Squaw Valley Listens to Community & Modifies Village Plans

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Squaw Valley Village model.  photo:  friends of squaw valley
Squaw Valley’s current Village model. photo: friends of squaw valley

“Many groups in the Tahoe region have shown their willingness to engage in a community dialogue, and their voices will be reflected in the revisions of our plans.  We are very thankful for their feedback and hope more groups will join our conversation.” – Chevis Hosea, vice president of development for Squaw Valley/Sierra Sun.

Squaw Valley officials have held over 200 community meetings and have gotten over 1,500 comments all concerning their current 101.5 acre village plan.  Squaw Valley has announced that they’ll be modifying their current plan based on comments and feedback they’ve gotten back form the community the past 3 months.

Squaw’s actual village right now.  All that parking lot and more will be village in the current plan
Squaw’s actual village right now. All that parking lot and more will be village in the current plan

Squaw Valley’s existing plans for their new village have come under a lot of scrutiny and criticism.  The Sierra Club, Friends of Squaw Valley, Sierra Watch, and more have come out against the current village plans.

“We acknowledge the existing village needs to grow and improve.  The … project as currently proposed would be too dense, too large and out of scale with the acreage available. … The end result would be an urbanized city, not a rural alpine village.” – Ed Heneveld, a member of the Friends of Squaw Valley steering committee and a 35-year Olympic Valley resident/Sierra Sun

Squaw village model.  photo:  friends of squaw valley
Squaw’s current village model. photo: friends of squaw valley

NEW SQUAW VILLAGE PLANS:

– Squaw hasn’t released any of the details yet

– Squaw has stated that there is no release date for the new plans

Village plans showing 132,000 square foot aquatic center.  photo:  moonshine ink
Current Village plans showing 132,000 square foot aquatic center. photo: moonshine ink

CURRENT SQUAW VILLAGE PLANS:

– Squaw Creek would be restored and have a walkway put in next to it at a cost of $1.5 million

– Grand Camp = a 132,000-square foot building with indoor aquatic center, indoor play structures, interactive gaming

– The Olympic House would be destroyed & The Chammy would be awkwardly saved

– Ice Rink near funitel

– 1,093 lodging units, 47,000 square feet in commercial space and new amenities 

– Will take 12-15 years to complete in 4 phases

Current village plans.  photo:  moonshine ink
Current village plans for $1.5 million revamp of Squaw Creek. photo: moonshine ink

It will be very interesting to see how Squaw modifies their current village plans and what they’ll be willing to give up.  We’re hoping that the new plans are available to the public before the start of the coming winter season.  Once they’re available, we’ll make sure to pass the information on to you.

Learn more here:  Squaw Valley Working on Updated Expansion Proposal


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11 thoughts on “Squaw Valley Listens to Community & Modifies Village Plans

  1. I will be anxious to see the new plans and what is realistically on the table for development. Does this plan include anything regarding Alpine Meadows?

  2. Honestly the indoor big barn will be a lot of fun and we should encourage it however if one does the math on Valley home resales (now that market has come back in SF) and what the Village and Resort get for rooms outside of the 4 or so hot weeks, this isnt penciling out at all! Give me new lifts, 1 350 room hotel, 250 or so condos and the Barn keep it classy..not garish!

  3. Here’s an idea…what about building something a bit different than every other ski village that’s a similar size? Walking around the Squaw, Northstar or Mountain Village in Telluride its hard to differentiate the buildings. Add some character like different architectural styles, a main street, mixed with some open space and build something that residents can be proud of.

  4. Call me a cynic, but this appears to be an application of a tried-and-true negotiating gambit: Appear reasonable by first proposing the outlandish and then scaling back to the merely absurd.

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