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The Placer County Planning Commission unanimously voted to recommend approval of the Village at Palisades Tahoe Specific Plan to the Placer County Board of Supervisors. The plan will be considered for approval by the Placer County Board of Supervisors in May of this year. It reflects significant public input gathered during more than 300 community meetings and participation from over 5,000 individuals. The updated plan also reflects direct collaboration with Sierra Watch and League to Save Lake Tahoe, resulting in a revised approach that incorporates meaningful reductions and refinements based on community and stakeholder feedback.
What’s in the Revised Village at Palisades Tahoe Plan
As part of this collaboration, the plan reduces the overall scale of development, including a 40% reduction in total lodging bedrooms from 1,493 to 896. It will also reduce the commercial space from 278,000 square feet to up to 242,000 square feet. Development has also been shifted away from Shirley Canyon, resulting in an approximate 24% increase in open space zoning within the main Village, including roughly 40 acres designated for Village-Forest Recreation and Village-Conservation Preserve. The plan also emphasizes a more connected, walkable village experience, with improved access linking the Village directly to the Truckee River bike path.
Workforce Housing and Community Benefits in the New Palisades Tahoe Plan
How the Village at Palisades Tahoe Shrank After 14 Years of Litigation
The plan was originally introduced in 2012 and has been argued in the court of public opinion and the California Court of Appeals for 14 years. The initial project would have transformed the base area at Palisades Tahoe into a year-round resort destination, adding nearly 1,500 bedrooms in condos and hotels, and a 90,000-square-foot indoor recreation facility. After the Placer County Board of Supervisors approved the project in 2016, it was halted in 2022 by a successful legal challenge led by Sierra Watch. The plan was reintroduced to Placer County in the spring of 2023 and has been working its way through the county approval process ever since.
Sierra Watch and Keep Tahoe Blue on the Revised Development
Sierra Watch, a conservation group based in the Lake Tahoe region, provided lengthy comments on the draft environmental impact report. Tom Mooers, executive director of Sierra Watch, saw the project’s early plans in 2011. He said that the goal seemed to be to “squeeze every bit of development out of every inch of the property.” Sierra Watch engaged experts in hydrology, traffic, and fire danger to aid in their opposition to the project. Among Sierra Watch’s chief concerns were failures to properly consider impacts on traffic, water, and air quality in the Lake Tahoe basin; the project area’s water supply; and emergency evacuation, along with a host of other planning and regulatory issues. “This is a great example of how we can work together to honor mountain culture and defend our Tahoe values,” Tom Mooers stated in an email to SnowBrains.
What Happens Next: Placer County Board of Supervisors Vote in May
With the plan to be considered for approval in May by the Placer County Board of Supervisors, this 14-year legal battle seems to be finally over. Gavin Feiger of the League to Save Lake Tahoe talked about the spirit of collaboration. “At Keep Tahoe Blue, we believe we need to stand firm when it’s necessary but make progress when it’s possible,” Feiger said in a press release. “What we have now is a better project, and the environment and the community will still be protected.”
Enough with the sugar coating. There isn’t a reduction of anything. This will quadruple what is already there. Yes, it’s better than what they originally proposed, but that was clearly put out there so that we would settle for this and call it a “win”. The big question I have is, where will day skiers park and what’s it going to cost us? Also, why is the county not eliminating short term rentals for each new hotel unit?
What a joke! “A 90,000-square-foot indoor recreation facility” b/c there isn’t enough to do in the most beautiful place in the world? The Tahoe basin is becoming a joke!