Denise Davis – Forum Moderator
Good morning, Forum. How’s everybody doing? I’m Denise Davis your moderator. Ronda Tycer is our Forum recap editor. And John Crockett is our tech guru. As a reminder, our meeting is being recorded. Before you begin speaking, please state your name. While speaking, please be respectful. Personal attacks will not be tolerated. For those online, if you’d like to share URLs, post them in the Chat Box and they’ll be included at the end of the meeting recap. We partner with ivcbcommunity1st.org and IVCBA.org to get information out. So, be sure to visit their websites and sign up for their newsletters. To sign up for our Forum meeting notices and recaps, send an email to us at ivcbcommunityforum@gmail.com.
I want to let everybody know that if there’s something in particular you want to talk about—especially those on line—put a note in the Chat Box so we know. I’ve had some folks express disappointment that we didn’t get to talk about what they wanted, and I was unaware that there was something they wanted to talk about. So if you have a topic to talk about, post in the Chat or let me know.
Kari Ferguson – Incline Village General Improvement District Communication Coordinator
Good morning and Happy New Year! I want to welcome our new IVGID Board trustees Dave Nobel and Ray Tulloch. I’m very excited to have them join the Board of Trustees. Our next Board meeting is on January 11th. I’m going to post all the links in the Chat that I mention right now. So I’ll put our Board meeting packet and the link to the website.
We have something going on called our Last Track lottery. If you’re familiar with our Last Track program at Diamond Peak… We’ve tried to switch it up this year because we feel like the same people are getting in to purchase them. It’s hard for people to get off work or to go up to the ticket counter. We’re trying something new to alleviate some of that. So we have a lottery system where Picture Pass holders can sign up for the lottery to purchase tickets. I’ll put the link into the Chat for that, which includes all the information about communication and where the emails are getting sent from, the dates of the program, and everything.
I want to mention the IVGID Appreciation Day at Diamond Peak, which is set for January 30th through February 5th. We appreciate community members every day but this is just a little extra appreciation. I’ll put the link in the Chat.
We have our evening Snowflake Lodge Snowshoe Hikes beginning this month. The first one is January 27th. The entire calendar for Diamond Peak is on line, so I’ll give the link for the entire calendar you can copy it to your calendar at home. Diamond Peak has a lot of snow and awesome skiing and riding right now. So I hope you’re getting out there and enjoying it.
John Crockett – Washoe County Library, Head Librarian
With the Moonlight Show Shoe Hikes, will the Snowflake Lodge be open?
Kari Ferguson
Yes, but it’s a bit different this year. I’ll put the link in the Chat because we’re doing a bit different food this year. But the lodge is open and it’s really neat to go inside to get out of the weather for a hot minute.
Ann Nichols – Crystal Bay Resident, North Tahoe Preservation Alliance Director
I’m wondering if IVGID—as a large employer—has any plans for developing any workforce housing for IVGID employees.
Kari Ferguson
That’s not under our purview, which is only water, sewer, and recreation. That’s pretty much all we can do. There are lots of employees who are members of various committees throughout the community who are involved in that process. I believe the Tahoe Prosperity Center is hosting meetings, so we have lots of employees involved in that process.
I’m actually one of the people who get emails to try to help. It would be fabulous. I’m working remotely today because I don’t live in Incline anymore.
Ann Nichols
So it would be the County who is in charge of that?
John Crockett
I don’t think that anyone is in charge of it but…
Denise Davis
It’s an issue that is outside of IVGID’s mandate—water, sewer, and recreation.
Kathie Julian – Incline Resident, Washoe Board of Adjustment Member
Are radon kits available at the Recreation Center?
Kari Ferguson
I am not certain. I’ll check with the Recreation enter. They generally are. We had a huge stash of them. But let me confirm that.
[Submitted post meeting.] There are radon kits available at the Recreation Center. Just walk up to the front desk and ask them and they will be able to help you.
Kathie Julian
My second question is would it be possible to get a count of how many of the current IVGID employees live in Incline Village and Crystal Bay, how many live in Carson City, in California, and how many live in Reno? I think it would be interesting to have those statistics—not names, just numbers.
Kari Ferguson
I can contact our Human Resources (HR) Department to see if that’s something they can do. I’m not sure if it’s allowable, but I will ask.
Kathie Julian
That is to inform us of the need for workforce housing. I think most all of us would agree it would be best to have our IVGID employees living in our community. Thanks.
Kari Ferguson
I understand. I lived there for 18 years. So I totally get it. It’s a different world right now. Some employees have to work remotely. It is what it is. I come in and I do the commute. I still love the community and want to work there, and choose to work there even though I can’t live there right now.
John Crockett
Diamond Peak has been open consistently throughout the storms. So from my observation there are people in town and I’m sure they’re commuting but they are continuing operations.
