Letter: Again Placer County supervisors?

To the community,

Tuesday morning we attended the hearing inconveniently held in Auburn and it was clear that the [Placer County] Board of Supervisors were going to approve the Martis Valley West project (760 homes and 6.6 acres of commercial on the ridge above Tahoe/Truckee) no matter what.

The first clue was how relaxed and jovial Kurt Kreig and Blake Riva, the developers aka Mountainside Partners, were. Jennifer Montgomery again, was the lone vote against it, but this time she didn’t even bother making an initial motion to deny. On Oct. 3, although it’s too little too late, the Trust For Public Land and Truckee Donner Land Trust pulled out of the deal to buy the east parcel for a mere $15M because the project is so contentious, and still the supervisors approved this lousy trade.

As the final blow, Placer County planner Stacy Wydra told the supervisors the public could use the land even though the project report (FEIR) clearly states the owner doesn’t have to allow it.

What a Christmas present for SPI (Sierra Pacific Industries) from Placer County. SPI gets to develop our ridgeline for big bucks and log the east parcel while the public maybe gets to use the east parcel if SPI thinks it’s OK. You are wondering who will enforce this? So are we. Stay tuned as our buddies at Placer County haven’t bothered with those important details.

Ann Nichols, North Tahoe Preservation Alliance