An Open Letter From Dr. Robb Gaffney About Tahoe’s Future

I would like to invite you to the most important meeting in determining the future of Squaw. On November 15th, the Placer County Board of Supervisor’s will be either approving or denying the current application put forth by KSL/Squaw Valley Ski Holdings. The supervisors will determine whether the current development application is approved or denied.

Keep in mind, an approval of this application would provide a protected framework within which the current owner or any future buyer can develop. A denial would mean that the applicant would need to come forth with an improved application that would then be voted upon, through a continuation of the democratic process.

The current application and the associated environmental impact report include the following items. Do you support all of these?

1) Rezoning the mouth of Shirley Canyon and placing over 20 homes on virgin land.

2) A waterpark with lazy rivers and waterslides (some have suggested this would be the tallest indoor waterpark in the US.)

3) 20 significant and unavoidable environmental impacts, that cannot be mitigated

4) Over 8,000 new car trips on Tahoe roads adjacent to Squaw Valley on peak days

5) Over 3,000 new car trips on Tahoe roads adjacent to Squaw Valley on non-peak days

6) A 10.5 hour evacuation time in the event of a disaster (fire, etc)

7) Addition of the same number of rooms found in the three biggest casinos in South Lake Tahoe combined.

The Placer County supervisors have implied that silence is interpreted as support. According to them, if you remain silent, you essentially support all that is listed in the current application. As the construction moves along over the next few decades, hopefully will you feel comfortable in your position, either having supported or argued against the current application. Keep in mind that fighting the current application does not prevent development; it simply requires that a better application be put forth.

Also keep in mind, it is unlikely KSL/SVSH would be the “developer”. Several things point to this being the case. First, Andy Wirth publicly stated during the Placer County Planning Commission Meeting that he and Squaw Valley Ski Holdings are not developers. Second, most private equity folks who have advised us, state that given the current conditions it would be a financial suicide for KSL/SVSH to remain in place throughout the development process. Third, private equity transactions like this tend to look at a seven to ten year period to acquire payoff for their investors and 25-30 years of construction would not allow this.

Why is this important? Because the decision on November 15h has nothing to do with KSL/SVSH or its operating team. It has everything to do with the future of your backyard, the future of your community and what type of place you want to raise your children in.

My position is no secret to you, but I would like to clarify some of the reasons I got involved.

• Trends and cultures spread. Just as the South Shore Casinos have significantly impacted the general culture of South Lake Tahoe, attractions such as a water park, while they seem innocent on the surface, will ultimately have profound impacts on what our area becomes and who seeks us out.

• Traffic will increase substantially and the argument that it will improve when we concentrate the population in Squaw falls apart when you read EIR findings. The project alone will increase traffic not only on 89, but also in the Lake Tahoe basin. In fact, the Squaw and Martis West projects will bring lake Tahoe road traffic from 90% capacity up to 97% in one foul swoop. That’s why the League to Save Lake Tahoe got involved – you know, the group who started Keep Tahoe Blue – they know it’s way too much, way too fast.

• This development sets a bad precedent for climate change activism. For instance, circulating millions of gallons of water each year for a water attraction leads us down the wrong path in solving the bigger problem.

•  Crowds have wisdom. If you attended any of the government meetings in the past 5 years, you have witnessed the overwhelming disapproval for the current application. I would estimate that since the meetings began, there has been a 9:1 ratio (on the low end) of people who disapprove to those who approve. Can we really say all these people are just plain wrong?

• The Attorney General of California Kamala Harris entered the ring, drafting a thickly layered, 15 page legal document outlining serious concerns she has with the project and how it would negatively impact Lake Tahoe. We should put stock in that.

• Approving this application would solidify the social means and mechanisms KSL/SVSH has used to push it through. In other words it would drastically shift our Tahoe culture as we know it. Frankly I’m very worried about this and it is my main concern; that our community culture is being shaped by powerful financial drivers rather than community will. These drivers are proving they can channel the community and its members into positions that prioritize the agenda of the most powerful entity. We align ourselves with those drivers to ensure our own survival or the survival of our own institutions, without even realizing that in doing so, we mine away the value of the relationships and the lands that help us remain diverse and healthy. This type of system corrodes the very things we came here for: the natural environment, the community, the sense of good will among us.

Perhaps you’ve already had glimpses of the potential the fallout. Maybe you’ve felt the tension swirling in your mind as you’ve hiked the trails. Or you’ve felt trapped with your own beliefs because if you share them, you’ll be reprimanded. Maybe you’ve even felt the ripple of distrust that has spread through the community and affected relationships that were previously stable for 30 years. Or like many others, perhaps you’ve felt a drop in quality of life in the last several years, even in this beautiful place we call Tahoe.

These types of outcomes are commonplace in systems like the one forming in Squaw Valley, systems that revolve around powerful financial drivers. This is not the type of social system I want for my future or for my children’s future. I want a system where the diversity of community opinion is celebrated and people work together to create a product we all admire and feel proud of. I want a system in which people don’t get leveraged against one another, being motivated by incentives that ensure their personal or institutional solvency. I want a community in which people can just be, and be with one another, and be with the land they’ve chosen to respect.

These are the main reasons I threw my hat in the ring and why I’ll be there speaking up at the Placer County meeting on November 15th. Because I know if I remain silent, the board of supervisors will interpret that as support for an application and an emerging social system, that in my heart, I do not believe in.

Please come out and help shape the further of Squaw. This is the time! See you there.

Sincerely,

Dr. Robb Gaffney

Gaffney is a noted local psychiatrist with a passion for skiing. He is the author of Squallywood, which is the bible when it comes to skiing Squaw Valley. He is the father of two and the founder of Sportgevity, which is dedicated to making our sports lifelong passions. Robb serves on the board of directors for Sierra Watch and has been at the forefront of the Keep Squaw True movement. 

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The Placer County Board of Supervisors will meet on November 15th at 9:00 am to consider the Village At Squaw Valley proposal. The meeting will be held at the North Tahoe Event Center in Kings Beach. Attendance at this meeting is critical, as is your communication with board members ahead of the meeting.

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