Douglas creates Stateline redevelopment area
Source: Douglas County
By Kathryn Reed
STATELINE – In an attempt to encourage investment in the Stateline area, Douglas County commissioners on Thursday unanimously agreed to create a redevelopment agency.
It essentially will encompass the casino core east to Kahle Drive. From Lake Park Way only the property on the north side of Highway 50 to Kahle is included.
Mike Bradford was the only person from the public to comment. Representing the South Tahoe Alliance of Resorts, he told the board the redevelopment agency will help with implementing aspects of the South Shore Vision Plan. In particular he mentioned the loop road and creation of a permanent entertainment venue.
Redevelopment agencies are a product of the state, with certain criteria needing to be met to create such an entity. One of those is determining that there is blight.
The main issue that was brought up at the Jan. 21 meeting was how tax increment can impact other entities that receive property tax distribution. Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District was singled out.
Redevelopment agencies receive their funding from what is called tax increment. When the assessed value of a property goes up – aka tax increment – all that money stays with the redevelopment agency. This means public agencies will not get those dollars.
Bradford assured the board and fire district that “public safety will not be compromised.”
Estimates are the redevelopment agency through the tax increment would collect $47.2 million in 30 years.
The redevelopment agency, of which the commissioners are the board of directors, will also have the power of eminent domain.
The documents say, “The agency is authorized to demolish and clear buildings, structures and other improvements from any real property acquired in the redevelopment area as necessary to carry out the purposes of this plan.”
The second reading to create the agency will occur in February.
California did away with redevelopment agencies effective in 2012, which forced South Lake Tahoe to dissolve its agency and sell off property it owned.
NV has picked up bad habits from CA. Policies so bad, even CA has dropped them.
Great.
Looks like the blight is outside the boundaries. The landowners here have more money than the county, something smells.
As mentioned above: California dropped this program. Lots of abuse of discretion and no real public input. If the County BOS wants to purchase a property, then utilize for County offices the property comes off the tax rolls. Then in the case of Placer: bailout a bankrupted developer (approx $10 million) in hopes of getting another to follow through on their, not the communities, vision for an upgraded, unrealistic vision the citizens will have little say. The public must come out in force and stop this before the train leaves the station
Do they have a plan? What properties will they condemn?
Dog U. Douglas County needs to do something about Stateline because the Casinos lost $150 million in 2015. I guess closing their doors is always an plan.
Condemn Bill’s and build the amphitheatre they keep crying for.
Lots of parking, bathrooms, hotel rooms, no homes to bother with the noise.
They could even have the chili cook off they seem to think is so important. Look how big the parcel is on the attached map.
Not that I don’t love the tacky stripmall there now.
I believe all people interested in protesting this action should attend the meeting Feb 8th as outlined above. This is another action of taking peoples property without representation.
Using a tried, failed & thus dismantled CA program and an unfunded Loop Road (not to mention if CA votes on it, won’t happen regardless) as the basis for this plan. Sounds like a great plan! (Yes, sarcasm.)
ralph….”…people protesting this action should attend the meeting Feb 8 as outlined above.”
According to recent discussions on this board about using ‘real’ names to post, people fear ‘retribution’ from the ‘local civil maffie’. The #1 reason given for NOT posting with their real names.
Therefore it seems unlikely that these people are going to stand up in a public venue.
….”This is another action of taking people’s property without representation.”
About two weeks ago Carl Hasty was specifically asked if he knew of the redevelopment plans going on in the Nv Stateline area and he replied ” I o not know of any plans to develop the meadow where Borges Sleigh was located” He was asked this question twice and each time he replied the same. Now this comes out. You can’t make this stuff up
Kenny, It doesn’t look like that parcel is in the redevelopment area boundaries, although that could change.
It will change Lou now that there is an “agency” to do it. There were no agencys in place to do something like this and well you can read the writing on the wall……..
I was for the original redevelopment projects. But imminent domain will most likely be needed for the Loop Road project. There is no accurate estimate of what that will add to the cost. Other entities like STPUD, the Schools and others are still paying half a million a year each for the City of SLT property tax debt diversion. But the debt question that needs answered is what utilities will need to be moved, how much will it cost to move them and who will pay? California law causes Utility Districts to have to pay for the relocation of their facilities, pipes and tanks when a transportation project makes them relocate. In this case the rate payers both residents and businesses from Meyers to the Y to state line would have to pay rate increases for decades to come. STPUD has not had that set aside in their long term capital expenditure plans. Neither have the gas and electric utilities. Those numbers need to be included in an independent economic study. My guess is it would add about 20% more to the overall project cost all financed by California families and businesses for decades to come.
I support the vision of the loop road. I think like all projects there is still a lot to figure out. But we should try and do that, because the vision is better for all of us in the long run.
If Duane is correct about the loop road, the City of South Lake Tahoe will use eminent domain and not care who gets hurt in the process. As a victim of the city’s continued total lack of concern for all its citizens, I strongly encourage anyone in the designated area of the proposed loop road to get involved and protect yourself from self serving politicians and the private special interests who want and need this so called loop road.
My family owned a motel for over 30 years in the area of the Chateau Project. Because of the city’s total disregard for following its own rules, in addition to their so called “back room” deal with the developer, my family and several other families lost millions of dollars. Has the city cared what they did to my family? Not at all!
