Tahoe Regional Plan Being Challenged in Court by Sierra Club Once Again

A coalition of all counties present at the lake along with residents, environmental groups, legislators and business groups were behind the Tahoe Regional Plan and urged its adoption in 2012. Since that time, the Sierra Club and "Friends of the West Shore" have sued (in February 2013) to oppose the plan, lost their motion (April 2014) and now, as of May 7, have filed an appeal to the court's decision to uphold the 2012 Lake Tahoe Regional Plan.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) said Wednesday that it will continue to implement the plan that took nearly a decade to complete and that included the input of more than 5,000 citizens.

“TRPA is confident the Regional Plan will accelerate Lake Tahoe’s restoration and support sustainable communities,” TRPA Executive Director Joanne Marchetta said. “While the appeal makes its way through the legal process, we will continue to put the substantial environmental benefits of the plan into place.”

The April 7 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez was based on the facts in the record used by the TRPA Governing Board to make its decision on the plan in December, 2012. The court upheld the Agency’s discretion to make policy decisions based on sound science and a complete record.

Following the Regional Plan’s adoption, state and local leaders hailed the milestone as the next environmental leap forward for Tahoe. The Plan also won three separate awards for environmental innovation from professional planning and architecture organizations in 2013.

The new Regional Plan does the following:

- Authorizes less than half as much new development as the 1987 plan.
- Maintains growth caps and urban boundary limits on all development and authorizes no new hotel accommodation units.
- Continues some of the strongest scenic protections in the nation and assures no new high-rises can be built.
- Supports greenhouse gas reductions and smart growth.
- Proposes modest infill redevelopment in a handful of existing town centers.

Here is the motion filed today in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California Sacramento Division -

Notice is hereby given that Sierra Club and Friends of the West Shore, Plaintiffs in the above-named case, hereby appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the Order Denying Plantiff's Motion for Summary Judgement and Granting Defendant's Cross-Motion for Summary Judgement, Docket 56 (April 7, 2014), and the associated Judgment,
Docket No. 57 (April 7, 2014), and all interlocutory orders and decisions herein preceding that final judgment, including, but not limited to, the Order Granting Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss in Part and Denying in Part, Docket No. 18 (June 17, 2013).

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 12(b), as modified by Circuit Rule 3-2, Plaintiffs-Appellants state that the parties are represented by counsel whose names, addresses, telephone and facsimile numbers, and e-mail addresses appear below:

Plaintiffs-Appellants Friends of the West Shore and Sierra Club are represented by:

Trent William Orr
Wendy Sangbee Park
Earthjustice
50 California Street
Suite 500
San Francisco, CA 94111
415-217-2000
415-217-2040 (fax)
torr@earthjustice.org
wpark@earthjustice.org

Defendant-Appellee Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is represented by:

John L. Marshall
Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
128 Market Street
P.O. Box 5310
Stateline, NV 89449
775-589-5286
jmarshall@trpa.org

Whitman F. Manley
Howard F. Wilkins, III
Remy Moose Manley
555 Capitol Mall
Suite 800
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-443-2745
916-443-9017 (fax)
wmanley@rmmenvirolaw.com
cwilkins@rmmenvirolaw.com

Amici Barton Health, Incline Village Board of Realtors, Lake Tahoe Community College, Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce, Sierra Nevada Association of Realtors, South Shore Chamber of Commerce, South Tahoe Alliance of Resorts, and Tahoe Douglas Visitors Authority are represented by:

Lewis S. Feldman
Feldman Mclaughlin Thiel LLP
178 U.S. Highway 50, Suite B
P.O. Box 1309
Zephyr Cove, NV 89448
775-580-7431
775-580-7436 (fax)
lew@fmttahoe.com

Amicus California Resources Agency is represented by:

Nicole Ursula Rinke
Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General
1300 I Street
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244
916-323-3549
Nicole.Rinke@doj.ca.gov

Amici Carson City, Nevada; City of South Lake Tahoe, California; Douglas County, Nevada; El Dorado County, California; Placer County, California; and Washoe County, Nevada are represented by:

Nira S. Feeley
City of South Lake Tahoe
City Attorney's Office
1901 Airport Road
Suite 300
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
530-542-6192
530-542-8763 (fax)
nfeeley@cityofslt.us

Amicus Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is represented by:

Cassandra P. Joseph
Office of the Nevada Attorney General
P.O. Box 2084
100 North Carson Street
Carson City, NV 89701
775-684-1216
775-684-1103 (fax)
cjoseph@ag.nv.gov

Amicus Tahoe Transportation District is represented by:

Paul G. Taggart
Taggart & Taggart, Ltd
108 N Minnesota Street
Carson City, NV 89703
775- 882-9900
775- 883-9900 (fax)