Tahoe basin taken out of Martis Valley West project
This ridgeline located in Carnelian Bay is what Mountainside Partners wanted to develop.
By Kara Fox, Moonshine Ink
The Lake Tahoe Basin will no longer be included in the Martis Valley West Project, which originally called for 112 residential units on land inside the basin. The developer asked Placer County on Tuesday to exclude 138 acres of Tahoe basin land, while maintaining the transfer of development rights in Martis Valley, after environmental groups urged them to not develop within the basin.
“A part of the Martis Valley West Parcel Project initially contemplated having a Tahoe basin residential development component. Certain parties have made it clear that conservation in the Martis Valley is not their priority,” wrote Project Manager Kurt Krieg to Placer County. “The Tahoe Basin-centric focus ultimately jeopardizes the successful completion of the conservation legacy, upon which stakeholders have been working collaboratively for a decade.”
The developer, Mountainside Partners (formerly East West Partners), also asked that the county suspend the application to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency for approval of any new development within an Area Plan in the Tahoe basin, which means any future development on the Tahoe basin land would have to be approved separate from the Martis Valley West Project. Mountain Area Preservation, Sierra Watch, the League to Save Lake Tahoe, and Placer County Supervisors Jennifer Montgomery and Jack Duran had been urging the developer to exclude the basin from its proposal.
“Because the Basin land will be separated from the rest of the project, approvals will not require Tahoe Regional Planning Agency action,” Montgomery said in a statement. “Additionally, the applicant will work with the agency to more accurately define the boundary line for the Tahoe basin. If necessary, a boundary line adjustment will be done to ensure the project is a separate legal parcel from any land within the Tahoe basin.”