South Shore Area Plan town hall is Thursday

A townhall to preview changes to the South Shore Area Plan is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. Thursday at Kahle Community Center in Stateline.

The Douglas County Community Development Department is currently preparing a draft South Shore Area Plan, which is intended to further the goals and policies in the Regional Plan and meet the provisions of Chapter 13, Area Plans, in the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Code of Ordinances, as well as other TRPA regulations.

Douglas County staff will give a brief presentation on the various amendments proposed for the South Shore Area Plan updates. We invite members of the community to review the draft with the team and provide comments or questions on the proposed amendments via conversation with staff, email or townhall worksheets that will be provided as you arrive to the townhall.

The previous plan was adopted by the TRPA Governing Board on Sept. 25, 2013, and the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners on Nov. 21, 2013.

That iteration revised the relevant Douglas County plans, maps, and ordinances developed to implement the 1987 Regional Plan, and replaced the Kingsbury and Stateline Community Plans, and the relevant portions of Plan Area Statements 070A and 080.

The prior plans were more than 20 years old and had undergone only minor changes since their adoption.

These amendments require TRPA approval.

The Area Plan covers properties generally along Highway 50 from Stateline to the lower Kingsbury area. It includes the High-Density Tourist District containing the casino core, the Edgewood Lodge and Golf Course, the Edgewood Mountain area, and the Kingsbury Commercial Town Center. These areas are zoned as Tourist, Recreation, Resort Recreation, and Mixed Use, respectively.

Proposed amendments include

• Creating consistent and integrated land use planning and development regulations for Douglas County and TRPA by equitably applying the requirements for similar land uses. The designation of the parcels comprising the Kingsbury Manor Mobile Home Park as partially within and partially outside of the Kingsbury Commercial Town Center does not reflect consistent application of the Regional Plan and redevelopment standards. The amendments aim, in part, to correct this inconsistency.

• Broadening access to regional services and promote redevelopment of the Kingsbury Commercial Town Center through the creation of a new healthcare subdistrict.

• Continuing to encourage environmentally beneficial redevelopment in the plan area by implementing an Energy Conservation Strategy.

• Incorporating the signage regulations for the Area Plan that were inadvertently omitted from the Area Plan so that the regulations reflect the most up-to-date and accurate information.

Increasing the maximum allowable building height for hospital uses in the proposed healthcare subdistrict at the site of the former Lakeside Inn and Casino.

• Updating the changeable sign standard for the High-Density Tourist District from four changes per hour to twelve changes per hour.

• Providing exceptions to TRPA Code Section 33.3.6(A) relating to groundwater interception for projects in town centers if the project is designed to prevent adverse off-site impacts.

 These proposed amendments to the South Shore Area Plan are part of a specific scope of work that is nearing completion, and this is the publics opportunity to provide feedback.

Email kmoneil@douglasnv.us 5 p.m. Thursday with comments.