Tahoe Regional Planning Agency nixes housing-related moratorium

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - A temporary moratorium on subdividing certain parcels in the Lake Tahoe Basin was lifted last Wednesday. The area's bistate planning authority recanted a May 24 decision that said local governments haven't demonstrated a commitment to solving affordable housing worries.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's 14-member governing board unanimously approved the reconsideration that local jurisdictions - the city of South Lake Tahoe, Carson City, Washoe, Douglas, Placer and El Dorado counties - have done their part in providing affordable housing to Tahoe's service workers.

The finding immediately retracted the subdividing moratorium which went into effect in May as a way of protecting the few remaining available parcels from being built into lavish condominium complexes when they may be needed for affordable housing developments.

The moratorium, which lasted only a month, sparked a property rights debate from Nevada Sen. Bill O'Donnell. He threatened to request a Nevada attorney general's investigation into TRPA's role in affordable housing issues if the board did not rescind the moratorium at Wednesday's meeting.

"The private landowner, who has not already developed his property, is unfairly targeted by the moratorium and the landowner who has already developed has raised land values," O'Donnell said. "No other government in this country would ever dream of using property rights in this way."

The board's decision to reverse the moratorium halted O'Donnell's request for an investigation. It also prompted concerns from the League to Save Lake Tahoe.

Rochelle Nason, the league's executive director, said without the moratorium the urban space boundary is threatened.

"The idea that TRPA is a strict regulator is a myth," Nason said. "Lifting the moratorium means more second-home condominium construction, which is not what is needed by Tahoe's environment or its

people."

What role the bistate regulator plays in the area's affordable housing plans has yet to be determined.

"Affordable housing is a regional problem," said John Marshall, TRPA's acting executive director. "How should the TRPA be involved, and at what level?"

The board also agreed last week to appoint a six-member committee, comprised of TRPA's representatives from each jurisdiction, to define the affordable-housing role the agency will play.

Still, directing social issues isn't part of the TRPA's original mission to meet its environmental thresholds for water quality, soil conservation, air quality, vegetation, wildlife, fisheries, recreation and scenic improvements.

"Affordable housing is not a threshold, and it certainly has taken away a lot of time from accomplishing our thresholds," said board member Don Miner of Douglas County. "And I resent that."

In addition to canceling the subdivision ban, the finding that the local jurisdictions have contributed to affordable housing solutions also stopped a request by Washoe County representative Jim Galloway to have the board reconsider three TRPA-approved projects at the South Shore - a 55,000-square-foot Safeway Store, a Staples office supply and a new Meyers post office building.

Galloway's request came after suggestions were made at the last board meeting that the private sector be involved in providing affordable housing to their employees.

Galloway decided the reconsideration was unnecessary after the board appointed the six-member committee to tackle affordable housing issues in conjunction with the area's local governments.

Serving on the committee are TRPA's board members Jim Galloway of Washoe County, Larry Sevison of Placer County, Hal Cole of the city of South Lake Tahoe, Kay Bennett of Carson City, Dave Solaro of El Dorado County and Don Miner of Douglas County. The group will report to the board in October.