Supervisor Novasel forming group to address housing needs in South Lake Tahoe

Housing, or lack thereof, has been a hot topic in recent years in South Lake Tahoe and the surrounding South Shore communities. A recent town hall forum on housing issues was recently held, and there will soon be a housing task force organized by El Dorado County Supervisor Sue Novasel.

During the supervisor's October 25 meeting, Novasel is asking for $15,000 to engage a consultant to lead task force members through six sessions addressing the problem.

"It is my hope that the Tahoe jurisdictions can come together, along with other stakeholders and impacted organizations, to create an action plan to address the critical needs of housing within our community," said Novasel. "These needs have impacted economic development via workforce housing, job creation, land use development and many other factors."

If approved on the supervisor's consent agenda, Michael Ward, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer with HighBar Global Consulting of South Lake Tahoe will be the facilitator of the task force meetings.

The meetings will examine the housing situation in South Lake Tahoe and adjoining region to determine viable and equitable strategies for resolving resident access to affordable housing, workforce housing, and/or home ownership.

Proposed schedule:

Week 1 - Forces and assumptions influencing housing availability
Week 2 - Data, policy and regulatory variables
Week 3 - Stakeholder analysis to map needs by demographic segments
Week 4 - Institutional (entity) roles, contributions and accountability
Week 5 - Prospective strategies and solutions framed as short-term, mid-term and long-term
Week 6 - Strategic agreements and implementation commitments

The funds to pay Ward would come from the County's Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) and, if approved, the task force will begin this fall.