About the Project
Lake Tahoe’s environment and communities are deeply affected by the housing crisis that is impacting the environment and the fabric of our community. Many factors are driving the crisis of affordability in the Tahoe Region and in mountain resort communities across the nation. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is leading the Tahoe Living project to tackle this crisis and to add to many solutions coming forward throughout the region. TRPA has embarked on a multi-year project called Cultivating Community, Conserving the Basin to make housing more accessible while maintaining and improving environmental protections.
Overview
As the lead environmental planning agency in the Tahoe basin, TRPA has been given the responsibility to balance the needs and character of its mountain communities with the protection and enhancement of the outstanding natural treasure, Lake Tahoe. The Lake Tahoe Regional Plan brings these goals together and creates a rare opportunity to maintain and even accelerate environmental benefits while controlling development and addressing the housing needs of our community now and into the future.
This project will plan for equitable and sustainable housing and improve climate resilience through improvements to TRPA’s growth management system and building capacity for on-going, meaningful community engagement and relationships.
Approved new incentives for accessory dwelling units on residential properties that have completed water quality best management practices and are close to transit and services. We also updated our policies to help motel and hotel tourist accommodations to be converted into residential units.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How does TRPA manage growth and protect the environment?
The Bi-State Compact charges TRPA with establishing a Regional Plan that will achieve environmental goals, called thresholds, while allowing for orderly growth and development. The Lake Tahoe Regional Plan is unique in the nation because it created mechanisms to manage growth and development in the basin that enables TRPA to protect sensitive areas, limit new development, and guide development into more appropriate areas to protect the lake. This growth management system has been essential to environmental preservation throughout the region.
The Regional Plan should reflect the values of our region and help address the considerable challenges facing the Lake Tahoe Basin today. Updating our plans and policies creates a significant opportunity to come together to envision and implement an equitable future for Lake Tahoe.
Why are we updating land use policies right now? What does it mean for me?
The Lake Tahoe Region faces housing challenges similar to many popular destinations. While these issues are common, it is essential to recognize that we can improve the situation in the basin through effective plans and policies. To ensure residents, workers, and businesses can thrive, TRPA is focusing policy changes on key growth management mechanisms, specifically the development rights and transfer of development rights systems.
These systems can be used to create more equitable, accessible, and inclusive housing within the region while maintaining and improving conservation and preservation of the lake and the surrounding environment.
As we engage in this important work, we want to hear from you on how both the natural environment and our Tahoe families and communities can thrive. Cultivating Community will ensure that everyone with a stake in the region’s future has a meaningful opportunity to take part in the conversation.
What are development rights?
The development rights system was adopted in 1987 to limit the total amount of development in the Tahoe Basin, and to ensure the pace of development supports the environmental thresholds. Development rights are land use units someone must acquire before they have the right to develop a property. Development rights are allocated for different types of uses - housing, tourist accommodations, and commercial businesses. In the Tahoe Basin, development can only occur on properties with both the appropriate zoning, and a development right. The Regional Plan caps the number of development rights available in the region.
The development rights system has been instrumental in limiting growth and protecting the environment. Increasingly however, large homes and resorts are taking up the largest share of available development rights, while smaller homes and “missing middle” housing are essentially outcompeted.
Cultivating Community is an opportunity to ensure the development rights system works for everyone, supporting the types of housing our community needs while improving environmental outcomes.
Where are we in the process?
In 2020, TRPA convened the Tahoe Living Working Group, asking experts, local governments, and non-profits to help the agency bring forward the most effective actions to support affordable and workforce housing while protecting the environment. Earlier progress from the working group led to policy changes that addressed accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and added zoning incentives for affordable and workforce housing. The working group also identified TRPA’s development rights system as needing improvement to better address housing access.
Through Cultivating Community, we will expand the Tahoe Living Working Group and create meaningful connections in historically underrepresented communities to generate new ideas to address housing inequities, explore policy and rule changes, and evaluate the environmental impacts of the proposed changes.
What values will guide this process?
The values guiding this process are:
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Protection of the lake environment for current and future generations.
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Improved equity and access to housing so that people who work in Tahoe have more opportunities to live here.
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Partnership and collaboration to find common ground and shape a shared vision for our future.
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An inclusive process to ensure that every voice is shared, heard, and considered in the process.
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Innovation in sustainability and creative solutions to shared challenges.
How will TRPA engage with partners and the public?
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is ready to listen to you and lead important region-wide conversations around the future of the Tahoe Basin. We are committed to ensuring every voice is heard and uplifting community values in articulating our goals and ultimately our updated policies and regulations. We will partner with local jurisdictions and the Washoe Tribe to ensure that the updated policies and regulations can work harmoniously with existing local and tribal policies. The agency will carry out a thorough environmental analysis to ensure lake clarity and other environmental threshold goals will be achieved, and we will ensure that all proposed policy and code updates are rigorously vetted and presented to the community and decision makers for feedback.
How can I voice my ideas in the process?
By engaging in regionwide conversations around Regional Plan policies, you can bring forward important changes in the Tahoe Basin to support your family, your community, and our region’s future. Throughout 2024 and 2025, there will be opportunities to weigh in on updates to the development rights system. We hope to see you soon at a neighborhood meeting, community event, Governing Board policy briefing, or to hear from you through other opportunities. We are working to make sure participation is easy and convenient for everyone. We know some work and family schedules are not as accommodating as others and that some neighborhoods are not as central as others. None of these factors should affect participation, and the agency is committed to making sure our engagement process is intentional and equitable so that every community member can weigh in.
