The December issue of Powder Magazine arrived in our mailbox today and we were stoked to find an article about Tahoe. It wasn’t your typical Powder article, the type that lets out the secret on places like Munchkins or Smoothie. It also wasn’t one of those articles that highlights people and things that already get too much publicity in Tahoe. No, this article was about real skiers around Tahoe. Two of them are Squaw Valley regulars, whose faces have also become familiar at Alpine Meadows.
It was easy to recognize Cheryl Varner’s face on page 90. I have done several laps with her over the last few years, after getting an introduction on the Mammoth Gondola, enjoying some late June turns in 2011. KT Cheryl, as she is known around Squaw, is always on first chair at KT. If KT is not running, she’s often seen on first chair at Summit at Alpine. Her deep passion for skiing is not shared by many. Her soft hearted presence is not something you would expect to see pushing for first chair nearly every day of the ski season. I have heard Cheryl say herself that you know something has gone terribly wrong if she is not on first chair. It brought a smile to my face when that same quote occurred in the Powder article.
In the article, Cheryl shares her passion for skiing and Squaw Valley. She also shares her concerns for the future of Squaw Valley under KSL’s development plan. The article points out that the plan is contentious and threatens to drive a wedge in the community between those who favor the development and those that don’t. We think Cheryl summed it up well.
It would ruin the ambiance, the integrity of the mountain, and the water supply. It would ruin the reason we live here.
– KT Cheryl, Squaw Local
Not all of the Squaw locals feel the same. Greg Lindsey is also well known around Squaw, and a frequent volunteer at local events. He is not so concerned with the Village developments, but more concerned with on mountain crowding encouraged by cheap season passes.
I would happily pay $1400 again. This is Squaw, it should be expensive.
– Greg Lindsey, Squaw Local
I know there’s times where I agree with Greg. When the lines get crazy at Scott and Sherwood, or when opening dates get later and closing dates earlier, I also wish that passes were more expensive.
The article also profiles local skiers from Heavenly Valley and Kirkwood. It’s certainly interesting reading. The threads are common to all ski areas around Tahoe, and all over the West.
• Ski resorts owned by real estate developers
• Making sure that corporations serve the needs of locals, daytrippers and big timers while keeping shareholders happy
• Facing global warming, transportation demands, rising energy costs and stricter environmental standards
• Competing with other recreation and entertainment options
We often forget that the struggles we see at SquAlpine occur every day at all resorts around Tahoe. We applaud and appreciate the local skiers that were willing to share their passion for keeping the dream alive in Lake Tahoe. The article is not yet available online. Check you mailbox for your issue.
Greg Lindsay’s idea is brilliant but it does not sell condos, doesn’t sell beds, or sell food and bev.
A preferable option is to give, with every condo, four free fully transferable stockholder passes for family and for sub-renters of the condos.
Greg will be happy the lift lines are reduced by ~1500 carloads a weekend.
Condo owners are happy, and short term renters are happy.
You’ll have a better class of casual visitor who actually spend more in KSL shops in a week than many locals do in a year.
As a club or co-op, KSL and SV may operate a tax exempt ski hill for Members Only. The Accountant could be very happy.
The Non-owners can drive around to Homewood, Sugarbowl or NStar, or try their luck at Alpine Meadows and park somewhere the Caldwelll construction crew haven’t parked excavators and trucks.
Everybody wins, except those who bought on the wrong side of the road.
Kirkwood is leading Squaw by 70 votes in Powderrag’s Throwdown. Why vote for Squaw when it doesn’t love day trippers? On the other hand Kirkwood isn’t building out it’s carpark. Instead it’s building all over the place to keep its carparking.
I saw a post on teton where a brighter person noted that SV might’t like surveys in the carpark or in the village square. Hello. KSL don’t own the carparks at Sugarbowl or Kirkwood, etc etc. Therefore If skiers at Sugarbowl, Kirkwood etc etc realised “No Carpark means my parking lot is full” would they sign email petititions or send texts or emails from their phone to a central place for collating and distribution to the media and politicians. Second, if staff tell anyone to get out of the carpark, film it for youtube.
What the blazes – Kirkwood beat SVAM 1060 votes to 840 votes in the Powder Mag town throwdown.
Wow, maybe people love free parking lots, short lift lines and snow. Would the Marketing Dept please report to the Principal’s Office immediately!
My resort in New Zealand offers a $1000 plat. season pass good for 2 people with Valet Parking.
My other resort has Owner Passes for the family and guests – I have 1 of 12 that were given when a developer wished to run lifts and build a penthouse hotel, The passes are fully transferrable to family, friends and renters, but we can (to use Squaw as an analogy) drive up “Mountain Run” to our apartment near a Siberia’s chairlift.
Greg Lindsay should hang out with people the KSL people talk too.
(I’m yet to meet an official who won’t brag about the money they make for paid parking – quite a few also charge $20 per seat on the oversnow bus from the satelite parking to the ski lodge. All those buses are great for the environment (and better for the resort exec’s bank balance!. Then you notice the resort has shares in the meat works, the power company, the bus company, the realtor etc etc.)
The non-transferrable car pass is $1600, and the lift passes were $1500 until falling visitation forced a price drop in lift season passes to $800.