Property owners and residents please pay attention to which government entities and private businesses are pushing this loop road concept. Hopefully, your due diligence will not have you end up in financial ruin like my family.
LeanForward, maybe you would feel different if the vision you are talking about caused your family to be financially devastated.
Everyone be aware. If it happened to me and my family, it can happen to any of you.
Rick,
I was not personally involved with the ‘parking meter’ fiasco her but a friend of mine was and the neighborhood got together and because all the people stood together on the issue I understand that the City backed down.
My family in Fallon. Nevada was “eminent domained” out of their property by the Navy…I know what ‘they’ can to to a family.
Remember Marjorie Johnson Springmeyer! City Attorney Dennis Crabb said when asked about that said, “Everything was done by the rules at the time.”
I hope ALL you people get your money back from these thieves.
Rick,
I was not personally involved with the ‘parking meter’ fiasco her but a friend of mine was and the neighborhood got together and because all the people stood together on the issue I understand that the City backed down.
My family in Fallon. Nevada was “eminent domained” out of their property by the Navy…I know what ‘they’ can to to a family.
Remember Marjorie Johnson Springmeyer! City Attorney Dennis Crabb said when asked about that said, “Everything was done by the rules at the time.”
I hope ALL you people get your money back from these thieves. I hope to see several of them in JAIL.
I’ve yet to see a survey of the % of respondents who want to hang out in the dark canyon between the casinos. I have never heard an uproar over people’s inability to walk from Park Ave to Lakeside. This whole fiasco is being pushed behind a false premise that we need a walking mall at State line. Not!
Tried to post the below comment in previous articles here but couldn’t, it seems even more relevant now that Douglas county is getting more involved. The more I see the more it looks like Stateline’s new “Downtown” could in fact be all that new highway 50 frontage along the loop road behind Harrah’s with all that yet to be developed land as I stated below. They actually could build a little city there if they wanted. Must be tired of losing all the tourist dollars to South Shore. Anyway let’s see if it posts this time….it didn’t so I’ll try to post it in pieces…
Stated goal; “The goal of TTD is to turn just more than a mile of the current Highway 50 at the state line into a road managed by South Lake Tahoe and Douglas County, and make the current local street behind the casinos into a highway. The purpose is to make the commercial area more walkable and inviting.”
Now really, what’s the true goal? What’s not ‘walkable and inviting’ about that area now? it’s all new! All this upheaval and expense for the removal of 2 out of 5 lanes of traffic for wider sidewalks is a plan devoid of any common sense. With the new plan, tourists that aren’t familiar with the area and are staying elsewhere around the lake or off the hill and want to loop the lake could easily miss all the new commercial area by simply staying on hwy 50, good plan, business out the window. I see constant bumper to bumper traffic on the remaining 2 lanes and center lane which come to a complete stop any time someone wants to make a right turn and has to wait for the (new wider) sidewalks to clear. Clearly traffic flow through this area will be adversely affected. And it appears that the new hwy 50 rout won’t decrease the time it takes to get past the casino core enough to justify this debacle.
If you want to improve the commercial area that would be affected by this project at Pioneer and 50 then improve it. It doesn’t take this ridiculous hwy plan and waste of money to do it.
They have failed to show one financial benefit to the affected area with these options.
Maybe Nevada has plans for all this ‘new’ hwy 50 frontage that is currently undeveloped except for a couple of parking lots. That’s about the only financial gain I can see from this project. It might be time to vet the people pushing this project.
LS & Whip +1
These planning wizards need to come through with at least ONE of their promises/projections before they get another chance.
Remember the claims of the sky and lake reflecting off of the Harvey’s tower, convention center, public beach at Edgewood?
Maybe one of the other oldtimers can refresh my memory (the 1980’s are kind of a blur to me). I could have shorn the TRPA and other powers that be blocked the last fifty yards of the existing loop road behind the Forest Inn.
They claimed it would increase trips.
Has anyone ever seen someone walking on the new sidewalks behind Mount Bleu?
Remember the pedestrian utopia the sidewalks across for Lakeside Inn where going to create? Lakeview restaurant, high end shopping …etc. If Barton and the chamber hadn’t stepped in it would look like Round Hill Square, half empty.
The chances of Lake Tahoe freezing over will happen before any of the original property owners who lost millions will receive any money.
The city used a loophole in the redevelopment law to ignore their responsibility to the original property owners. What happened to my family is morally reprehensible.
What should be scary for everyone is almost nine years later, some of the same players who were involved in what many have called a”backroom deal,” are still doing business as usual in our community.
David Jinkens: President of Rotary Club of SLT and
collecting a pension.
Lewis Feldman: Attorney for Chateau project, along with
many other projects around the lake.
Randy Lane: Paid consultant for Chateau project
Michael McLaughlin: Chairman South Shore Chamber of Commerce
Board of Directors. Attorney for many
on South Shore.
Stacey Sheston: Attorney representing Nancy Kerry in the
JoAnn Conner lawsuit. Previously, hired
as outside council for the South Lake Tahoe
Redevelopment Agency.
Justice? You be the judge! Again, anyone in the area of the proposed loop road project be aware. The power brokers know our community has a short term memory and usually get what they desire.