TRPA looks again at scenic rules

Scenic regulations set to go into effect Jan. 19 will be revisited by officials from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency when it meets Wednesday.

The Advisory Planning Commission, a technical review board, is expected to analyze three amendments that passed with the scenic regulations in November. The amendments will then be reviewed by the TRPA Governing Board on Jan. 22.

The agency held dozens of public meetings in an effort to reach a middle ground acceptable to environmental groups and lakeshore homeowners.

The new regulations allow the TRPA to use a numeric evaluation system to determine how lakeshore homes impact the landscape of the Tahoe Basin. The ordinance also requires homeowners in scenic areas, such as along Highway 50 and Pioneer Trail, to use specified colors when they repaint, said agency spokeswoman Pam Drum.

The TRPA has slated two public meetings to explain and introduce the scenic ordinance. A meeting on the South Shore will be at the Horizon Casino Resort from 5 to 8 p.m. Jan. 14. The North Shore meeting will be at Kings Beach in the North Tahoe Community Conference Center from 5 to 8 p.m. Jan. 15.

"We're going to run through some examples, some exercises using real-life structures," Drum said. "We hope to have printed by then color charts for the new paint requirements."

The colors vary, but most are dark shades of brown, gray, green and red.

"Typically, I think those are the colors people choose anyway," Drum said. "It's a wide range of colors."

In response, a group of landowners from Incline Village, the site of many lakeshore houses, formed the Committee for the Reasonable Regulation of Lake Tahoe. The attorney representing the committee, Ronald Zumbrun, said he expects to serve the agency with an amended lawsuit before Jan. 18.

In October, Zumbrun filed a lawsuit on behalf of the committee challenging TRPA's 2001 Threshold Evaluation. The scenic ordinances are based on the evaluation's findings.

IF YOU GO

What: Tahoe Regional Planning Agency public hearing on sections of its scenic ordinance

Where: Horizon Casino Resort

When: 9:30 a.m. Wednesday