Sorry, but every time Powder uses “• Facing global warming”, I stop paying attention… I’m happy for the locals getting some coverage, but I’ll use my Powder mag that came in today for kindling……..
if you stand in lift line for hours to claim 1st chair every day. doesn’t mean you have skills or shred, just obsessive not ‘passionate’ about trying to get your name in the marquee any way you can.
powder rag sucks, don’t even bother using for fire starter as it’s not good for that either.
You obviously don’t know Cheryl, one of the most reserved and unassuming people I know. Yes, she is passionate about skiing…and odds are, she’s a better skier than you.
did KSL buy subject to inherent rights like rights of way created over 50 years of egress to the slopes that prevent it building on our Public Right of Way?
These rights may have arisen when Cushing wanted Wayne to agree to a multistorey carpark, and Wayne said “f that’.
Since then, we’ve all entered, parked and exited, free. The ice rink became carpar. Then Bligh Arena became carpark. No one I know recalls the right being fettered by chains across the bridges or occupancy rights limited by lift tickets and any signs (except ‘new’ signs against parking overnight).
Is there a easement, and if the answer yes, can KSL extinquish it and build on it. Or must KSL redesign the buildings, provide laneways where we travel in between their buildings, and must KSL legally give us free parking at the slopes?
Do the IOV have a list of issues to run past their planning lawyer because I sort of wonder if any of them took on a developer or a ski resort with tactics that win by hook or by crook. To win a court case, or settle one, you need to feed your lawyer big juicy facts but you gotta know what’s useful from the underground poop pipes upwards.
Yes, IOV has run potential land use legal issues past their attorney Michael Colantuono. An Executive Summary will be posted on a new IOV website (incorporateolympicvalley.org) that addresses the issues of land use. If you would like a copy sooner please request at info@incorporateolympicvalley.org.
I’ll wait for the executive summary, thanks. I read 40 pages of papers at berkley’s local govt law area and it all sounded very interesting. Its important to place legal facts into legal docts from the older generation for a case that might be years away. …and locating for example the publicly filed treatise where Wayne was interviewed. Little facts make the difference between winning and losing a case. Knowing what might be useful for the attorney is also vital.
That court decision was a good read too, where legal privilege was waived during the environmental assessment stage. Reading other lawyer’s files is fun.
Dear Unofficial
If information might be relevant to a future court case, the old guard should – sooner than later – give the lawyer a formal legal statement or something.
Also the Encinas people, the lass who interviewed Wayne for her PhD, and the museum people could all be a vertible goldmine of evidentiary facts to sign up legal statements sooner than later.
From up here I’d say the architect built over rights of way and areas affected by easements. Can we sue Jennifer Montgomery’s people for Misfeasance/Negligence in Public Office. Ie: get personal and, if she wants to affect my valuation, I affect her home’s value with a Writ.
In January 2012 Andy Wirth had to dispel myths about closing the resort that month.
Please tell me why would high enders chose to invest in a Tahoe resort rather than somewhere colder and higher?
Please tell me how KSL’s economic predictions can be relied upon if the masses decided ‘there’s no snow, let’s not go’.
Here is Andy’s letter
” Last year was a record breaking season for snowfall as most of you will fondly remember. This year is also record breaking, but for lack of snowfall, not just here but across the majority of the States. Not what any of us were dreaming about.
I’ve heard many questions and concerns as this dry spell has continued. With pride and consistency, I’ve held to an open and transparent communication approach with our guests. In that light I want to share a few important thoughts about how we are responding to the current meteorologically induced situation.
First, it’s not a question of if, in our business, you will see warm and very dry times like these, it is a question of when and with what grace you will endure these types of circumstances and importantly, with what professionalism you respond. I am proud to say that our team has and continues to, respond to the situation with the utmost professionalism, dedication, hard work, high service levels and, yes, grace.
Secondly, these are times that don’t just develop character, they reveal character. I am proud of the character our team’s revealed as we’ve taken every opportunity to make snow and to provide the best possible surface. Moreover, we’ve done everything we can to engage our guests and facilitate the enjoyment of their mountain vacation experience in the region.
As a testament to this display of character and effort, Thursday morning I went to the top of Alpine Meadows at 8 a.m. and witnessed our patrollers, snowmakers, lift staff and more, all working together to haul snow in an effort to connect a lift off ramp to a really terrific snow surface waiting for skiers about 100 yards away on the Alpine Bowl run. I helped out a bit, and then thanked every one of the hard-working individuals. Their response was, “Absolutely! This is what we’re here for!” And with a smile said, “Look around, see our surroundings, we like working hard for something great and we believe in this place and are glad to be here.” I was so impressed by the dedication, the hard work and the attitude as it exemplifies, perfectly, the aforementioned thoughts.
With these broad thoughts conveyed, I would now like to shift gears and talk to a few, very specific points that relate to our management and work on the mountain. I’m addressing these in the context of a favorite show of mine, “Myth Busters.” Let’s take on a few myths and set the record straight with irrefutable facts and truths:
Myth: Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows are shutting down in early January.
