Industry News
Homewood Mountain Resort announced its closure for the 2024-25 season on October 11 was caused by financial issues, and will see about reopening next season. Homewood recently released a statement about this sudden closure. At a meeting on September 25, KHP leadership called for a “hard reset” on the approved Master Plan, which Homewood Mountain Resort (HMR) states disregards “over a decade of work” contributed by the community, developers, and other local stakeholders. This demand, which HMR believes is not “in good faith,” has caused “significant and unnecessary delays” in the process for amendments to the Master Plan and the application for a gondola and site plan. Without progress or a clean plan forward, Homewood’s financial partner has pulled out, impacting operations for the 2024-25 season. Although operating at a loss for much of the last two decades, HMR affirms its commitment to the 2011 Master Plan and revitalizing the resort for the community.
There have also been some controversies in the community, especially surrounding the 2011 master plan that Homewood created, containing plans for a private club reserved for only the rich and wealthy. However, Homewood has since changed its stance on private access and assured visitors that passes will be available to anyone. These controversies were thought to be false, and Homewood claims that: “Hypothetical fears and false rumors regarding public access to the mountain from Keep Homewood Public’s leadership have dramatically slowed the pace of the approval process.”
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency tried to find a compromise to satisfy both the private membership and public access to Homewood Resort, however shortly after this, Homewood’s financial partners withdrew its support. This caused Homewood to have no choice but to shut down the resort for the season. Their financial partners withdrew because of lack of a “clear path forward” and without their financial support, the resort is not able to operate.
- Related: ‘Keep Homewood Public’ Raises 50 Concerns About Redevelopment Plans for Homewood Mountain Resort, CA
According to a public advocacy group called Keep Homewood Public, at the September 25th Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TPRA) meeting, there was a trial to explore a framework that could protect public access and try a membership model. It released a statement and website post after the announced closure.
“In that meeting, TRPA Directors and Staff began exploring an enforcement framework that could protect public access while enabling a membership model. That, plus Discovery’s statement in the same meeting that they intended to maintain public access, renewed our hope in a negotiated solution. That hope lasted barely two weeks.”
— KeepHomewoodPublic.com
The Keep Homewood Public advocacy group was also particularly worried about the staff, and how the staff would manage for the winter. It was stated on the Keep Homewood Public website that “What’s much, much worse is the thought of Homewood employees – our friends and neighbors – losing their jobs” and “West Shore businesses trying to survive this winter without resort visitors, or rental properties sitting empty.”
However, Homewood Mountain Resort has also released a statement addressing this and said it is trying to keep some staff on board while working through this closure. While this doesn’t address the issue of tourism and business, the Homewood Mountain Resort is able to keep some of its staff even through this season’s closure. It has once again claimed that its staff will remain intact to a certain extent and will be able to start hiring once again after their approvals are done. Homewood’s organization also states that it will “support every employee so they have alternative employment or can stay with us while we work through the approval processes.”
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency also released a statement about how it has been working with Homewood to review the previously made contract and work through critical issues together. The organization has been working with the Homewood resort, agencies, and community to review the changes to the master plan and fix critical issues in the plan.
“When Homewood Mountain Resort finalizes their work, the agency will be able to bring the proposal to the Governing Board for consideration. TRPA understands how important Homewood is to skiers and riders and to the West Shore and we remain committed to keeping the community informed of the public process in the coming months.”
— Tahoe Planning Resort Agency
Amid all the challenges faced, Homewood maintains that it will be reopening as soon possible and be committed to following the 2011 master plan, while also being open to anyone who desires to ski or snowboard at Homewood.
