League to Save Lake Tahoe files lawsuit against ‘massive’ development project

by Chris Joseph, League to Save Lake Tahoe

LAKE TAHOE, Calif., December 5, 2024 – The League to Save Lake Tahoe, the nonprofit environmental advocacy organization behind the movement to Keep Tahoe Blue, has filed a lawsuit formally challenging Placer County’s approval of the Village at Palisades Tahoe Specific Plan, a massive development that would worsen traffic congestion, increase air pollution, erode roadways, and degrade water quality in the Lake Tahoe Basin. 

“As a solutions-based organization, litigation is an option of last resort. To protect Lake Tahoe, we were left with no choice in this case,” said Dr. Darcie Goodman Collins, Chief Executive Officer of the League to Save Lake Tahoe. “We have met repeatedly with development representatives and County officials to urge them to consider alternatives that would mitigate the environmental impacts of this project. But they were not interested. We are not opposed to the modernization and expansion of Palisades Tahoe, but we must take a stand to Keep Tahoe Blue.”

Backed by the Denver-based private equity firm Alterra Mountain Company, the proposed development at Palisades Tahoe calls for nearly 300,000 square feet of commercial space, almost 1,500 bedrooms in up to 850 units, and over 2,000 additional parking spaces. The Village at Palisades Tahoe’s own environmental reports indicate that the project would create 3,300 new daily car trips on the busiest days, with 1,353 of those trips flowing into the Tahoe Basin, contributing significant pollution to Tahoe’s air and water.

The League joins conservation group Sierra Watch in the lawsuit. Sierra Watch launched the grassroots effort to stop Alterra’s project and secure a better future for Olympic Valley more than ten years ago.

“The bad news is that Alterra’s proposed development would take every problem facing Tahoe—whether it’s the clarity of the Lake, the availability of workforce housing, our public safety in the event of wildfire—and make it worse,” said Tom Mooers, Executive Director of Sierra Watch. “The good news is that the League is standing shoulder to shoulder with Sierra Watch in our shared, and successful, effort to defend Tahoe.”

The increased traffic that comes with the project runs counter to federally mandated goals to reduce car dependency in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The new car trips from the Village at Palisades Tahoe will further damage roads while increasing runoff from roadways, which is already the leading cause of Lake degradation.

State water quality agencies from California and Nevada draw a clear line connecting wear and tear on Tahoe’s roads and impacts to the Lake. As a 2022 report states, “Lake Tahoe’s water clarity decline is due to an increase in fine sediment particles (FSP) and free-floating algae… Runoff from roads and other urban land uses is the single largest source of fine sediment particle (FSP) pollution in Lake Tahoe, accounting for more than 70% of the lake’s total FSP load.”

To address its issues of concern, the League proposed a smaller project with lesser impacts, or a phased construction plan with checkpoints along the way so adjustments can be made that ensure minimal impacts to Tahoe. Those requests were rejected by Alterra.

In addition to environmental issues, there are broad and consistent concerns about this project from community organizations, local businesses, residents, and elected officials. Nearly 3,000 unique comments have been filed in opposition to the proposed development.

“To make it to work on time, I have to leave an hour early to get from Homewood, crawl through traffic by Palisades on Highway 89, and into Truckee. And on the commute home, the delay can be two hours or more,” said Tara Larson, healthcare worker and full-time resident of Tahoe’s West Shore. “The traffic is already bad and getting worse. If Palisades is allowed to develop and add even more cars on that road it won’t just prevent locals from getting back and forth from Truckee for daily needs, it’ll put ambulances and first responders in gridlock too.” 

“We have worked for more than a decade to find a compromise here, but Alterra was unwilling to embrace project alternatives that would achieve their goals without impacting Tahoe,” said the League’s Goodman Collins. “We are committed to an open dialogue with Alterra and County officials to design a project that will provide workforce housing and uplift the Tahoe community without jeopardizing the precious natural resources that are treasured by all who live, work and visit here.”

The lawsuit filing can be found here.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe is the donor-funded, science-based organization of environmental experts and Tahoe-lovers behind Keep Tahoe Blue. We have led the protection and restoration of the Lake Tahoe Basin since 1957 and remain the one organization who brings everyone together for the same goal – to protect Tahoe for future generations. Learn more, donate, and get involved at keeptahoeblue.org.

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