Squaw Valley Development May Not Be A Slam Dunk

Ever since the Placer County Board of Supervisors approved the an additional development of the Squaw Valley village back in November of 2016, most people assumed that the project was a slam dunk. Sierra Watch appealed the decision and lost in court in 2018, furthering the idea that the development could not be stopped. Fortunately, Sierra Watch did not give up, again appealing the approval to a higher court. The case was heard by California’s Third District Court of Appeals in July of this year. This time, the three judge panel sided with Sierra Watch, overturning the approval of the village development project. The court shared the same concerns we have all expressed since the project was first proposed. In a nutshell, the court found that the approval of the project was in violation of many aspects of the California Environment Quality Act (CEQA). In particular, the court took issue with the lack of study on the project’s impact on Lake Tahoe, wildfire and evacuations, traffic and noise. Additionally, the court took issue with apparent violations of the Brown Act. A meeting was held in secret between Placer County officials and the developer just days before the project was approved in the public meeting. No public agenda was ever publicly posted, but in the wake of that meeting, an objection to the project by the State of California District Attorney’s office suddenly became a non-issue.

What Happens Next?

Alterra could appeal the Circuit Court’s decision to the California Supreme Court and hope to move forward with the project. It’s anybody’s guess what will happen. Alterra is still building a pointless gondola project, a project that makes even less sense without a huge new development at Squaw Valley.

The Times Have Changed

Things have absolutely changed since KSL initially proposed the village project. All of the arguments against the project have done nothing but get substantially worse in the last 8 years. Here’s a few thoughts: • Climate change has progressed at a pace which far exceeds what most people though was possible just a decade ago. It’s not just that temperatures are warmer. The fire season in California has become a really big deal. This year, we really only had a few weeks between the end of ski season, and seeing some big blazes taking off. Not only are fires becoming something we just expect during the summer, they are becoming bigger and more devastating. It was just a short time ago that a 100,000 acre fire was a monster. The Dixie Fire is now approaching 750,000 acres and burnt from the nearly the foothills of the western slope, over the crest and into the desert beyond. • Along with fires, we now have a serious smoke season, even if a fire is not local. The Air Quality Indexes this week have been running 400-700 in the North Tahoe region. It’s not a pleasant place to be. I can’t even remember the last real smoke free day we have had. There is no solution to the smoke problem. This was not even discussed as an issue just 6-8 years ago. • Short term rentals have changed vacation areas radically. It’s no secret that one of the things that made Tahoe work is that not everybody was here at the same time. In some neighborhoods, as many as 80% of homes remained empty for all except the biggest of the holidays. That meant that local roads could handle traffic most of the time, as could the other infrastructure, such as stores, restaurants, parks, beaches and trails. Over the last 10 years, many of those empty homes have been turned in to hotels, and the region is beyond it’s carrying capacity for much of the ski season and peak summer season. “Overtourism” has become a real issue in our area. Hopefully, Alterra will do some soul searching and redefine what they plan to do with the Squaw Valley development. Honestly they could focus on just building a whole lot of affordable housing units, including most with deed restrictions on short term rentals. They would sell like hotcakes. They don’t need a waterpark, a rollercoaster, or a shopping mall to make those sales happen.

Congrats To Our Friends At Sierra Watch

Congrats to everyone at Sierra Watch that has been a part of the continued questioning of the overdevelopment at Squaw Valley. We appreciate your tireless efforts to protect the future of North Tahoe and beyond. You can read the full press release from Sierra Watch here.