Truth: My visceral response to this inane and baseless rumor has been that you should question the intellect, judgment and motivation of the person forwarding this rumor. The specific response is that this is simply not true and we’ve never considered, even once, shutting down Squaw Valley or Alpine Meadows.
Myth: Squaw Valley’s snowmaking approach has been lacking or simply fallen short.
Truth: A quick primer on snow making. The two key variables for snowmaking are ambient temperature and humidity. Much like natural snow the conditions have to be right to produce snow. When conditions have been right, even with our temperature inversions, snowmaking has been very productive. There is ample water to run all systems during the most productive hours at night.
The Squaw Valley system is working better than it ever has, and is producing more water than ever, thanks to some upgrades which were implemented in 2009. At that time, Squaw Valley replaced the mile-long primary snowmaking pipeline between the snowmaking holding-ponds at the Resort at Squaw Creek and the resort base. This pipeline replacement eliminated several significant leaks, vastly increasing the amount of water that could be made available to the snowmaking system. In addition, Squaw Valley connected several existing irrigation wells, and improved others, to enhance the resort’s ability to refill the ponds during hours when snowmaking is not occurring. About half of all the snow that Squaw Valley has made during 2011-12 was produced from the improved wells and as a direct result of system upgrades. Whenever snow is not being made, the ponds are being replenished at a rate of hundreds of gallons per minute. Pumping operations to refill the ponds occur 12 or more hours each day.
Two primary constraints we face in snowmaking are the same ones every snowmaking system in the world faces: ambient temperatures and humidity.
Our approach has been to make snow, in quality and quantity at every opportunity that temperatures allow, in the best most logical places possible and not reach for “number of trails” but quality of surface. As I write this, a well known skier affirmed that in North Lake Tahoe, while we don’t have the largest trail count, the Squaw Valley snow surface is in fact superior in quality and resiliency given the ongoing, very warm days and nights.
Myth: Squaw Valley has held back making snow on key runs, such as Mountain Run.
Truth: Squaw Valley is a huge mountain. It’s also in a region that’s blessed and cursed with a micro-climate condition called temperature inversions, which due to the sheer size of our two mountains, amplifies their impact. These inversions simply prohibited making snow on Mountain Run and other key areas on the upper mountain.
Myth: No snow is in the moderate to long term forecasts.
Truth: First off, all of the resorts in the western US are dealing with a challenging start to the season with the exception of a few small resorts in the extreme southern part of the Rockies. We’re in a La Nina influenced weather pattern, which is typified by a slow start and a strong, snow-filled finish. We anticipate, based on current forecasts, the high pressure ridge to the west will break down in mid to late January, which in turn will open up the corridor for significant snowstorms coming into Lake Tahoe. Of course this can change, but the current, most reliable models support this view. You may remember a very similar pattern setting up for the Northern Sierra mountains last winter as despite the record snowfall, January of last season saw a very similar circumstance with very little snow in that month (due to a high pressure ridge off the coast of California very effectively blocking any weather systems). When the ridge eventually broke down, the snow started to fall and kept falling through the spring, ending with a record season.
With the recent acquisition of Alpine Meadows ski resort, one pass and one ticket offers a great deal of varied terrain, with both mountains easily accessed via a free shuttle that departs every 20 minutes. Together, the mountains offer a total of over 6,000 skiable acres when they are at full operations. In the mean time, our hardworking team is making snow at every moment, with a focused and learned strategy. We all know that it can turn on a dime. We all know that there’s a low pressure system with Squaw Valley’s and Alpine Meadow’s name on it, that’s brewing somewhere in the North Pacific and we will rebound.
While many resorts across the country are considering pulling back on lifts, terrain and snowmaking, we are doing everything possible to add to our terrain and lifts at both Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley. While many are managing back their operations of many aspects of their mountains, we are maintaining and providing excellent service for and within those facilities and operations. Lastly, we have been, since mid-December, staging special employee meals for those whom we simply don’t have shifts.
Keep a weather eye out. Somewhere in the North Pacific, there’s a low pressure system brewin’ that’s got Squaw & Alpine’s name on it. Until then, cross your fingers, do a snow dance, wash your cars and keep the faith.
With cold, snow-filled thoughts,
Thank you,
Andy Wirth
President & CEO
Squaw Valley Ski Holdings LLC
Climate change means we need buses and condos, say KSL, and we at KSL will bring economic benefits galore to everyone. But in the same breath they say to their customer base “Please book, there really is snow, and we ‘re not closing at the rnd of January 2012”. Use, dear daniel-san, their force against them.
Syonara,
Mr Miyagi.
Dear Mr Miyagi
The one inch and the six inch punch concentrated forces to knock the opponent flying. Daniel-san, bring all the forces in all bone and muscle groups from your toes upwards into one short fast punch. By analogy, the Concerned Friends are sinews and bones in need to work like muscles from the toes to the knuckles to deliver that forceful blow.
Bruce.
Excuse me but why is IOV’s facebook page asking me to vote for Squaw Valley instead of Kirkwood at the Powdermag Throwdown?.
Is it in our interests to help Squaw put locals on buses while it market sitself to people who’ll park their Bay Area SUV on the old parking area?
Well there’s only minutes left in PowderRag’s faceoff between Squaw and Kirkwood.
