TRPA

The City of South Lake Tahoe is accepting applications from community members who are interested in serving as a the City's layperson on the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's advisory planning commission.

It's not every day you see a 2,200 pound, 26-foot tall guitar being driven along Highway 50 from Sacramento into South Lake Tahoe. Nor does one normally see a huge crane lifting a metal guitar over 100 feet to be placed onto a base in front of a South Shore casino.

The following is a summary of accomplishments during 2014 by the City of South Lake Tahoe.

Strategic Priority: Fiscal Sustainability
The most important issue facing cities and local agencies is continued steadfast attention to the budget, both short term and long term fiscal impacts.

· Implemented “budget watch” approach to financial analysis; a year-long effort evaluating state, national and global economic impacts for South Shore economy, and capital investment opportunities

Draft environmental documents are available for public review and comment for the State Route 89/Fanny Bridge Community Revitalization Project in Tahoe City, California. Public comments will be accepted through Tuesday, February 17, 2015.

The partnership between California and Nevada that created the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency turns 45 years old today, marking nearly a half-century of progress in the protection and restoration of Lake Tahoe and its treasured environment.

President Richard Nixon signed the Bi-State Compact creating TRPA on Thursday, December 18, 1969. Nixon’s signature followed the compact’s ratification by Congress and its approval by both states’ legislatures and former governors Ronald Reagan in California and Paul Laxalt in Nevada.

During last week's Loop Road open house, residents and businesspeople gave their input on what they felt the US Highway 50/South Shore Community Revitalization project should offer.

Results show that 82% of the people participating believe the most important goal is to beautify the corridor and create gathering spaces for locals and visitors.

Another 67% of the respondents believe there should be efforts to reduce traffic congestion and improve mobility options, 60% said the project should revitalize the area and boost economic development.

As the keynote speaker at last month’s National Workshop on Large Landscape Conservation in Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell emphasized the central role collaboration must play for America to protect its natural resources, balance economic needs, and address emerging environmental challenges such as climate change.

“We are moving into an era of epic collaboration,” Jewell said, explaining that regional partnerships across jurisdictional boundaries are more important than ever for the federal department that manages 20 percent of our nation’s land.

Several key public service positions have been filled the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA).

Tom Lotshaw has been hired to work as TRPA’s Public Information Officer. He replaces Jeff Cowen, who worked for TRPA in that and other roles for eight years.

Lotshaw graduated from Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in public affairs journalism and has seven years of newspaper reporting experience. He worked most recently as a reporter for the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Montana, and as a reporter and photographer for the Tahoe Daily Tribune.

If you've driven through the Bijou area of South Lake Tahoe over the last couple of years you know that it's been undergoing a major stormwater treatment transformation with the replacement of pipes and the addition of water treatment chambers.

The City of South Lake Tahoe held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, celebrating the near completion of the project which is treating stormwater runoff from 42 acres within the Bijou Commercial Core area, preventing 21,000 pounds of fine sediment particles from reaching Lake Tahoe each year.

There were two workshops held on Thursday at South Tahoe Middle School to help identify the safe and unsafe routes students take to school each day on foot or on their bikes. From 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., school officials, staff from Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), the Lake Tahoe Sustainability Mobility group and members of the public were stationed at locations on the streets around the school to monitor traffic, car speeds and safe routes the students were taking to get to school.

Most of us moved to Meyers because it's a rural community, away from the City & tourist congestion. I am pro-growth, most locals are, as long as it's appropriately sized growth for our community. The proposed Meyer's Plan however, opens the door to a Mega Resort, with incentives for large development and in my mind, lacks long range planning.

I started going to planning meetings last summer, just to listen, but it wasn't until December that I got really concerned. Here's a timeline of events, from my perspective:

Back in April, the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) was awarded over $150,000 to look into providing safer, off highway opportunities around South Tahoe Middle School (STMS). The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) awarded the grant as part of their $500,000 "On Our Way" program grants.

The El Dorado County Planning Commission will be holding a public hearing and workshop on the Meyers Area Plan at the South Lake Tahoe City Council Chambers on October 16 from 9 a.m. to noon.

The public has a chance to give input and share ideas on the plan which will be an update of the existing 1993 Meyers Community Plan.

The plan's goal is to:
1) Be a comprehensive land use plan for Meyers;
2) Realize Meyers’ Community Vision;
3) Provide consistent and simplified rules;
4) Assist in achieving Tahoe
Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Thresholds;

The TRPA, U.S. Forest Service and the California Public Utilities Commission have released a final environmental impact report on the proposed electrical system upgrade in North Lake Tahoe by Liberty Utilities.