Kari Ferguson
I want to say that the employees at Diamond Peak have just been going above and beyond to keep our mountain open. When most resorts were closed after that big storm, we were open almost top to bottom. They are doing a fantastic job of keeping the mountain open and keeping people safe, and maintaining the larger ski area. I don’t know if anyone noticed that the [8:47] Terrain Park has moved. So we got Penguin back on the slopes there. That was a favorite run for a lot of people who’ve skied there for years. That whole region and Penguin are open again, so it gives people more space to spread out which makes things safer.
Tom Millhoff – Incline Village Resident
Hi, Kari. It’s your old neighbor Tom Millhoff. One of the gripes about Diamond Peak is that—too predictably—the Crystal Run won’t be open until halfway through the day. So my kids are all wondering, why is that? Why can’t they staff to get Crystal open so the people who don’t want to be stuck down there with all of the visitors on the bunny slopes can get up and actually ski?
Kari Ferguson
Part of it is an icing situation where Crystal sits. It gets wind and ice on the lifts and chairs. It has to be thawed out and dug out. That’s part of our issue. It takes a lot of manpower to make that happen. I will give that feedback to Mike Bandolin. I’m meeting with him later this afternoon.
Tom Millhoff
I would share with you that our weather isn’t remarkably worse that it used to be—it’s obviously variable—but the performance at Crystal is. Like the other day, they didn’t have enough de-icer up there. That was pretty predictable. We knew the storm was coming. You know it’s going to be an ice problem. So why can’t you staff to open that lift especially when it’s crowded? My kids are grumbling about it. They’re naming names. And Mike’s name is on that list.
Kari Ferguson
Tell them to call me. Tell the boys to call me. I’ll take the heat. [I’ll do that.] We are severely short staffed at Diamond Peak, as is everyone. I’m sure you know that. I’m really pleased we have Snowflake, the BBQ situation up there is happening, which didn’t happen last year at all. That gives you another food option to spread people out more. We’re really trying. But if you know anyone who needs a part time job, we’d love to have them.
Tom Millhoff
I’ll tell my kids to go to work there. That’s the answer.
Kari Ferguson
I’ll tell them when they call.
Andy Whyman – Incline Village Resident
May I jump in here for a moment? I’d like to take a second to perhaps correct the historical record. The notion that IVGID has no responsibility for workforce housing is a somewhat malleable concept. In the early 2000s, there was a robust discussion that took up the better part of an evening at IVGID to discuss this whole matter. And there was a vote taken about workforce housing by the community. And it was almost passed by the Board. So I
think that notion is somewhat malleable. It depends on the interest of people and where things are—and were, historically. I wouldn’t say IVGID has no ability to influence or to take part in workforce housing. Thank you.
Crystal Sawyer White – Tahoe Prosperity Center Senior Housing Program Manager
I want to introduce myself. This is the first time I have attended this meeting. We are addressing affordable and workforce housing. We have about 45 members in a partnership. We have a contract with Washoe County to address this. We have a Housing Roadmap that we will present to the public in a press release in the next coming weeks. We hired a PR firm. I’ve been working since August. I’m new to this. I just want to let you know we are addressing workforce and affordable housing.
Denise Davis
Thank you Crystal. Thanks for joining us. Linda Offerdahl has joined us. I know that you are part of a group meeting about workforce housing. Do you have anything you want to contribute?
Linda Offerdahl – Incline Resident, Incline Village Crystal Bay Business and Community Association Executive Director
I just want to reinforce what Crystal just said. The Washoe Tahoe Housing Partnership has been funded with a consultant by Washoe County. Washoe County is taking the lead on this. The Tahoe Prosperity Center is organizing the overall effort. Many community members are involved. We’ll get more involved once that plan rolls out.
Denise Davis
Crystal, our group is always happy to hear what’s going on, so if you want to come and talk to us and fill us in on things, feel free to contact us and we can block off some time for you to do that.
Crystal Sawyer White
Yes, I’ve met Linda in person at some of the town halls.
Ann Nichols
Has the Prosperity Center actually done anything? Do you have an example of any housing that the Prosperity Center has achieved?
Crystal Sawyer White
There was an assessment in South Lake Tahoe with the city council. They interviewed over 1000 employees and residents. That’s posted on our site. Number Two, there’s an action plan. There’s a $100 million project that’s being built right now in South Lake Tahoe for affordable housing. The 2nd phase is Washoe County Incline Village. We’re addressing almost 1200 units. We’re in the process of location. There’s a Tahoe Master Plan. We’ve been working with the Planners and with Commissioner Alexis Hill. So yes, we’re in the midst of this. The commissioners will be voting on it this month. I will keep attending these meetings if you have any more questions.
Ann Nichols
Are those units being proposed in Reno or up here—1000 units?
Crystal Sawyer White
Incline Village and Crystal Bay.
Ann Nichols
Where?