Squaw trails behind Kirkwood by a huge 20% margin! How can that be?
If this was an election, they’d say Kirkwood won by a landslide!
What do you think about Kirkwood’s real estate plan where the carparks are left untouched AND they’ll build a few ski in ski out condos on the slope itself. Isn’t that brilliant? They don’t pee off day trippers AND they sell condos all the way from KW’s Stables and up the slopes. Clever eh.
Hi,
The photo on my facebook feed shows a gajillion people at the festival so Is there a reason why the concerned citizens aren’t (as far as I know) putting it out there at the festivals?
http://highfivesfoundation.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8322c2d141d09acec902bd72b&id=e29230fd31&e=9869cbb8dd
In David v Goliath, David had one well-aimed stone, and one opportunity. Do the Concerned Citizens have a stone and do they know where to aim? At Lt Big Horn, Custer was surrounded and pelted from all over with pointy sticks, not Howitzers. In Vietnam, they were undermined, boobytrapped and led into traps. They also shot each each other, a bit like when the cops offer a perp a deal to squeal. With these things in mind, what strategies and tactics, and ammo, do the Freinds have? Where are the trip wires to the legal landmines? Where’s the dirt that’ll expose consequences political lobbying and the questioned cash hand outs by a County that really can’t show results for a $697,000 marketing spend.
In the other corner is KSL’s Andy Wirth – a brilliant ‘general’ imo, and a presenter at a tourism conference and he would’ve been presenting at a climate change conference if not for that horrible jump. He and his associates are on on all types of committees with all sorts of facts and figures, and they have the green support of CA State and federal politicians appointed by the White House to a task force. And Gov Brown’s rep was quoted at the conference with Gore as saying Tahoe is getting lots of changes no matter what despite a court case brought by Sierra Club or Prof Patchings group (or whoever, I can’t remember).
Meanwhile (unless I’m wrong) 300 out of 560 voters in the valley signed a petition and there were two small local tv interviews. There’s maybe there’s 10,000 to 20,000 readers of letters and op-eds. Some handed out brochures at McConkey, but no one bothered to spread the word at Festivals with skiers/riders who will be affected if, for example, the lift lines at Sugarbowl and Kirkwood blow out by refugees from the parking lots of Squaw and Alpine Meadows.
There’s no digital petetioning where petetioners digitally sign a email letter to politicians (and where Friends collect email addresses for new updates or crowdfunding efforts. (The Democrats ask for $3, and if 25,000 tahoe skiers donated $1 to IOV, there’s the LAPCO fees!). (I can imagine a “Stay in your own carpark” campaign might be interesting.
There’s no data collection that might one day be useful to show, as occurred in the Homewood case, that the developer made inaccurate claims. Why not?
In summary, if Geronimo, the Viet Cong or David were run by a committee, the bigger better armed Armies would’ve won.
KSL’s facebook page has taken the credit for McConkey, GNAR, Hot Dog and the Olympics as they pitch for votes to beat Kirkwood as THE best Powdermag resort. Y’Honor, we submit that KSL is not always full and frank. Here is Exhibit A – the clip from their facebook page today.
“We’re that mountain. The epicenter of ski culture. Our credential list looks something like this: Hosted the Winter Olympics, Hot Dog the Movie, the game of G.N.A.R, home of Shane McConkey.
Vote for Squaw & Alpine in Powder Magazine’s Ski Town Throwdown. Only a few hours left! http://bit.ly/1c1NcgC
We’re that mountain. The epicenter of ski culture. Our credential list looks something like this: Hosted the Winter Olympics, Hot Dog the Movie, the game of G.N.A.R, home of Shane McConkey. Vote for Squaw & Alpine in Powder Magazine’s Ski Town Throwdown. Only a few hours left! http://bit.ly/1c1NcgC
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Noelle Belden My only hope is that with all this planned new development, Squaw stays true to itself and doesn’t turn into yet another overpriced, elitist resort where designer equipment and fancy cars are valued more than a kick ass experience for everyone…
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Sheila Alloway Winter Too late, sadly. I miss the old Squaw.
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Jeff Williams you guys kicked the game of gnar off the hill now you claim it for your own credibility? that’s gall not gnar.
Like · Reply · 4 · about an hour ago
Iain Lowis … and KSL threatens to destroy this rich culture and community.
Like · Reply · 4 · about an hour ago
Sherrie Ohearn I grew up there working on that mountain in winter and Sunnyside/Jakes in the winter. Cant wait to move back
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Noah Babydude Prince I’m the best skier on the mountain. Vote for me. HI MOM!
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Sherrie Ohearn Summer. For Jakes/Sunnyside. Not that anyone cares but me. Haha
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Matthew Chin You forget to mention that my daughter, Chloe the future Olympic downhill skier learned to ski here.
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Jennifer Ewegen hahaha! i remember hot dog the movie. totally rad.
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Tenaya Jorgensen Will Prosor aka home
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Will Prosor Ill be there skiing again for the first time in 10 years this year! I am already dreaming of powder even though it was in the 100’s here yesterday.
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Jon Turner I thought I knew how to ski then moved too Olympic valley and skied with the boys. Now that’s skiing mate
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Dennis Leonard This is me!
