Letter: Hockey school doesn’t belong in Meyers

To the community,

I must rebut what is being portrayed as “negative” and “uninformed” residents. The Lake Tahoe News article about the Meyers hockey academy states, “When the notice about the project went out to neighbors this month…” The fact is we received absolutely no notice, which is why we are uninformed. The proposal just happened to be seen by someone that regularly watches the TRPA agenda, only a few days in advance of the hearing.

Our neighborhood falls just outside the Meyers Area Plan of January 2014. The proposed project is only about 1,500 feet away and is approximately 100 feet higher in elevation from the residential uses in Tahoe Par 60. The project is close enough to have direct impacts, yet the developer and TRPA did not provide due notice.

JJ (the developer) mentions in his comment that he did his research. The community would not be so objectionable if the proponents did not fly under the radar as they did. It was quietly approved by the Board of Supervisors in Placerville using old permits, then placed on the consent calendar of the TRPA to be heard on the North Shore. Paul Nielsen, planner with TRPA, stated, “It’s on the consent calendar because until recently there was no known concerns about the project.” This certainly does not portray transparency nor community interest.

The main concerns are A) the lack of proper notice; B) the traffic impacts to residents that already cannot get onto Highway 50 during peak traffic to conduct daily life; C) the noise level and light emissions from an outdoor facility; and D) non-conforming use. These directly impact our quiet lifestyle chosen by the residents out here. To be part of a community, one must include the community.

Further, TRPA’s staff summary states, “the proposed project is a recreational group facility which is a permissible use in Plan Area Statement 136. There are no classrooms proposed as part of this project.” Yet in this article and many other news and online forums show the project is a school, such as the following quotes. “We are looking at initiation on the upper dorm as early as June and the first academic year starting in August” and “The academy will follow the school year – August to May. Then the facility will operate summer camps for groups of 20 to 25 kids,” Dill said. “Basically it’s a prep school and prep academy to get them academically ready for college and physically ready to play Division 1 hockey.”

It sure sounds like a school to me. Therefore the project is not consistent with the adopted Plan Area Statements for Plans 136 and 137.

It seems the residents in Christmas Valley are again ignored by the decision-makers. The only time we are valued is when we have to pay our share of something.

Jeffrey Spencer, Meyers