Crystal Sawyer White
They haven’t decided on that. Commissioner Hill has to vote and address certain parcels on the Master Plan. It’s on the TRPA website. If you want to list your email I can submit the Master Plan to you. It’s a public record.
Ann Nichols
Kristina Hill, you were with the South Shore project. You were on the Board. Is that the Prosperity Center doing that?
Kristina Hill – Incline Village Resident
I am on the Board of the St. Joseph Community Land Trust. To the best of my knowledge, that Trust has been pivotal in constructing and obtaining affordable housing projects in South Lake Tahoe. I have never heard mention of the Prosperity Center in any of my Board meeting discussions about affordable housing. I had my hand raised because the St. Joseph Community Land Trust has been so successful in South Lake Tahoe constructing affordable housing and continuing to work with the people who live there and are qualified to live, so before we even bring it to the community. So lots more input will take place.
Denise Davis
I was reminded of a comment made perhaps a year ago at a CAB meeting when we were discussing STRs. One of the public comments was that for second-homeowners that live here in the area, it’s not feasible for them to rent out their homes long-term, because they can’t kick out a renter because they want to come up for a few weeks. So I don’t know if there’s some way to approach that slice of the market. But the comment made was that in their life, STRs were attractive because they could block out times when they want to be in their property. But they’re not in their property much. So if it was feasible for them to rent to someone long term, they’d be happy to do that. But realistically they can’t kick out the renter for a couple of weeks when they want to be here in the summer. I’m just passing the comment along that… I don’t know how you work around that. That’s the situation people find themselves in. They’re not opposed to renting their house. It just doesn’t work. So just passing that along.
I don’t see anyone from the Sheriff Substation or Fire Department, but I want to remind everyone that Red Day/Green Day parking info is available at 775 833-5555. You can also check the website, and the URL will be in our recap.
Kari Ferguson
One thing I didn’t mention because I thought the Sheriff might be here, we have had graffiti on some of our venues, in [ ] bathrooms and over at the Village Green. So we’re just asking the community to keep an eye out. If you see something that doesn’t look right, or somebody is doing graffiti, please call the Sheriff Department nonemergency dispatch number (775 785 9276) just to help us keep all of our facilities as beautiful as they are. We have had a couple of incidents over the last week.
Ronda Tycer – Incline Village Resident, IVCB Community Forum Recap Editor
I just wanted to say one more thing about the Tahoe Prosperity survey that was made a year or so ago. I read it very thoroughly and I disagreed with the conclusions. It seemed the conclusions were being made more for a place like South Lake Tahoe than Incline Village. I think before we go forward with anything in Incline Village we need to have a robust discussion of those results. My own take on the conclusions was that they were not necessarily justified by the data or community input. So before we go forward with Master Plans and whatever else we intend to do to help with our housing problem, let’s go back and look at that data carefully and see if it really applies to Incline Village in the way the authors of the report decided. Thank you.
Ann Nichols
My view on the Prosperity Center is that they are very well meaning people who want to gather data and be helpful. But they’re not elected, and they are a group of business people. Some are from the Tahoe Beach Club, and so on, and they’ve just been given $20,000 I believe from Washoe County. They were hired on a contract. Alexis Hill told me. So I’m concerned who’s in charge here? Are these the people who should be determining our future?
Linda Offerdahl
The Tahoe Prosperity Center is more than a couple of business people that represents all of the agencies and major players in our region. They do significant work on bringing to light the economic needs and how to get vitality in our entire region, not just in one area. They are not a special-interest group of business people.
Doug Flaherty – Incline Resident, Tahoe Sierra Clean Air Coalition Director
Thanks, Crystal for joining today. Have there been any public meetings to discuss this plan that’s being developed? Has the public been invited to these meetings since you are receiving money from Washoe County?
Crystal Sawyer White
Thank you, Doug, for that question. No, we have made public comments. I attended the meetings reinforcing…. It’s not something we’re trying to force into the community. I’m looking at the Chat to search to bring these links up. There was an assessment for Washoe County residents, just like for South Lake Tahoe. They interviewed employees at the Hyatt. So they have been interviewed. Currently we are interviewing. I have an interview at 10 today with Parasol‘s Claudia. So they are sharing their concerns, suggestions, and feedback. This is something that is not just going to be voted on solely by Commissioner Alexis Hill. We’re presenting suggestions and feedback from members of the community, employers, and so forth. So I will put the information in the Chat so you can review what we’ve done so far.
Doug Flaherty
I guess the question is… In the past, the community has not had input on some of the plans that are just all of a sudden rolled out. We find that plans are being developed by these small committees without any sort of public notice that there are meetings in which they are creating these plans. I guess maybe I didn’t explain my question well enough. I just would encourage you, for any sort of meetings in which decisions are made regarding this upcoming plan—since Washoe County has provided public funds for this, I believe you may be subject to the Open Meeting Law of the State of Nevada.