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Joe Stevens Voted for the sunshine, the terrain, and the wonderful locals I had the pleasure to shred with at Squaw, NOT for the management.
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Jim Sloves I have yogurt. Does that count?
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Delani Taylor Kaufman Great reasons to love squaw! We have more culture than any other ski resort!
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Noah Babydude Prince What? Nowhere in California has more culture than anywhere else in the world!
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Delani Taylor Kaufman i was talking american ski resorts, definitely something special/different about squaw
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Melisa Callison open open open open open
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Terry Tinsley Worked at Squaw for years. I voted.
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Brad Fultz That’s a great pic of me shredding
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Mammoth/June is going to expand family-affordable lodging. This, I hope, is what KSL also has in mind to (one hopes) turn day tripping families into ‘every weekend warriors’. (It doesn’t do much for local day skiers of course but AFFORDABLE skiing would be a step in the right direction. Here’s hoping that Andy is smart enough to know that affordable famiy lodging is a cash cow with lower operational overheads). Here’s hoping he knows many of his destination skiers can land at LA for the Real Disneyland before driving 5 hours to Mammoth.
http://www.sierrawave.net/27213/june-mountain-plans-2/?fb_action_ids=10152033347083708&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_ref=addtoany&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210152033347083708%22%3A218162701688531%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210152033347083708%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%7B%2210152033347083708%22%3A%22addtoany%22%7D
Imagine your a tourist family with kids who see a sticker for $1 with pics of pretty puppies and kitty kats at every shop counter in TC and Truckee. Do you think that’d raise a few grand for the fees charged by LAPCO?
Skiers at other resorts should be very concerned if your Refugees migrate en masse to their parking lots.
Are the FoSV doing anything to make them realise the carparking affects them?
I also ask if the town planning experts need stats on how the mass migration of refugees will alter $ in town economies, eg will refugees book out Truckee instead of north beachfront places.
,How will refugees affect pollution on the drive to other places, will this affect traffic flow, wil it force (for example) other places to build bigger toilets and bigger kiosks, and other ripple consequences.
Also is Jenny Montgomery aware that Utah could become Bigger with the Epic Pass potentially adding most of Park City Resort to Canyons, Heavenly, NS, The Wood, half of Colorado AND bits of France, Austria and Switzerland? The Bay Area and So Cali skiers might prefer the biggest snow on earth over anything in Tahoe.
In conclusion, are these pro town people savvy enough to get the ammo to give to their lawyer and to their PR guys.
Where I live, huge name building companies went into company bankruptcy. In various places, mega developers are hit with Bonds (eg if they don’t have enough Parkland or they want to build a Disneyland without enough parking), “Congestion Levies” and Infrastracture Development Levies. I hope KSL puts up a big bond to guarantee everything.
It’s just standard everyday practice to
– support the community. Look at the grants handed out at Park City as an example of Winning the Hearts & Minds of locals. The same was used by psy-ops in Afghanistan and Iran. or the delightful gifts of lands by William the Conqueror.
– ostracise and alienate people as ‘dissenters’ and ‘troublemakers’
– reward some, and not reward the ‘dissenters’.
– make people know court cases could be brought at great personal cost.
Corporates go to conferences like http://www.media-stakeholder-relations-hydraulic-fracturing.com/
It’s also plain old politics to pork barrel the electorate. “We’re listening” becomes “..and we’ve decided to give every household a few stockholder ski passes for family, friends or renters”, and there’s also comped parking for one car per address outside our restaurants”.
Do the maths on dividing the voters vs the profit on the sale of a billion bucks of condos.
Hey its good to read that the County decided there should be a redesign committee, tho I’m suss as to whether they don’t want a judge one day to say “you hobbled a commitee so you’re naughty little pol-lie-ticians .
Here’s a letter in Moonshine which “helped” the County to reconsider things. The County’s tactics have an odor like stale ski socks imo.
.http://moonshineink.com/sections/spout/placer-county-undermines-design-review-committee-process-squaw-valley.
BY JUDY CARINI | SQUAW VALLEY
The current Placer County position on the role of the Squaw Valley Design Review Committee is in direct conflict with the guidelines stated within the 1983 Squaw Valley General Plan and Land Use Ordinance. The involvement of the design review committee in the project approval process is well defined in the general plan and the Squaw Valley Design Review Guidelines. The current position of Placer County shows a definite bias toward accommodating the applicant, KSL, rather than the public, and gives the applicant an unjustifiable advantage over the public interest.
In an April 3 email, Placer County stated that the KSL project has been presented to the Squaw Valley Municipal Advisory Council for review and will be presented to that council at least two more times. The county further implied that, with the KSL project, the design review committee is not necessary, because the municipal advisory council can do the job. That is not an accurate statement. That is not how the two groups were intended to be used and it is not in compliance with the guidelines of Squaw’s general plan.
The county appears to be treating the design review committee as an afterthought and actively downplaying its role in the approval process. This may reflect how the county wants the process to be handled, but it is not in compliance with the 1983 general plan’s land use ordinance or the design review guidelines.
