Sometime this year, the Village at Palisades Tahoe Specific Plan will be reviewed by the Placer County Board of Supervisors.
The Village Plan is moving ahead in the process to pursue re-approval following Placer County’s release of the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR). County staff and their environmental consultants have provided more information and completed additional studies and analysis to address questions raised both by the appellate court and the public.
“We are confident that the thorough assessment of this project will satisfy the concerns the appellate court raised, and allow for the plan’s re-approval when it goes back before the Placer County Board of Supervisors later this year,” said Dee Byrne, Palisades Tahoe president and COO. “It’s time for this plan to move forward.”
The plan, which would be built almost entirely on existing asphalt parking lots and other disturbed areas, proposes up to 850 lodging units, including a mixture of hotel, condo hotel, fractional ownership, and timeshare units.
It also includes new, dedicated on-site workforce housing that will house 300 employees, over 450 new employee parking spaces, new parking structures that will maintain all existing day skier parking spaces.
In addition, the plan includes restoration of Washeshu Creek, approximately $5 million to support parks and recreation in Olympic Valley, and an additional $7 million in TOT revenue to contribute to regional workforce housing, transportation, tourism mitigation, and other regional priorities.
Should the county supervisors vote to approve the Village Specific Plan, it would not result in immediate construction or the end of the public process.
Approval would modify the existing land use designations and zoning, resulting in 58% fewer beds than allowed under the current zoning for Olympic Valley, restrict building heights and setbacks, allow the resort to submit project-specific applications to build on-site workforce housing for up to 300 employees, and more than double the acres of land placed into conservation preservation.
Below are five topics the court requested further information regarding the proposed plan.
WATER ISSUES: Even at full build-out, on average, the Village Specific Plan’s water needs represent less than 1% of the total watershed.
Additionally, a water supply analysis completed by the Olympic Valley Public Services District (OVPSD) for the period of 2016-2021 also showed that the water supply replenished itself year-over-year, even during drought years, and is not impacted by what may be occurring in the nearby Truckee River, which is located downstream.
According to Kat Smolen, hydrologist at Hydro Restoration and OVPSD board member, “the OVPSD completed its third quinquennial groundwater assessment for Water Years 2016-2021 to document the status of the groundwater management activities in the Olympic Valley Basin.
“Hydrologic data shows there is little change in the quantity of water pumped or the ability of the aquifer to fully recover each winter/spring. Further, the Olympic Valley Basin is functioning as expected, and there were no significant changes observed in the aquifer over the 2016 through 2021 Water Year.”
Plan approval does not preclude additional water supply evaluation and ongoing confirmation and assessment of an adequate water supply for the valley. A Will Serve Letter from the OVPSD will be required before building permits are issued.
HOUSING: The plan creates in-valley workforce housing and more lodging for overnight guests to stay in the Valley, reducing trips into and out of the Valley.
It also includes over 450 new employee parking spaces, maintains all existing day skier parking within new parking structures, provides underground parking for overnight guests, and generates millions of dollars for regional transit solutions.
TRAFFIC CONCERNS: The FEIR’s analysis shows that increased traffic from the project into the Tahoe Basin will not have a significant impact on air or water quality in the basin.
Palisades Tahoe has agreed to pay $2 million into a restricted fund held by TRPA at the time of building permits for future lodging developed under the Village at Palisades Tahoe Specific Plan.
In a letter to Placer County that can be found in the FEIR, TRPA said “this amount is a reasonable estimate of mitigation fees that would be required for a similar in-basin project,” and that the organization “appreciates the funding mechanism Palisades Tahoe has committed to in consultation with all parties and recognizes that the resulting funds will benefit both the Basin and the surrounding region.”
CONSTRUCTION NOISE: The FEIR provides further explanation showing how construction noise will attenuate after 50 feet, and additional mitigation to address noise from construction activities.
Importantly, construction will be intermittent during the years of Specific Plan implementation. Construction will ebb and flow with development approvals and the economy. The “25 years of construction” is a study period and was never meant to represent 25 years of continuous noise and construction.
WILDFIRES: New studies and training exercises have been conducted by regional and state agencies related to wildfire and evacuation.
CalFire officials recently said that Olympic Valley “is a good example of an area that could provide temporary refuge, or safe refuge if the decision is made to shelter-in-place versus evacuating.”
They also reported that the North Lake Tahoe region has multi-layered options for the protection of citizens, including controlling traffic with multi-lane options on regional roadways to safely get people out, and several “safe refuge” options in resort communities and other locations throughout the region should they be needed during an emergency event.
“What many people don’t realize is that as it relates to wildfire preparedness, Palisades Tahoe already has a dedicated trail crew of 20-25 employees with an annual budget of approximately $1 million to manage vegetation between May and October within the resort boundary,” Byrne said. “This work has been ongoing and annual for over 10 years and will not only continue, but be expanded with this plan’s approval and additional funding.”
For more information regarding the Village at Palisades Tahoe Specific Plan, visit future.palisadestahoe.com.