Crystal Sawyer White
Thank you. I want to correct myself. Linda posted on her publication, so we had like a town hall. So Linda, do you want to say a bit more about inviting the public at the Parasol?
Linda Offerdahl
I think that committee… really, once they have that blueprint, is going to roll it out into public meetings. It’s really not at that point yet to share anything, Doug. The study Ronda referred to is on their Tahoe Prosperity Center website. That’s available to anyone who wants to read it.
Kathie Julian
Will that blueprint—before it is finalized—be shared with the smaller working group which comprises the heads of Parasol and various interest groups—business interest groups here as well as community members here. Will that be shared with that lower-level kind of working group?
Linda Offerdahl
I don’t know what stage it’s at. But when they roll it out it’s going to be made available to everybody for input. So I think there’s a lot of back and forth that will come out of it.
Doug Flaherty
So when you say “when they roll it out,” who are “they”?
Linda Offerdahl
Tahoe Prosperity Center and Washoe County.
Doug Flaherty
So, back to my question… These meetings that are occurring between Washoe County and the Prosperity Center and housing partnerships… You’re developing a product with county money.
I think there should be public noticing of any meeting that would allow us to give input on that product. I’ll stop there.
Denise Davis
Thanks, Doug. I guess if you have concerns, you might want to contact Commissioner Hill and ask her about your concerns.
Before I move on to the next topic, which is our Tahoe Area Plan, I want to make a few announcements. Our agency meetings seem to be off to a slow start this year, so I don’t have too many to tell you about. There was a Board of County Commissioner meeting January 3rd, which was mostly swearing in of new officers, and a lot of housekeeping for the new commissioners. In case you’re not up to speed, we have two new County commissioners out of five. There will likely be some changes to the prior course. There is no meeting on Tuesday January 10th. The next meeting will be January 17th.
The Washoe Board of Adjustment met last night. Two Incline area items were on the agenda: the IVGID bike park Phase 2, which is part of the pump track, and the Roberts garage on Wassou. Kathie Julian serves on that board. If you have questions about those, she might be a person you want to contact.
Judy Simon – Incline Resident, TRPA Advisory Planning Commission Member
The APC of TRPA will meet January 11th. That agenda is posted. They are looking at Area Plans, but not in Washoe. I’ve looked at it briefly. They’re all in South Shore. I can put that link in the Chat.
Denise Davis
I looked at that last night and everything I saw was South-Shore related.
Judy Simon
Right, it does not pertain to us. But, they are supposed to meet regularly but have cancelled the last several meetings. I don’t know what their future agendas are even though I serve on that committee.
Denise Davis
There is a TRPA Governing Board meeting later in the month, which I’ll announce at our next meeting in 2 weeks. I have two more announcements. The IV Mobility Hub Committee, which is the bus hub committee, will meet January 30th. Their last meeting was at the end of November. So mark that on your calendar and please attend.
Finally, I just want to remind everyone that the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training Academy begins January 19th. It’s a free training to help you be prepared for emergencies. And if you want to branch out and help your community, we’re always happy to have more folks.
There was a Washoe Citizen Advisory Board (CAB) meeting on Tuesday night. We had two topics of discussion. The second thing was Captain Solferino came and talked to us again about cannabis consumption lounges and impaired driving. For the majority of the meeting we discussed the Tahoe Area Plan amendments. That leads us into our next discussion. I saw that someone had posted in the Chat they want to talk about the Tahoe Area Plan. I don’t know who, but if anyone wants to start that discussion, please do.
Kristina Hill
I posted that. I attended the CAB via zoom and heard Jacob’s talk and Jeff Cowen discuss the process for the proposed Washoe Tahoe Area Plan amendment that would allow single family dwellings in the downtown commercial town center.
There were many people—more than 10 attending that. There was no positive comment made. There might have been people who wanted it, but they didn’t speak up at that meeting. It was pretty overwhelming that the community is against the amendment to the Area Plan to allow for single-family dwellings (SFDs) in the town center. We need more affordable housing in the town center, not more million-dollar condos. I know the impetus for the amendment it seems was the application for the 947 Boulevard project on the corner of Southwood and Highway 28, which is 40 luxury condos in the town center. When they made the application, they thought condominiums were an allowed use, but, in fact, condominiums are single-family dwellings (SFDs) and are not allowed currently in the Tahoe Area Plan. They were the impetus for the county to submit an application to TRPA to amend the Area Plan to allow for SFDs in the entire town center. That is the honest truth. Obviously, they are not the applicant for the amendment. It’s Washoe County. So I had lots of questions for Jacob such as where are they at in the process of amending the Tahoe Area Plan, and what’s been submitted, and how is that going to happen.
He responded to me, and I want to share what he said.