The April 3 email also stated that: “The applicant has now affirmatively responded to county staff that it does not propose to subject project specific proposals within the plan area to the Citizen’s [Design Review Committee].” It appears that this statement is acceptable to the county. When did it become appropriate for an applicant to have a choice as to which requirements will be complied with and which will be ignored? Does this mean that the county is allowing KSL to call the shots on how the process should be handled?
The Squaw Valley General Plan states that the municipal advisory council and design review committee were formed as “a long-term mechanism to ensure a high degree of local home rule.” The plan says “the local [design review committee] should be given every opportunity to guide and influence further efforts to improve the visual and environmental quality of the valley. The county commits itself to cooperating and working with the [municipal advisory committee] and [design review committee] to assure that no new developments within the valley are permitted without the opportunity for a full evaluation by and recommendation from the [municipal advisory committee] and/or [the design review committee].”
The Squaw Valley Design Review Guidelines is a 35-page document containing procedures, requirements, and recommendations for use by the committee when reviewing a proposal. Below are a few examples:
• In the broadest sense, the guidelines are meant to ensure that the spirit of Squaw Valley isn’t undermined by arbitrary, unthoughtful design.
• Buildings should be sited so that they do not interrupt the flow of the skyline as viewed from common vantage points.
• A building or project should be in scale with its immediate surroundings and with the area.
• Any building design which appears questionable from a building height standpoint is subject to approval by the design review committee and Placer County.
In recent years, Placer County staff has been steering the design review committee toward a role that only includes feedback on colors, textures, and landscaping. After reading the above guiding principles, which represent only part of the guidelines, it appears that Placer County is incorrectly utilizing the function of the Squaw Valley Design Review Committee.
Squaw Valley is at a critical point. If the KSL proposal is approved as proposed, the valley will be changed forever. Placer County should not obstruct any process that could further influence the outcome of this proposal. The Squaw Valley Design Review process should have started months ago. There is no excuse for this, be it an oversight or a deliberate decision. The design review committee is not the municipal advisory committee. An attempt to bypass the function of the design review committee is not acceptable and is not supported in the 1983 Squaw Valley General Plan and Land Use Ordinance nor the Squaw Valley Design Review Guidelines.
Please show the community of Squaw Valley the respect it deserves. The only acceptable response to this letter is a plan for the immediate integration of the Squaw Valley Design Review Committee into the review process of the KSL development, and a pledge by Placer County that the committee will return to its proper place in the permitting process with all project applications.
~ Judy Carini, a 37-year Squaw Valley resident, is the co-chairperson of the Squaw Valley Design Review Committee,a former chairperson of the Squaw Valley Municipal Advisory Committee, and a member of the Friends of Squaw Valley.
KSL use words like ‘infill’ ‘disturbed land’ ‘environmental’ etc etc to, I think, ‘tick these prerequisites as list in Moonshine Ink’s commentary:
.
“A possible reason as to why entitlements are being pushed for the entire village plan may lay in the upcoming State Assembly Bill SB900 recently sent to Governor Brown. In a review of the proposed measures written Richard Frank, Berkeley Law School, Legal Planet, Environmental Law and Policy Blog, he states:
“by contrast, contains similar CEQA judicial review “reforms,” but applies them to a significantly larger group of potential projects. Citing California’s stagnant economy and chronically high unemployment rates, SB 900 creates expedited judicial review procedures for large, so-called “environmental leadership development projects.
” Such projects include:
1) LEED-certified residential, retail, commercial, sports, cultural, entertainment, and recreational urban infill projects;
2) wind- and solar-powered electricity generating facilities; and
3) “clean energy manufacturing projects” that create renewable energy generation, energy efficiency technology or clean energy vehicles.
To qualify as an environmental leadership development project, a project must further involve
– an investment of at least $10 million;
– create “high-wage, highly skilled jobs”;
– be carbon-neutral; and
– incorporate “binding and enforceable” measures to mitigate adverse environmental impacts.
Any CEQA challenge to such an environmental leadership development project must be filed directly in the state Court of Appeal, where it is subject to expedited judicial review (though the details differ from those contained in SB 292).
A review of the proposed amendment which if signed into law will be the most far reaching amendment to the California Environmental Quality Act in decades can be found here http://legalplanet.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/major-proposed-ceqa-amendments-sent-to-california-governor-jerry-brown/ ”
“Seems the bigger the project, the more quickly it will be approved. This is a glaring example what the outcome of big money lobbying can do to overturn laws which were meant to protect such beautiful environments such as Squaw Valley. We as concerned citizens should all be aware that these things are happening and should make our voices heard by contacting our representatives and letting them know that this is unacceptable in such environs as Squaw Valley and the high Sierra. Let’s let ’em know what we think and that we are following these behind the scenes issues with great concern for the future preservation our mountain resources.
Submitted by EKIHD on Sat, 09/14/2013 – 9:28am”
Are these issue, like ‘high paying jobs’ the sorts of things KSL has to “tick off’ with accurate figures? Possibly these factors are something we need to ask Andy like “Will you pay a minimum wage of $20 an hour” and NOT charge employees for lodging or parking or company shuttle rides?
