By Kathryn Reed
After two years of silence, El Dorado County has released the final draft of the Meyers Area Plan. This is the fourth version.
It was almost like all sides needed a cooling off period.
Years of raucous meetings did more to divide than to unite the community.
What most could agree on was the mission statement that was developed: “Meyers is an ideally situated, spacious, historic, and walkable mountain community that values sustainability, health, wellbeing and the natural environment. Uniquely concentrated with year-round outdoor sport and recreational opportunities, the Meyers mountain culture is the hallmark of our thriving local-based economy boasting a diverse commercial and retail environment, welcoming visitors and providing residents with an extraordinary place to live, work and play.”
The area plan was created with the goal of embracing that sentiment, while at the same time adhering to a lot of government regulations.
The public has a month to comment on the notice of intent to adopt a mitigated negative declaration of environmental impact. There is one public hearing on the notice. However, the area plan itself will have five public hearings – two via El Dorado County and three for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. Feb. 22 is the tentative date for the TRPA Governing Board to vote on the plan.
This area plan builds on the 1993 community plan. That plan, while it was supposed to be updated every five years, never was.
“I thought the Meyers Community Plan was well thought out and I think the area plan is, too,” Supervisor Sue Novasel told Lake Tahoe News. “It will be interesting when we go through public comment to see if people have concerns with it.”
Novasel will not be able to vote on the plan because of having property in the area.
“At a glance, it looks like the proposed land use and zoning does not match what the majority of the community input asked for during previous iterations,” Jennifer Quashnick, a Meyers resident who has been vocal throughout the process, told Lake Tahoe News.
Brendan Ferry with the county said the substantive changes since the public last viewed the area plan have more to do with TRPA passing its transit plan, as well as changes to state and federal law.
The 42-foot maximum height for new construction was retained from previous versions. TRPA would have allowed 65 feet.
“We changed the sign standards extensively,” Ferry told Lake Tahoe News. “There will be a more uniform setback to make the corridor more visually appealing.”
In the new plan 348 acres are considered conservation land, while 137 acres are designated recreation. Historic trees remain protected.
Condensing the plan to three distinct regions would allow for a hotel to be built; which was not possible under the community plan. Density regulations would limit it to 30 units per acre.
TRPA rules, the right-of-way from Caltrans and the limited size and number of parcels in Meyers might never make that type of business a reality, though.
The extensive right-of-way that Caltrans has remains. Rejiggering that debacle would come outside the scope of the area plan.
Even without the area plan being a done deal, the county is going forward to make the roads in Meyers better. On the Sept. 12 Board of Supervisors agenda is an agreement with Caltrans for “a multimodal complete streets strategy.” A roundabout at highways 50 and 89 is in the works.
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Notes:
· Comments are due Oct. 6. Send them to: El Dorado County, 924 B Emerald Bay Road, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150 Attn: Brendan Ferry.
· The public hearing on the notice will be Sept. 27 before the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Regional Plan Implementation Committee. The meeting will be at the North Tahoe Event Center in Kings Beach.
· The document is available online.