South Tahoe seeking dismissal of most of League’s case
By Kathryn Reed
The League to Save Lake Tahoe amended its lawsuit against South Lake Tahoe in regards to the General Plan to state it has a right to contest the documents because the General Plan impacts the nonprofit’s members who live within the city limits.
This led to the city having to refile its motion to dismiss the case.
“The city was not contesting their standing, so we did not view the changes as being substantive,” City Attorney Patrick Enright told Lake Tahoe News.
A hearing is set for Dec. 5 in U.S. District Court in Sacramento.
The League contends the General Plan that was adopted in May is out of compliance with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Regional Plan. The city at the time of adoption of the plan and during the years of planning always intended to create a forward-looking plan that would ideally be in compliance with the updated Regional Plan that is slated for adoption in December 2012.
The city also knew it could not approve any projects that did not comply with the current TRPA Regional Plan.
Carl Young, interim executive director of the League, did not return a call. No one at the League would confirm or deny if Amanda Royal is employed as the spokeswoman for the conservation group. It is not known who now speaks for the League other than its attorneys.
Enright said if portions of the case the city wants dismissed are granted, it’s possible the CEQA elements of the League’s case could be heard in El Dorado County Superior Court in South Lake Tahoe. The city claims the federal court has no jurisdiction over most of the claims brought forth by the League.
In court documents, the city says, “… while Plaintiff claims that its members will be impacted by ‘increased traffic, aesthetic impacts, increased pollution in Lake Tahoe’s shore zone, increased air pollution, and increased urbanization and building heights’, nowhere in its Complaint does Plaintiff explain how the General Plan’s alleged violation of the Compact will result in such injuries.”
Can we get a group of citizens together within the city limits to file a lawsuit against the League for filing frivolous lawsuits wasting our city revenue and time? Is there a local attorney willing to step forward to help? The League is becoming worse than the ADA attorney going through town extorting local business.
I went down this path with an attorney. Unfortunately, there is nothing stopping someone from filing a lawsuit.
A judge could admonish the League for its frivilous efforts and his comments could then be used as a tool to thwart their fund raising efforts.
Sorry, we are not like Australia where costs associtaed with frivilous suits are borne by people like the League.
“it has a right to contest the documents because the General Plan impacts the nonprofit’s members who live within the city limits.”
Sounds exclusive to me. Do these people have more rights than the majority? What a corrupt organization. They are the 1% in our town!
The league really needs a new slogan as they do not stand for keeping Tahoe blue. In their 50 years of existence what do they have to show for their stewardship? What does their litigating technicalities in irrelevant plans have to do with keeping Tahoe blue?? Nothing! If people knew what they were really about you would see less of those stickers
League is the 1%, their character and purpose is to get more donations that sustains their own jobs and organization, it is NOT to sustain the clarity of the lake. They court and cater to the 1%, they manipulate the guilt of the 1% (if there is any) to take their money for something as good as Lake Tahoe, they bank on their donors lack of knowledge of what’s really going up here, of how really to improve lake clarity. CATC is right, they are the 1%.