They have just received the “notice of intent” that the County wants to amend the Washoe Tahoe Area Plan, but they haven’t received anything else. In the packet the County is required to submit to TRPA, and TRPA has requested that they submit that packet by January 18th, it includes written findings saying how this will not impact the environmental thresholds that put a limit on how much can be done in the Tahoe Basin before it becomes a “significant environmental impact.” They have not submitted anything yet, but it will be forthcoming.
I asked Jacob if TRPA supports this. He said, “No, not necessarily.” Until they can review it they will wait to make a recommendation of whether they can support it or not. So it’s kind of a “wait and see.” I think it’s pretty crazy that the 947 project is allowed to propose 40 SFDs in the town center, and we’re changing the whole zoning for the entire town center to allow SFDs. What’s that going to do for parcels that are available for multifamily housing which would be more appropriate for workforce housing and affordable housing. I think at least a percentage of the proposed units should be deed-restricted for affordable housing.
That’s all I want to say. I did hear back from Jacob. We’re in the process. There’s still opportunity to get involved and voice our support or nonsupport of this amendment, which is going to change the character of our community for sure.
Denise Davis
I’ll just make a couple of comments. I serve on our CAB. I think I’m the only CAB member here with us today. I do have my notes from the meeting. My observation of the discussion was that there were two veins of discussion. There was discussion regarding the 947 condo-project specifically, and there was discussion mostly expressing frustration about the process of amending the Area Plan, and the appearance of the plan being amended to suit a current development project being proposed. That was the feel of the discussion.
Just a quick recap. I did take notes during Mr. Stock’s presentation. Our Tahoe Area Plan was just adopted in 2021. He went through the process of how Area Plans are amended. Quickly, the process is
– a jurisdiction—which in our case is Washoe County—submits a Notice of Intent to the TRPA. – – They consult with the TRPA staff.
– The agency—again that would be Washoe County—submits supporting materials.
– Then there is a TRPA staff review.
– Then they initiate the local government adoption process. In our case, that would be the county and the county commissioners.
– Then there are informational steps. There is a presentation to the Regional Planning Implementation Committee (RPIC).
– Then there would be local adoption, which is again our county.
– And then the TRPA would have public hearings with the TRPA’s Advisory Planning Committee (APC), the RPIC, and the Governing Board.
In theory it seems like a long process. It seems like we would get a lot of information about when we could input our comments. But we know that we’ve had different experiences with that. For anyone who’s listening, that’s why we’re kind of so hyper about being able to comment publicly, because sometimes the process seems to fly past us.
Kathie Julian
I just have a couple of points. First, Kristina I share your concerns. One of my main concerns is the process. My second concern is the lack of consultation with the community on an Area Plan that was many years in the making and had sufficient consultation. But now they’re changing a significant aspect of the Plan with very little town meetings and public consultation. That’s first.
Secondly, I would say I have a somewhat inconsistent view with the TRPA representative who seemed to suggest that the Tahoe Area Plan didn’t talk about workforce or employee housing, or stress that use in the town center. My reading of the Area Plan is that it was a very important component, and that’s why they made the restriction on SFDs. I’ll put into the Chat Box some links to sections of the plan—which is voluminous—to help people find those sections where they spoke about employee housing.
Third, again, let’s step back from this purchased housing or deed restrictions. Workforce people… I know this because my dad was a construction worker. He didn’t buy a house for 40 years until he was in California. He could not buy a house because he might have to move because of work. There are a whole bunch of people out there who work in our community who can’t buy a house not only because they don’t have the down payment, but because their work situation is tenuous. You don’t buy a house if you have a tenuous work situation. So we need to step away from this “affordable attainable” housing, or deed-restricted housing. We need solidly managed, professionally managed apartments—multifamily units that can be rented, but which are decent. They are not like—I’m sorry to say—not like 786 Southwood where you have two or three families living in one apartment and no parking, and, which I don’t think is well maintained. We need to focus on that. That’s especially a comment for the Tahoe Prosperity Center representative. Thank you very much.
Kristina Hill
I just want to add that I took a picture of the PowerPoint presented at the CAB. The Board of County Commissioners has already had a First Reading of this Area Plan amendment. They approved it even though so many people braved the storm and went to this night meeting to voice their opposition. They approved it. Then January 18, there is a draft package sent to TRPA Staff, February they’re going to RPIC, March to APC, March they’re going to RPIC again, and then April to the Governing Board where this could be approved. It is being railroaded, I think. In 4 months this is being approved, just in time for construction season to start. I think it’s really important that we all get our voices heard and try to communicate with the RPIC and APC and the county, and TRPA, at all the meetings that this is not what we want for our community.
Ann Nichols
We’ve got to get our act together here. Just as an example, Placer County has already gone forward as the poster child for the Area Plan amendment. They’ve been working on it for 2 years. When it was rolled out, that’s when we got to see it. It’s a lot of stuff—extra height, density, coverage, and 500’ long continuous walls, 72’ in height.