The proposed 625 and 650 Electrical Line Upgrade Project would consist primarily of an upgrade of Liberty Energy's existing 625 and 650 electrical power lines and associated substations from 60 kilovolt to 120 kV, to allow the entire North Lake Tahoe Transmission System to operate at 120 kV.

From quality shopping, accommodations, media, recreation and dining options to the myriad service providers and businesses, the Blue Ribbon Awards honor all that business should be. This important awards program salutes those businesses that are making significant contributions to the South Shore economy.

Editor's note: This is part of a series on all of the change going on in South Lake Tahoe. We'll be updating you with photos and news.

Ground won't break until May on the new Edgewood Tahoe Resort but the golf course is already undergoing major changes to prepare for the big project. Trees have been cleared, the 9th hole has been reconfigured and made into a par 3, and a 10 foot tall fence is being erected around the construction site.

The new pier has already been constructed and will allow guests to boat to the resort.

An environmental impact report on the Heavenly Epic Discovery Project is ready for public viewing. The new project, located at Heavenly Mountain Resort, will expand their summer activities to include more canopy tours, hiking and biking trails as well as interpretive activities.

Since 2011 the U.S. Forest Service has allowed more summer activities on national forest lands.

The following increase in activities are being proposed:

People coming into the basin to attend the annual Lake Tahoe Summit on Tuesday will find new signs on the three Nevada entrances: Kingsbury Grade (State Route 207), Spooner Summit (U.S. Highway 50) and the Mt. Rose Highway (State Route 431).

The signs read, “Entering the Lake Tahoe Watershed — Help Protect It!” They were put up to remind everyone passing by them that Lake Tahoe is a special place that needs protecting by everyone coming to visit (and those who are already here).

Tahoe Resource Conservation District watercraft inspectors intercepted a boat on Wednesday that had quagga mussels and an unidentified snail in the boat's anchor locker.

The boat was at the inspection point on Spooner Summit after arriving from Lake Mead, a known quagga mussel infested body of water. Once detected the boat went through two decontaminations and inspections, and then was allowed into Lake Tahoe.

Over the holiday weekend most than 725 boats went through the four inspection points located around the lake which represents a 17% increase over last year's count.

Thousands flocked to Lake Tahoe beaches for the 4th of July and left behind thousands of pounds of trash. Several groups have been participating in the Adopt a Beach cleanup program that is getting volunteers out to clean up the mess, both trash and fireworks debris.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe had over 120 volunteers participate in their annual Keep Tahoe Red, White & Blue Beach Cleanup. They cleaned at Commons Beach in Tahoe City, Nevada Beach and Zephyr Shoals on the East Shore, and Kiva, Regan and El Dorado beaches on the South Shore for a total of about 3 miles of shoreline.

The Leadership Lake Tahoe class of 2014 graduated from the ten-month program produced by TahoeChamber this week. On June 12, 2014, twenty-two participants, as well as family and friends, celebrated at Aston Lakeland Village with a commencement ceremony and reception to honor the hard work and dedication these individuals displayed throughout the year. Members of the Leadership Lake Tahoe Task Force, Leadership Alumni and TahoeChamber board members congratulated the class on its diligent efforts, as well as its success at the Leadership Lake Tahoe Summit “Elevate Your View” this past March.

The Meyers Area Plan is a long term land use and zoning plan for the Meyers Community that will realize the Meyers Community Vision, assist in achieving and maintaining TRPA’s Environmental Threshold Carrying Capacities, implement the Tahoe Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Sustainable Communities Strategy, and implement the policy direction of both the Regional Plan and General Plan.

Join hundreds of your friends, neighbors, co-workers during the 2014 Tahoe Bike Challenge, an annual event that encourages Lake Tahoe residents to get out of their cars and onto bikes.

The event starts off on Saturday with a Bike Trail Clean Up Day. Anyone can join them at three locations after signing up,and lunch is even included. Meet at Sierra Nevada Alliance at 2311 Lake Tahoe Blvd, Los Angeles and Hwy 50 by the fire station or behind Clean Tahoe, 2074 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Lunch will be served after the clean up day at the League to Save Lake Tahoe.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) announced the launch of a new online tree removal permit application and credit card payment system that can be accessed through their website at trpa.org.

“The new online service is more customer friendly and is in line with the Agency’s core values of improving operational efficiency while providing a high-level of customer service,” said TRPA Executive Director, Joanne S. Marchetta.