaration is April 25 at 4pm. I am asking everyone who is interested in preserving this property to please send a comment to Hilary Roverud, Development Services director for the city of South Lake Tahoe. She is also the city of South Lake Tahoe’s representative to the Advisory Planning Commission of Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. I am not sure if this may be a conflict of interest or not. However, her address is below in the letter that the LTHS sent by certified mail.

If you care about this historic piece of property and its role in our history, then please send a letter to show your support and the community’s interest in preserving the Barton Ranch. We know that TRPA considered this property “historic” and prevented the buildings from being torn down once before, so how can they walk away now?

Catherine Whelan, president Lake Tahoe Historical Society