Court ruling halts massive Truckee development
By Jane Braxton Little, Sacramento Bee
A Placer County Superior Court judge has at least temporarily stopped a controversial development north of Lake Tahoe that would have allowed 760 new homes in a high-severity fire area.
Judge Michael W. Jones ruled that Placer County failed to adequately address emergency evacuations in the area, especially in light of its high risk for fire. The decision was a partial victory for three environmental groups who sought to overturn the county’s 2016 environmental impact review of Martis Valley West, a 7,428-acre project straddling Highway 267 five miles southeast of Truckee.
The largely forested land, owned by Sierra Pacific Industries, abuts the northern edge of the Tahoe Basin and takes in a section of the Tahoe Rim Trail. The project is designed to include more than six acres of retail stores, restaurants, offices and sports equipment rentals as well as townhouses, cabins, condominiums and up to 500 single-family homes on over 1,000 acres.