My hill is largely tax exempt as a members hill: tax is paid on the $ paid by the public for food, bev and lodging, eg tenants and day trippers. It granted season passes to “members” ie families when it wanted half of the real estate and half the slopes. They work rather well. They are RFID , can be Willed, and are fully transferrable back and forth, eg give them to tenants of the 2nd home. Most (or all) have a parking space by the slope. If you’re a 2nd home with 4 people, there’s 4 passes. If SV brings that in, just make sure the parking is comp’d forever.
Anyone got graphic design skills for a parking sign that says “Reserved for Refugees” 🙂
Funny how KSL’s mass transit plan crashed as predicted in the Scoops we’re reading. .
Am I right in thinking that Northstar, along with Washoe and Hyatt at Incline, pulled the pin from the buses which undrpin the whole green-is-good them of Squaw’s game plan?
Who told Northstar to stop helping a rival company, Squaw, from becoming a big billion dollar real estate company that’ll slow sales, maybe, of Northstar’s slow real estate segment. (Nstar sold 2 places for a total of $3.5m. Two sales is pretty pathetic isn’t it?)
Perhaps the County best re-evaluate if it can afford all the consequences if Squaw’s plans go awry.
Hi
According to Moonshine today, Spindelshanks will be 39 timeshares on 6 acres, or 6.5 condos per acre.
If they had 70 acres at Squaw. they’d get 450 condos, not 1100.
Squaw wants nearly 16 condos per acre.
Will the town planners and judge look at what’s going on around the lake when deciding if 1100 condos are twice as much as other people would get?
As Jimy Durante said, Everybody wants to get in on the act. 3
According to Moonshine Ink’s November edition today:
” But what will go on the property is clear. Hester said Kila Properties wants to construct middle- and upper-class quality lodging. There will not be commercial or retail space due to the limited size of the property, according to Hester.
“The only thing really missing in Tahoe City is nice lodging,” Hester said. “We have a commercial core and restaurants; what we don’t have is $250- to $300-a-night lodging. We’ve seen it happen in Squaw Valley, Northstar, and Truckee. There is a void in Tahoe City for that.”
For many North Shore leaders, the news that the run-down, half-a-century old Henrikson building, which occupies prime real estate at the gateway to Tahoe City, will be replaced by much-needed lodging is welcome news.
“We’re really excited,” said Steve Hoch, Tahoe City Downtown Association executive director. “We do feel there is a shortage of quality beds in Tahoe City, so we think this could be a boost. .”
But how many people will come to spend $300 a night at Tahoe City, Truckee, Northstar and Squaw Valley?
Won’t this “Please pay a tax to help our incompetant bureaucrats” Tax piss off tourism?
Because mismanagement cost them $1m, and because tourists with out of state plates dare to spend their tourism dollars and park near the beachfront, the bureaucrats want to pay tax collectors to collect parking fees. ????. Can someone tell me why these bureaucrats aren’t made to pay for their mismanagement? We pay taxes and then they bring in ‘user pays extra tax’. What then are my taxes paying for except for incompetance?
Moonshine write: “In an effort to bring in additional funding to offset deferred maintenance expenses and to provide North Tahoe Public Utility District residents the benefits of its Resident’s Benefit Program, the district will staff the entrances at Kings Beach State Recreation Area and the North Tahoe Regional Park year round. The off-season (Oct. 1 to May 31) parking fee entry for non-residents is $3 for both the park and recreation area. Locals with a PUD sticker are free. Park and Facility Manager Tracey Towner stated, “After numerous unpaid car counts at both the North Tahoe Regional Park and Kings Beach, with many being out of state license plates that aren’t paying our Community Facilities District property tax assessment, I’ve decided to implement parking attendants to enforce the fees in the shoulder and off season.”
Idiots: The wages bill alone will exceed what you collect Tracey Towner!
Dear UA,
Moonshine confirms – again! – a story we read hFIRST on Unofficialalpine about a plan to reroute the highway on usfs land to avoid Fanny’s Bridge !!
“Fanny Bridge and Other Projects Awarded $25.5 Million in Funding TAHOE CITY AND WEST SHORE
Write MShineInk: The Tahoe Transportation District has been awarded $25.5 million in funds from the Federal Lands Access Program for the State Route 89/Fanny Bridge Community Revitalization Project, Meeks Bay Bike Path, and the Dollar Creek Shared Use Path.
The Tahoe Transportation District will continue to coordinate with local, state, and federal partners to secure the remaining funds, estimated to be around $7.5 million.
The Federal Lands grants finances well-conceived projects that improve transportation facilities affiliated with federal lands.
Currently, the SR89/Fanny Bridge Community Revitalization Project is under environmental review, which involves collecting field data necessary to develop required environmental and technical studies. An estimated completion date for drafts of the technical environmental and engineering studies is fall 2013, with release of a draft environmental document in winter 2014. A preferred alternative has not been selected.
The agency is also working on a focused economic study with an estimated completion date of fall 2013. Depending on funding, construction could begin in 2015. Info: (775) 589-5500, tahoetransportation.org
Just wondering if Squawites need to tell this review about Truckee wil be affected by
– KSL’s push to keep tourists in tne village and spending their money in the village
– how no parkng or paid parking and $300/night places will turn people off coming to the nth shore’s shops.