They gave us no detail at the CAB, saying “Oh, we just don’t really know yet.” But they really do.
They will do the same thing here. TRPA was totally on board with Placer County per John Hester. This is again where we’re just being… They think we’re stupid. That’s actually the deal. So we’ve got to get organized.
Miranda Jacobson
I’d like to go back to the cannabis lounge issue you mentioned briefly. One time I was on the road and there was somebody out of control behind me. It was very scary. So my big concern about cannabis lounges is actually putting more impaired drivers on the road. I don’t hear anybody really opposing it. So I’m just concerned about that.
Denise Davis
I’ll make one more comment about our Tahoe Area Plan discussion. I do not have the email in front of me, but I will share that when Washoe County first announced that they wanted to amend our Area Plan, I contacted Courtney Wieche at the County who is the lead person on that, and asked, “We just got this plan passed. Why are we already amending it?” The County’s stance is the issue is the wording. The wording is “multifamily.” Because of the definitions the Planning Department uses, their stance is “We did not foresee that this was going to be a conflict because of the definition of these terms.” Their definitions are not always the common citizen definition of these words. So the county’s stance is they want to make this plan amendment because of the definitions attached to these terms, specifically “multifamily housing.” I just want to pass that along. Again, I don’t have the email in front of me, but that was the gist of the conversation.
Kathie Julian
I am just putting things into the Chat Box. They are the links where you can see the plan focuses on employee housing as a priority in our downtown area. I think in approaching this, again, it is a puzzle as to why they need to de-emphasize employee housing throughout the town just to accommodate this one developer, or in response to the issue raised by this one developer—as you’re pointing out with that language focus. In any case, thanks.
Kristina Hill
I can’t believe it. I’ve been a planner in Tahoe for 42 years. And if you don’t know the difference between “single family” and “multifamily” dwellings, and you’re a Senior Planner at TRPA, or hold a planner position for Washoe County and make these decisions, and you think that condos are multifamily, that is unbelievable to me. And the fact that Jacob Stock laughed at that… It was just beyond… It was just crazy. I really am upset by that, because never have condominiums been considered multifamily since I’ve been here.
Doug Flaherty
I’ll try to be brief. Like it or not—or realize it or not—we’re under assault by TRPA and developers. The end game is to basically change the Tahoe Regional Plan to allow significant height, density, and coverage through a variety of ways. Right now we’re facing the Tahoe Area Plan, Placer Area Plan modifications, and the eventual TRPA proposed height, density, and coverage plan. This is not redevelopment. It’s overdevelopment. Our elected officials are well aware of what they’re doing. As a community, eventually we need to force an Environmental Impact Study (EIP) that considers the cumulative impacts of all these plans and actions.
TRPA and our elected officials know very well that if they do it this way in incremental slices, it’s going to be a done deal. As far as the proposal for Washoe County’s Letter of Intent, and completing the Environmental Checklist—that thing is a sham. There’s nothing in the TRPA Code of Ordinances that requires anybody to do a Cumulative Effect Analysis. So folks, we need to get active. We need to get on these calls. We need to get on the meetings. We need to write Alexis Hill, who is on several of these committees. And as you’ll recall, they tried to ramrod this through when they didn’t understand what they were doing several months ago. They put this on the Consent Calendar at TRPA.
Judy Simon
I notice that Mike Dunn and Tyler St. Pierre are here. And I’ve been wondering about an update on the EKN [Boulder Bay/Resort at Tahoe] project. I haven’t seen it come through any of the various meetings we all try to track.
Mike Dunn – Spokesperson for the EKN Boulder Bay Development
I’ll respond to that. First of all, Happy New Year everybody. I hope everyone is doing okay with the snow and there’s more coming. Whether that’s good or bad depends on how you look at it. I did join this intentionally to invite everyone to an update on the project. If you’ve followed the project, you know that we’ve hosted probably half a dozen or so community meetings in the past and attended many forums. Members of our development team will actually be hosting an event at the Incline Bowl Wednesday. It’s going to be a presentation along with a social mixer for questions and answers. It’s not a formal “sit-down and listen to us talk to you.” At the top of the hour at 4, 5, and 6 pm, we’ll give a short presentation, and then be there to talk to community members and answer any questions they have on the project. We have notices going out today and throughout the weekend for the event. It may feel like a bit of a late notice for which I apologize, but it’s been very difficult near the Christmas break to schedule anything and get things done with the masses that were in town. So that’s why I’m here today. Please spread the word. We will have notices going out on several different channels. I’ll put my information in the Chat Box. If you’d like to give me your information or email me, I’ll be happy to provide you a flyer for the event. And I’m happy to answer any questions.
Denise Davis
Yes, if you want, please put your contact info in the Chat. It will be in our recap that goes out. I just remind you that we also have an IVGID Board meeting going on Wednesday night. In the future maybe you want to check the IVGID calendar for conflicts.
