Opinion: Setting the facts straight about public beach in Tahoe
By Janet McDougall
I read the recent article “Law of the Sand – Rules governing public access to Tahoe shore murky at best” that recently appeared in the Tahoe Daily Tribune and found myself deeply frustrated. I immediately sent a letter to the editor of the Tribune attempting to clear up several factual problems with the story and have not received a response, nor have they printed my letter so I am instead writing to the Lake Tahoe News, since I know Kae cares about facts and will help to set the story straight.
The beach at the Tahoe Beach and Ski Club is a public beach.
As part of the agreement to allow the developer of Tahoe Beach and Ski Club to build, he was required to convey to the city public beach rights and limited parking for beach users. Over the years the timeshare owners at the property have discouraged the public from using the area. Unfortunately, the primary access easement and parking area were eliminated in a land swap with the Redevelopment Agency that allowed Tahoe Beach and Ski to install required drainage improvements on site. Tahoe Beach and Ski management agreed to allow the public to access the area through another ingress/egress point, but over time, that understanding has apparently been eroded. The public access rights to the beach remain, so anyone accessing the beach from the Ski Run Marina area is not trespassing.
The deeds conveying ownership in the timeshare intervals include language clearly stating that the public has the right to use the beach, but owners and management at Tahoe Beach and Ski disregard this information, since it runs counter to their desire to ultimately have the beach regarded as private.
A check of the county Recorder’s Office records and the city Planning Department street file for the Tahoe Beach and Ski Club property will reveal that the public continues to have the right to use the beach. It is my hope that this issue is ultimately brought to the forefront to ensure the public is no longer ejected from beach areas it rightfully owns.
The city should erect a sign at the entrance point to the area to indicate it is public, that the public should be respectful of the boundaries of the public area, and that if the public is denied access they should immediately contact the police department, with the phone number clearly posted. The beach behind Timber Cove Lodge is also a public beach; locals and visitors should also feel free to utilize that area for their enjoyment.
If the Tahoe Beach and Ski Club continues to prevent the public from using public land, the police department should make contact and educate those who are the real offending parties — not people like Todd Snider and his family who had every right to be on the beach.
Locals, be sure to make it a point to visit the beach and assert your rights of use. And if the Tahoe Beach and Ski Club continues to eject the public from land the public has the right to enjoy, they should be made to pay the city the fair market value of the beach rights – we all know the city could use the money to help defray the costs of badly needed road repair.
Janet McDougall was a legal analyst in the city attorney’s office for 13 of the 17 years she worked for South Lake Tahoe.
Hooray for the public and two new beaches that I was not aware we could use. Thank you for clearing it up.
This happens a lot up here. In Christmas Valley, the developer sold lots with the inclusion of an access lot to the river. This lot was later sold and built on. I believe we all communally still own the lot. Shame on people who think that none of us will notice these infractions.
Well done Janet, thanks for all your efforts on this. Something supremely satisfying here. No bullying landowners have the right to rewrite history for greed and profit. The city should act to clarify this with signs for sure.
Tahoe Beach and Ski Club and the Police should send a letter of apology to our visitor, Todd Snider. Just have to say that usage rights were just clarified. We don’t need bad feelings on the side of our tourist population.
Thanks for the information. I will go down there this weekend and enjoy the PUBLIC beach. It would be nice if someone could post the deeds, etc so I can show the police in case they try to hassle me.
Thank you so much Janet, for this information and your time and effort in putting it together and finding a venue (thanks to Kae) for getting the information out. I’ve enjoyed that beach before, but haven’t used it this year. Thank goodness I wasn’t trying and found myself “ejected”, that is simply awful.
In addition to the rights explained in this letter, the public has rights to use and enjoy Lake Tahoe beach areas on the California side below 6228.75 ft. elevation, appropriately called the Public Trust. As guidance, this morning the water level of Lake Tahoe (http://tahoe.uslakes.info/Level.asp) is 6228.17 ft.
So, this year is not a good summer to enjoy Tahoe’s beaches below the high water mark (on the CA side only) due to high water levels. But Steve is correct in the public trust access to the “legal” high water mark in the state of CA.
Thank you for this important info about public beach behind those resorts. I hope the SLT PD received a copy so they have the correct info if a call is made. Often, police depts are not given the correct legal info. There should be a link on the city website re public beach access!
Well said, Janet, well said. There are public rights of way all around the lake that local government has either forgotten or has intentionally ignored. Many of the dead end streets in Al Tahoe, where the streets dead end at the lake (not with Lakview Avenue as some believe) are good examples. These streets are small, 40 foot wide, pubilc beaches that have been taken over by neighbors, tax fee and without cost. They are neither signed for public access nor maintained for public use. My only disagreement with Janet is her suggestion about selling this easement to pay for roads. Permanent public access to Tahoe is a higher value than road pavement that will decay and need replacing again in the future.
Gus,
I agree – the public’s right should NOT be sold, but unless the public’s rights are asserted, Beach and Ski folks need to be willing to pay the City for taking what does not belong to them.
I was being facetious…
Them maybe they should take down their fence on the beach and their “No Tresspassing” sign ?
Great place for small concerts, plays, etc.? It is city property and music seems to bring in large amounts of revenue.
Just jealous of Commons beach in TC.
Thanks Janet. This is the classic “I’ve got my piece of Tahoe and you can’t have any”. Thanks for the education, though this kind of clarification should routinely be provided by the municipalities.
Great article there should be signs all long south shore letting the public know where public access and beach is.
I emailed the city for clarification and received the following
From: Nancy Kerry
Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2011 2:59 PM
To: Angela Swanson; Bruce Grego; Claire Fortier; ‘Hal Cole’; Tom Davis
Cc: Tony O’Rourke; Tina Shannon; Nira Feeley; Patrick Enright; Joanne Marchetta (jmarchetta@trpa.org); Susan Alessi
Subject: Public Access to lake @ Tahoe and Ski Club etc
Hi Council,
In response to the letter you and Joanne Marchetta received from Jerry and Patricia Neimeyer, dated August 11, 2011 (attached), along with similar letters posted on LTN and in the Tribune, Tony directed me to look into the issue of public access to the beach where public’s access is limited in front of private property, such as at Tahoe Beach and Ski Club/ Lakeshore Lodge etc. This will take some time to resolve permanently, but we do have a solution for the rest of the summer.
I spoke with the General Manager of TBSC, Tamara Hollingsworth, and she in turn spoke with her board and has talked w/ her outside security and office staff and provided me some feedback today. They will be taking a soft approach through the end of summer. They will protect their private property in preventing the use of their facilities, but will not be asking people to leave the beach (even above the ‘high water line’). After labor day, we’ll meet and develop a public education effort to help ensure the public knows they have access to the lake through the beach area, we’ll come to a clear definition about the public’s access, use and enjoyment of the beach and have signs posted with the clarification.
I’ll keep you informed as we move forward.
Nancy Kerry, MPA