Messengers went to oracles with the question “What was I doing at that moment in 100 days time”. I was in fact cooking turtle and meat in a cauldron. Only the Oracle of Delphi got that right. Then the Oracle said that if I invaded Persia, a great empire would be destroyed. Well, guess what, she meant my empire would be destroyed, and it was. So who is KSL’s Oracle? I wouldn’t trust them. If Squaw’s predictions to investors turn out to be overly optimistic, who do the investors sue and does the SEC get involved? Get those Oracles ‘signed up’ Andy and make sure they can indemnify you if they’re wrong.
Yours
King Croseus (retired). .
The trainwreck that is KSL’s “Solution” was played out in SLT with the same result. The County must have blinkers on. Wrote Cr Bill Crawford:To the community,
On Labor Day, I tuned in the Giants game. Giants vs. Padres. A Giants commentator said he liked San Diego because it was easy to get around town. You didn’t need a car, he said.
The commentator’s remark caused me to think about the city of South Lake Tahoe’s priorities. The city fathers and mothers spend time and energy talking about transportation and parking. They claim they want tourists and others out of their cars. They want the city to be a bicycle and walker friendly place. So far so good. But it stops there.
Bill Crawford
Bill Crawford
What has happened is the city has turned over the transportation puzzle to a regional organization that because of its bankruptcy has disbanded. Thus, because of its failure, the Tahoe Transportation District, TTD, has stepped in. For the Tahoe basin it is a regional organization that’s an arm of the TRPA.
The TTD has the community fussing over the loop road. The city should quit the TTD and return to a city bus system that works. In the past the city had such a program. Then there was bus service in the Tahoe Keys. My wife, who at that time was the hostess of the headliners in the South Shore Room, caught the bus on Keys Boulevard to get to work. She still has bus tokens for the bus. As I have said, the city should quit the TTD and return to a city bus system.
Public transportation in the city is a city responsibility. It should be a high city priority. The city is almost 50 years old. It is time to grow up and stop stumbling in the dark on critical subjects such as public transportation.
Bill Crawford, South Lake Tahoe
Hmmm. He could’ve been writing about NLT.
Can we sue the County and individual councillors for breach of Statutory Duty or Mis/Malfeasance in Public Office?
Yep they use words like “infill” and taxes and jobs and climate and green objectives just like that law before Gov Brown. Was it SB900? Look at the Introduction and compare it to the Berkerly summation. Geez, do you think Squaw wrote the presentation knowing what Jerry’s new law needs to fasttrack a case AND put the onus of anti-development objectors. I think someone better tackle each and every one of those ‘ticks in the box’ at County level and in the Redesign Committee phase, whatya think?
2
Project Introduction
So secret you could not share the link?
Hey, this story (and a link to http://www.unofficialalpine.com) is circulating through member clubs of the Bay Area Concil at the Festival at AT&T Park. Very interesting.
Do you think every resort will jump on the paid parking bandwagon when their lots fill up with your refugees?
http://www.moonshineink.com/sections/spout/dear-editor-unhappy-homeowner
The arrogance at County level is pandemic. Sack the nabobs and start again.
Dear Unofficialalpine.com,
I was flicking thru Moonshine Ink’s stories and I noticed letters like this one, dated ONLY a month ago: http://www.moonshineink.com/comment/25422#comment-25422
I think the bus scheme – as budgeted and rubber stamped in July 2013 – crashed almost as soon as letters about Grand Juries and Political Fairness Commission findings also exposed the County’s reliance on, I think, committees full of possibly conflicted agenda drivers.
Has Northstar also pulled the pin from the subsidy which would, I think, only make Squaw build real estate near NStars’ real estate places !
Where did the County’s clowns get a permit to run their circus.
They’re a joke, Ms. Montomery.
Hi
Down Sth of Lake Tahoe, they allowed a casino on a 500-lot carpark.
For locals and tourists and the County Treasury, theres a bankrupt bus system. Does that sound familiar Ms> Montgomery? Your bus plan plummetted as resorts and counties jumped ship.
For locals and tourists, there’s $25/day parking. and nothing but problems ever since, Jennifer Montgomery,
Shops dread the loss of business. Tourists live in fear of parking fines, Ms. Mongomery.
There must be enough parking, Ms. Montgomery.
Can someone tell me why Amador Buses aren’t part of your bus network? What fall backs do you have, Ms. M, if KSL’s plans don’t work as planned?
Attached is an op-ed today in the SLT news: DON”T GO DOWN SLT’S PATH.
http://t.co/vwRfZrYEsm
Hi
Do fire truck ladders reach up to the 5th, 6th, 7th or 8th floor, or are people expected to jump 8 storys into fireman’s nets or inflateable bags?
At the snowbomb festival, Sugarbowl gives a $50-off season passes (ie from $250 for their adult ‘bronze-style’ pass.
Tempting! Haven’t skied there as I’ve always had SqauaAM_Sierra passes plus Epicpasses. Sugarbowl is a definite this season. It’s a bit closer to the place we stay at at TD too.
Just wondering
– how many cars fit on the lwr level of the parking area on the right. (See 2nd pic in the linked post)
– where’s the 500 carparks (rumored to be towards SC Rd)
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/263556-Friends-of-Squaw-Valley?p=4101845#post4101845
Also, are KSL paying heed and amending things?