240 building allocations released by TRPA to Lake Tahoe jurisdictions

In a unanimous decision during their May 24 meeting, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board voted to release 240 housing allocations to jurisdictions in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

After concern was raised during their April 26 meeting, the TRPA Governing Board's Local Government Committee met on May 11 to address the use of residential
allocations for homes used for short term rentals (Vacation Home Rentals - VHRS). This committee recommended to issue the promised 2017/18 allocations but to reconvene in August to work on criteria to ensure allocations are issued for a legitimate residential purpose and not exclusively for tourist accommodations.

Citing the ripple effect construction has on a community, Pat Davison, Executive Director of the Contractors Association of Truckee Tahoe (CATT) spoke to the board. "We support release of the allocations," she said. "They were earned as the jurisdictions did water quality improvements as directed. These allocations represent jobs and families."

James Lawrence, Chair of the Governing Board, went to a CATT meeting to listen to concerns of the members concerning the hold up of allocations. During Wednesday's meeting, several of those CATT members thanked Lawrence for attending, and how they all supported the release of those allocations.

Also speaking were members of the Tahoe real estate community, citing the importance of the release of the allocations.

The 240 approved allocations for 2017/18 will be distributed as follows:

Douglas County - 10 per year
El Dorado County - 30 per year
Placer County - 37 per year
City of South Lake Tahoe - 33 per year
Washoe County - 10 per year

To earn these promised allocations, the counties and cities had to had to score well on water quality improvements in their individual jurisdictions. The results on their Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) and TMDL implementation plans are listed below:

Douglas County - TMDL Implementation: Douglas County has submitted registrations that are sufficient to meet the 2016 credit targets contained in their Interlocal Agreement (ILA). Permit Monitoring and Compliance: Douglas County scored 95.5% on the project review portion of the performance audit and scored 92.2% on the compliance portion.

El Dorado County - TMDL Implementation: El Dorado County is in compliance with Lake Tahoe TMDL and Municipal Storm Water Permit requirements, including Lake Clarity Credit requirements. Permit Monitoring and Compliance: El Dorado County scored 98% on the project review portion of the performance audit and scored 91% on the compliance portion.

Placer County - TMDL Implementation: Placer County is in compliance with Lake Tahoe TMDL and Municipal Storm Water Permit requirements, including Lake Clarity Credit requirements. Permit Monitoring and Compliance: Placer County scored 95% on the project review portion of the performance audit and scored 91% on the compliance portion.

City of South Lake Tahoe - TMDL Implementation: The City of South Lake Tahoe is in compliance with Lake Tahoe TMDL and Municipal Storm Water Permit requirements, including Lake Clarity Credit requirements. Permit Monitoring and Compliance: The City of South Lake Tahoe scored 95% on the project review portion of the performance audit and scored 93% on the compliance portion.

Washoe County - TMDL Implementation: Washoe County has submitted registrations that are sufficient to meet the 2016 credit targets contained in their Interlocal Agreement (ILA). Permit Monitoring and Compliance: Washoe County scored 94.5% on the project review portion of the performance audit and scored 88.5% on the compliance portion.

TRPA is waiting on the City of South Lake Tahoe to complete their VHR socio-economic study to see the data and results before they decide how to move forward on future allocations. They will use this information along with other studies done around the lake along with information from housing groups currently meeting on addressing the lack of workforce and affordable housing around Lake Tahoe.

"We want the allocations to go to legitimate purposes," said TRPA Executive Director Joanne Marchetta. "We want to demonstrate TRPA's commitment to working on this matter."