Mike Dunn
I understand. With Christmas and New Years, it took us 1½ weeks just to communicate with Incline Bowl because we did want to do something a bit more social and inviting different people in the community. Unfortunately, this is the day it fell on with all of our schedules. It’s been a busy holiday. The other thing I was going to invite anybody if you do want to reach out to me directly, we’re in town for several days, with Ebbie and Tom and members of our development team, and we’d be happy to get on calls with anybody, or attending other community forums, zooms, etc. We have been very public-faced. I would consider our whole developments throughout the entire region. I hear a lot about public meetings and public notices. We’re definitely here to attend and to participate anywhere we can even if you want to sit down with us one on one and have a cup of coffee. I’m definitely here to answer any questions with the development team or to set up other events and meetings in the future.
Ann Nichols
Have you put in your application with Washoe County yet for changing all the road configuration in the project? The neighborhood is very concerned because now people won’t be coming in off 28. They’ll come in primarily off of Stateline Road, and be dropping people off up on Lakeview Road. And now you’ve also changed the configuration of Wellness Way. So I asked the County what do they think about all this, and they said, well we haven’t got a formal application from you guys. But yet you have applied with TRPA.
Mike Dunn
Yes, I’m here to invite you guys to our event. We’ll be happy to sit down with you. Please come to the event to ask that. I’m not here armed to discuss all the particulars of the project. I hope that’s okay with you and everybody else that we are bringing in the development team for the week, and happy to meet with anyone or talk with anybody. You can also reach out with specific questions to me. You have my contact information. I actually sent you an email this morning if you want to meet next week. And that goes for anybody else here.
Ann Nichols
Have you applied to Washoe County? Isn’t that a simple…
Mike Dunn
I’m a local resident in charge of sales and marketing. So I’m not handling the paperwork or processes or applications. That’s why the development team is in town next week. And we’ll talk with anybody more.
Yolanda Knaak – Incline Resident
That meeting starts at 4pm, is that correct?
Mike Dunn
It is a little bit different than our previous meetings. We’re not doing an RSVP. And we’ll be there from 4 to 7pm. At the top of every hour, 4pm, 5pm, and 6pm, we’ll have a short presentation in the meeting space above Incline Bowl. We’ll bring everybody up to speed on the project. What we really want to do is allow ample time in between these presentations to socially speak to members of the community, answer questions, and be there to talk to people more one on one. Sometimes in a room full of people, and some of our previous town halls with 200 people, sometimes people don’t get to ask the question they want or have any engagement with the developer. I’m hearing today on this call that is very important for a lot of people who live in Incline. So that’s what we want to do. Just be there to meet with you and talk to you and answer any questions you have.
Denise Davis
So it’s basically the format of your last presentations where at the top of the hour there’s a small presentation, and then the rest of the hour is open to questions, answers, and discussion.
Mike Dunn
Yes, but the last presentation was 45-50 minutes of us presenting and then 15-20 mins of Q&A. Then because we were staffed and we were very full—we had hundreds of people attend these events—there wasn’t a lot of social engagement time. And again, sometimes in different formats people—whether it’s intimidation or just fear of public speaking—may not voice or get to ask the questions they want to ask. We’re minimizing our presentation significantly so that we can meet with local community members and answer their questions and be there for them at their schedule. You don’t have to be there or RSVP. If you want to come in say at 4:30, the presentation might be over, you still have that social engagement, but at 5pm we’ll re-present for about 20 minutes. I’ll put my phone in the Chat. Feel free to reach out to me. If you want to meet with me or talk with me or I can help you out on questions I can’t answer, I can get you answers. So please let me know how I can assist.
Denise Davis
All right. Thank you, Mike.
Linda Offerdahl
This weekend Toccata will present their Winter Baroque concert on Saturday at 3pm at St. Patrick’s. If you’ve never heard them, it’s right here in town and a little bit of culture. And IVCBA has a New Member Welcome Orientation on Thursday at 4:30pm at Mountain WorkSpace. If you’d like to talk about IVCBA, if you’re new to town, or if you know somebody new to town, please send them over to get acquainted.
Denise Davis
Mr. Crockett had to attend to some library business, so I don’t have any library announcements today. Any final comments?
Kathie Juiian
I just want to continue to put this on the agenda of our community. We need to follow up with the County on the Washoe County Evacuation Plan, which has a portion for Incline Village Crystal Bay. That plan which came out quite a few months ago is the first phase of a multi-phase plan. But the assumptions underlying that plan do not factor in tourism, only the permanent residents. We need to continue to follow up with Alexis Hill and the county to make sure that they revise their assumptions. If they go forth with this plan and say they only have to evacuate a third of the people who will be in the Basin/Incline on a wildfire weekend, it will be a useless plan. So just keep that on the radar screen, and remind our representative of that when you have the opportunity. Thank you.
