Fences going into water along Lake Tahoe shoreline removed

LAKE TAHOE, Nevada - With the water level rising in Lake Tahoe, new issues have surfaced with the placement of fences at three parcels on the Nevada side that have extended into the lake. During recent drought years, the fences didn't touch water.

One fence was located at the new Tahoe Beach Club in Stateline, another at a private home just north of Cave Rock, and the third at a home in the Elks Point Country Club in Zephyr Cove.

The three property fences were brought to the attention of Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) by Anthony Spatucci of DayGoAdventures after he took photos of them as he was paddling on the water.

Fences in the shorezone require a TRPA permit and no permits are, or can be, issued by TRPA if the fence extends below the lake’s high water mark of 6,229 feet elevation according to Thomas Lotshaw, spokesperson for the agency. The natural rim of the lake is 6,223 feet elevation. As of Thursday June 22 the lake was at 6228.83 feet.

There is a code provision that allows private property owners who are adjacent to public access sites to apply for fences that extend lakeward of the high water line, said Lotshaw.

Code 84.12.1: Fences shall not be permitted lakeward of the high water line of any lake or body of water except to protect the health or safety of the general public or to protect property located adjacent to areas of public access to any such lake or body of water from trespass and provided such fences are approved by agencies having jurisdiction.

If they desire, the owners of the Tahoe Beach Club can apply for this permit since they are adjacent to Nevada Beach, a public beach and campground, but the other two property owners may not.

After five years of drought, people are noticing the fences that extend too far into the lake than in the past, Lotshaw said. TRPA has received several complaints from kayakers, paddleboarders and others who find the fences unsafe and an eyesore.

In all of those complaint cases, TRPA inspectors made contact with the property owner or representative to ask that the fences be removed. So far, every one of them has agreed to get the fences out. Some fence debris remains underwater though.

As of today Tahoe Beach and Ski Club has not applied for a permit, but if they do it would be considered a special use permit and would require a public hearing before the TRPA Hearings Officer.

For fences on the California side, any such fence would also have to be reviewed by California State Lands Commission because of the public trust easement between 6,223 and 6,229 feet elevation.