Even though Placer County’s Tahoe Basin Area Plan already faces a legal challenge, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board on Wednesday voted to approve it.

The vote was unanimous, though board member Belinda Faustinos had to leave the Jan. 25 meeting in Kings Beach early. However, she had expressed her support before she exited.

The approval also means the Tahoe City Lodge is green lighted. The lodge will include 78 condos and 40 traditional hotel rooms. The four-story structure will front Highway 28.

The area plan is the guiding planning document for Placer County’s portion of the Lake Tahoe Basin. It has criteria for affordable housing, addresses traffic, parking management strategies, and wayfinding signs.

The lawsuit filed by the California Clean Energy Committee contends the environmental analysis is not adequate, in particular CEQA – the California Environmental Quality Act. Still, the approved document is the law of the land until a court says otherwise

— Lake Tahoe News staff report