Our office has been receiving many, many emails with questions and concerns about the above issues. These are top of our action list, and I wanted to provide you with updates.

ROADS & POTHOLES
The biggest winter since the early 1950’s brought our region record breaking moisture and freeze-thaw conditions that have dramatically impacted our State and County roadways. Please have confidence that myself and County staff have repeatedly contacted Caltrans about the condition of our region's State highways. In addition, Eastern Placer County has 235 miles of roadways from the summit to the lakeside communities which have also taken quite a beating this winter. I'm sure you have noticed that Caltrans and County Roads staff have been working hard this spring plowing the late season snow, patching potholes, and repairing the roads. They are doing their very best to get to all of the repairs done as soon as possible. It's important to note that they are not able to complete more permanent hot asphalt repairs or reconstruction until the summer construction season - when the temperatures are much warmer. Late winter and springtime road repairs are typically completed with “cold patch” asphalt brought into the area from Roseville or Reno. Looking ahead, the County is planning repair and paving projects on Alpine Meadows Road and Olympic Valley Road this summer as well as smaller, more focused road repairs throughout the region where needed.

TRAFFIC
The surge of peak ski traffic has been the subject of concerns from the residents, public safety officials, businesses, and visitors. A well-attended Joint North Tahoe RAC and Olympic Valley MAC meeting allowed the public to hear about many of the efforts underway to address the short, mid-term, and long-term solutions. While these efforts are important, the immediate situation this winter created extremely high frustrations. As a result the ski areas have announced their plans for implementation of reservations, paid-parking, carpool incentives, and park/ride systems, for next season. Local and State government efforts are also continuing with plans to increase transit, better control intersections, initiate formal studies for Hwy 89 and 267 transit lanes, and make progress on other efforts to reduce dependence on the private automobiles. All these efforts must work together seamlessly for the region to address both winter and summer peak traffic impacts. Our office has been working closely with the County CEO and departments and North Tahoe Community Alliance to commit additional funding and staff resources to address our region’s issues.

HOUSING
Tonight at 6pm at Granlibakken Resort the North Tahoe Regional Advisory Council will hear updates on the Dollar Creek Housing Project. It is one of many efforts the County and partners in the region have undertaken to address the crisis of lack of workforce housing. Rarely does a day go by that we don’t hear from a business or community member on the crisis we face in housing our workers. I urge you to attend this important meeting. This is an opportunity to talk about the partnerships with other agencies on addressing housing from several angles. Please find more information below.

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
The area we are receiving the most public comments about is proposed development projects. Some of these are projects that were previously approved, some that are being modified, and some that are currently being conceived. Compared to other areas of our State and County, we are very fortunate that the development projects in our area are all proposed within existing developed areas and are limited by the incredible overlays of environmental protection and regulation supported by many of us. Nonetheless, the projects proposed (some vetted almost two decades ago) have raised many legitimate concerns. As both your County Supervisor and a member of the TRPA Governing Board I have the capacity and opportunity to work with both County staff and TRPA to make certain they use the public input to guide applicants to addressing the valued and important issues raised. Throughout my career in North Lake Tahoe, I have always sought balance between individual property rights, community benefit, and environmental protection. What does that mean for a specific project? Whether Palisades, Homewood, or any other redevelopment project - I must wait to make my final decision until the end of the formal process. I am also committed to give all sides fair consideration in addition to seeking as much consensus as possible. Some of the comments we have seen make assumptions and statements about my positions that simply aren’t accurate. I assure you that I am committed to upholding my 40-year community service record of seeking reasonable private reinvestment along with both community and environmental improvement. They must go hand in hand.

WHEN: THURSDAY, APRIL 20 @ 6PM
IN PERSON: Granlibakken Tahoe
VIRTUALLY: via Zoom

County staff will provide an update on the 11.4-acre Dollar Creek Crossing Housing Project located at 3205 and 3225 North Lake Boulevard in Tahoe City. The proposed project focuses on local workforce housing and proposes up to 30 achievable for-sale single-family homes and up to 80 forrent multi-family apartments. The project is still early in the planning process. This update will address the schematic site layout, vehicular circulation, parking, multi-use trail, building types/locations, environmental review, and the recent CDRA project application. Please note this is only a project update and not a NTRAC Action Item. There will be additional opportunities for community feedback as the project progresses and before any entitlement actions.
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North Lake Tahoe residents will soon be able to conceptualize parking, traffic and pedestrian improvements taking shape in downtown Tahoe City. The Placer County Board of Supervisors authorized the Department of Public Works to execute an agreement with Stantec Consulting Services Inc. to provide design services for the Tahoe City Downtown Access Improvement Project. The total cost of the contract is $227,903 and will be funded through the North Lake Tahoe Business Improvement District’s grant funds in cooperation with the North Tahoe Community Alliance. LEARN MORE

Placer County will order four electric buses to add to the Tahoe Truckee Area Transit (TART) system as part of the county’s larger effort to convert to a zero emissions fleet by 2040. The Board of Supervisors took action to approve a Zero Emissions Bus Rollout Plan by the Department of Public Works. The plan is designed to meet the California Air Resource Board’s Innovative Clean Transit regulation, which was introduced in 2018 and requires transit systems to convert to zero emission buses by 2040. LEARN MORE

If you have property that has been damaged during recent storms, the Placer County Building Services Division will expedite building permits for repairs. Building permits are required to repair a roof collapse, wall displacement, damaged overhead electrical service and any damage to electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing systems connected to a wall. LEARN MORE