‘Keep Homewood Public’ Raises 50 Concerns about Redevelopment Plans for Homewood Mountain Resort, CA

There are always steps, permits, and authorizations that need to be taken and approved when making any upgrades, expansions, or construction at ski resorts. Almost always, there is a person or group that will protest the mountain’s proposal for any number of reasons. This is the case at Homewood Mountain Resort (HMR) in California in which the group Keep Homewood Public (KHP) said there are more than 50 issues with HMR’s revised Master Plan. The town with a population of just 200 residents has become a battleground between those who, at one time, were advocating for public access to the resort and the developers seeking to revitalize the area.

Homewood has had its Master Plan in place since 2011. In 2022, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) approved a newer version of it when developer JMA Ventures, supported by partners Mohari Hospitality and Discovery Land Company, announced their intention to convert Homewood into a members-only resort. In 2024, Homewood officially revealed its eight-year Master Plan that will result in a major facelift for the resort.

• Related Article: Homewood Mountain, CA, Moves Away from Member-Only Model and Plans Major Upgrades – SnowBrains

“KHP, with input from community members as well as land use, legal, and environmental experts, has submitted our preliminary comments on JMA/Discovery’s application to TRPA and Placer County,” said Kathy Astromoff, co-founder of Keep Homewood Public. “We cited over 50 problems with the application.”

We want the vision promised in the Master Plan quantified, built, and enforced, KHP stated on their website. KHP also stated on their website other items they wanted to see:

• Public access – ski resort: anyone may recreate at Homewood year-round.
• Public access – marina: anyone may recreate at High + Dry Marina year-round.
• Persons-At-One-Time: dedicate all of Homewood’s regulated operating capacity to the public.
• Pricing: public access for skiing, snowboarding, hiking, biking, and picnicking, including for day visitors, to be priced comparably with Mt. Rose or Diamond Peak rates.
• Perpetuity: execute the recreational land use deed restriction required by the Master Plan.
• Public safety: deliver on promises to North Tahoe Fire to upgrade West Shore firefighting capability.
• Phasing: community benefits, such as ski amenity upgrades, environmental work, food & beverage facilities, and parking, to be front-loaded in the construction schedule and minimally disrupted during construction.
• Penalties: predetermined penalties for changes to the project that reduce public access – now or in the future.
• Solvency: JMA/Discovery to put up a bonded fund covering 110% of the community benefits’ construction cost before permits are granted.
• Architecture: to evoke the “Old Tahoe” look of West Shore landmarks such as Vikingsholm and the Hellman-Ehrman Mansion.
• Ski area facilities, including for day skiers, to be upgraded as promised.
• Enforceable specifics to be documented in (a) a Ski Area Operating Plan, per TRPA Code of Ordinances; (b) permit conditions; (c) deed restrictions; (d) CC&Rs, and (e) public access easements; as well as (f) a negotiated settlement agreement among KHP, TRPA, Placer County, Discovery Land Company, JMA Ventures, and Mohari Hospitality.

SAM (Ski Area Management) Magazine reported this statement from Art Chapman, president of JMA Ventures, which purchased the resort in 2006:

“If we are going to keep the ski area open, we can’t do it as a public ski area that requires a lot of employees and having to rely on fewer skiers. We are not in the least bit interested in trying to promote Homewood as a competitor to Squaw [Palisades Tahoe] or Northstar.”

To some of the residents in the area, someday Homewood would turn into a members-only club like the Yellowstone Club in Montana. The costs of living would dramatically increase and the membership to private clubs like these would be over $100,000. Homewood reassured in its Master Plan update that it will remain completely public and open to all. Homewood Mountain Resort has been open to the public since 1962.

This April, Homewood released details about the Master Plan and its timeline. Homewood Mountain Resort posted on its website the major components of the plan. The project’s major components are as follows:

• Installation of an eight-passenger gondola to replace the Madden Chair
• Replacement of the Ellis Chair
• Improve snowmaking capabilities & mountain maintenance
• Add up to 225 residences
• Add a hotel with up to 75 hotel/condo units
• Add 13 on-site workforce housing units
• Create a new base mountain facility with food and beverage offerings, lockers, restrooms, a ski school, and a rental shop as well as first aid and mountain administration
• A new parking garage offering up to 270 day-use parking spaces
• A new mid-mountain lodge with a gondola terminal, which will include a “learn-to-ski” lift, food and beverage offerings, a community pool, and sundries

The Tahoe Daily Tribune stated Homewood must submit the minor plan revision to the TRPA before development may begin. That revision consists of working to get a minor plan revision completed, a gondola permit, and to have timber harvest permits approved. Construction is planned to begin this summer.