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The twice cancelled Special Board of Supervisors meeting that was rescheduled Feb. 1st due to shut down by the Fire Marshall and March 3rd due to weather has been scheduled for Saturday, March 24th.
WHAT: El Dorado County Board of Supervisors special meeting pertaining to the County’s Vacation Home Rental ordinance
WHEN: Saturday, March 24th, 2018
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
WHERE: South Tahoe Middle School,
Multipurpose room
2940 Lake Tahoe Blvd.
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
Meyers Traffic Town Hall Meeting
On Wednesday, February
28th, 2018, approximately 70 Tahoe-area residents
gathered at the Meyers Town Hall meeting to discuss possible solutions to the
gridlock and congestion that occurs on Sundays (and holidays) as visitors leave
the basin.
Joining me to provide
issue-specific information and answer questions were County Counsel, the County
Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), the Director of the County Department of
Transportation (DOT), several DOT engineers and representatives from the
Sheriff’s office. Also in attendance were CHP, Lake Valley Fire Department,
Lake Tahoe Unified School District Board President Barbara Bannar and the City
of South Lake Tahoe, including Mayor Wendy David. I would like to thank LTUSD
Superintendent, Jim Tarwater, and Principal Joel Dameral for allowing us to use
the Magnet School.
We began the meeting
with a brief overview of the issue, how we’ve gotten to where we are and
explaining the steps we’ve taken in the District with County staff, TRPA and
other agencies. County Counsel then provided the attendees with an
understanding of what we, as an arm of the State and regulated by certain rules
and ordinances, can and cannot do relative to road closures and other issues.
Our CAO recapped the meetings he has held with similar jurisdictions and his
work on the California and Nevada Bi-State Consultation on Transportation group
which has addressed a coordinated approach to transportation options in and out
of the Tahoe Basin.
The DOT director covered
the pros-and-cons of rerouting traffic on to Saw Mill Road and some of the
positive experiences in other parts of the state using this approach. He
announced that starting on Sunday, March 4th, he would begin instituting a
pilot project which would place barriers and detour signage at Lake Tahoe Boulevard at Sawmill
Road, directing drivers to turn so they end up back on Highway 50. This would
help to keep some motorists out of the North Upper Truckee neighborhood. He
plans to continue the program throughout the year during high-traffic times. If
successful, the pilot project may be applied to other impacted areas.
Many attendees had
suggestions they shared with the group, including the following:
1. Post signage
referencing steep and winding roads
2. Reduce number of VHRs in impacted neighborhoods
3. Close/reroute traffic to Sawmill Rd & HWY 50
4. Create a taskforce to address issues, taking experiences from other tourist
towns
5. Change “traction control” to “chains required”
6. Provide a chain-up area on Lake Tahoe Blvd. and/or at the airport
7. Increase law enforcement presence in impacted neighborhoods
8. Install portable speedometers in impacted neighborhoods
9. Install speed humps in impacted neighborhoods
10. Designate a “Locals Only” lane
11. Work with hotels/ski resorts incentivize, institute & promote flexible
checkout/night skiing
12. Institute an odd-even license plate travel plan
13. Institute counterflow pattern out of the basin on busy days
14. Ban sledding along the highway/roadways and have CHP enforce the ban
15. Work with mobile app designers to remove illegal routing around Ag Station
17. Prevent right turns onto HWY 50 from North Upper Truckee at certain times
and days
18. Add a Citizen Patrol component in impacted neighborhoods
Some of the suggestions
have been previously considered by the County; some have been found to be
illegal or unworkable; some were new ideas that will be looked into.
In particular, County
Counsel informed the audience that closing traffic to “locals only” or only
allowing a particular group of drivers is illegal and was upheld by the
California Supreme Court. Other jurisdictions that have tried to institute
those restrictions have been sued and lost in court.
“Traction Control” signs
were placed on local streets this fall due to the desire to keep motorists
without chains or snow tires from driving down neighboring streets. To place
“Chains Required” signage on streets requires a roadway with ample area for chain-up
and changeable signage, which is not feasible on most county roads.
Lodging properties
reported that “stay and play” programs, along with varying check-out times has
not worked - people tend to leave when they want to and not use these
incentives.
We will reconvene a similar
meeting this spring to share the progress made on these and other suggestions
in hopes of finding more permanent solutions to the growing problem of
congestion in the Basin.
On Monday, March 5, 2018 we held a community roundtable discussion in Pollock Pines. The primary message of the evening was, "How do we stay small and rural and maintain low taxes and high levels of service". Our CAO, Don Ashton talked about the county's budget, where the money comes from and how it is dispersed within the county, and what our biggest challenges are. There were many questions and ideas from the public throughout the evening.
Join our County's Chief Administrative Officer, Don Ashton, for a community roundtable discussion about:
- Where the County Gets its money
- How much is mandated to be spent & where
- How much is discretionary & options about how to spend it
- The process driving the decisions about what gets funded and what doesn't & the consequences of those decisions
- Open discussion
I will be attending this meeting also so I hope to see you there!
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
California Conservation Corps, Tahoe Center
1949 Apache Avenue, Meyers
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