Denise Davis
I’ll remind everyone that our next meeting will be in 2 weeks on January 20th. Have a safe and productive 2 weeks, and we’ll see you then. Bye.
Chat Box
09:03:22 From Kristina’s iPad : Area Plan amendment
09:14:19 From Kari Ferguson : Welcome Crystal
09:15:31 From kathie julian : Denise, I have comment about housing
09:15:42 From Kari Ferguson : Welcome to our new trustees! Dave and Ray!
Next meeting is 1/11IVGID Board Meeting: https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/ivgid/board-of-trustees/meetings-and-agendas
Last Tracks Lottery: https://www.diamondpeak.com/event/last-tracks-lottery/
IVGID Community appreciation:
Jan 30- Feb 5
Evening snowshoe hike at Diamond Peak
Diamond Peak Event Calendar:
09:17:43 From kathie julian : Please put the links to these websites on our chat. Thanks!
09:18:43 From kathie julian : Please provide the list of persons on the TPC working group – the advisory list. I am on it as well as Mary Danahey and Jeff Sheldon. Please share the full list.
09:22:30 From kathie julian : Thanks Linda!
09:27:28 From kathie julian : Key to housing is rental housing for workforce, not purchase housing. That means apartments, professionally managed.
09:32:26 From Crystal Sawyer-White : www.tahoeprosperity.org
09:39:03 From kathie julian : I believe there were 37 persons at CAB.
09:39:52 From Crystal Sawyer-White : Washoe County Tahoe Area Plan
09:39:56 From Crystal Sawyer-White : https://www.trpa.gov/wp-content/uploads/documents/WCTAP_Final_Full.pdf
09:45:17 From Crystal Sawyer-White : https://tahoeprosperity.org/housing-tahoe/washoe-tahoe-housing-partnership/
09:52:52 From kathie julian : The Washoe County Tahoe Area Plan on page 31 states the allowable uses — multi-family units (not single family condos). The Tahoe Area Plan encourages affordable and employee housing in the Incline Village Commercial Regulatory Zone – Special Area 1.
09:54:22 From kathie julian : Link to Washoe Tahoe Area Plan—See page 33, and pages 41-43:
09:54:47 From kathie julian : Page 41:
Policy LU2-9 Single Family Residential in the Incline Village Commercial Regulatory Zone Single family dwellings shall only be allowed in the Incline Village Commercial regulatory zone when they are part of a mixed-use development or when they are affordable housing units.
See Development Code Section 110.220.150 (3), Incline Village Commercial Regulatory Zone Special Policies. https://www.trpa.gov/wp-content/uploads/documents/WCTAP_A.DevelopmentCode_Final.pdf
09:55:06 From iPhone (2) : Comment: PACASA promotes multi-family use.
09:55:23 From kathie julian : Policy LU5-3 Preferred Areas for Affordable and Employee Housing: The Crystal Bay Tourist, Incline Village Commercial, Ponderosa Ranch (Special Area), and Incline Village Residential regulatory zones are preferred areas for affordable, moderate, achievable and employee housing.
From Page 33 of Appendix A referenced above:
Section 110.220.150 Incline Village Commercial Regulatory Zone Special Policies.
The following special policies will be implemented in the Incline Village Commercial Regulatory Zone.
1. The Incline Village Commercial Regulatory Zone includes the following special designations as defined in TRPA Code of Ordinances Section 11.6.3, Special Designations:
a. Preferred Affordable Housing Area
b. Scenic Restoration Area
2. Parking areas should be developed taking access from local streets such as Alder Avenue and Incline Way.
10:00:12 From Crystal Sawyer-White : Hi Everyone. Here is my email if you have any questions crystal@tahoeprosperity.org
10:01:16 From Crystal Sawyer-White : I have to attend a meeting. Thank you for allow me to attend.
10:02:37 From kathie julian : Thanks Crystal!
10:05:48 From Mike Dunn : Tahoe Biltmore Event Wednesday Jan 11 4-7pm at Bowl Incline. Presentation and mixer.
10:07:08 From Mike Dunn : If you would like to discuss the Tahoe Biltmore project. Please feel to contact me or visit our website. Mike Dunn 775-901-6633 or mdunn@chaseinternational.com or visit our site www. reviatlizetahoebiltmore.com
Participants:
Andrew Whyman
Ann Nichols
Crystal Sawyer-White
David Simon
Denise Davis
Doug Flaherty
Helen Neff
John Crockett
Jon & Beth Davidson
Kari Ferguson
Kathie Julian
Kristina Hill
Linda Offerdahl
Mike Dunn
Miranda Jacobson
Pam Straley
Ronda Tycer
Sam Levine
Tom Millhoff
Tyler St. Pierre
Yolanda Knaak