The Development Plan
Discovery Land Company, the owners of Homewood Mountain Resort have recently announced a change in their development plan from what had been originally approved. The new plan changes the architectural style of the homes and condominiums to be built, from a classic Old Tahoe Lodge style to a Mountain Modern style.
The ski area has two base areas; North and South. According to the original Homewood Project Overview the North Base is planned to be the location of the Village/Pedestrian Core with Club Facilities; dining, lounge, fitness center and kids club. There will be several residential buildings with large three and four bedroom luxury condominiums as well as 10 – 20 guest rooms, employee housing units, an amphitheater, underground guest parking, commercial space for shops and ski area base facilities. The South Base is planned to be primarily residential with the following facilities; ski services, dining/lounge, health and safety and parking. The first phase of the development is planned to be seven homes built at the North Base sometime in 2024. The second phase has not been made public to date.
Updated October 15, 2024
In May 2024, HMR submitted an application for minor revisions to the 2011 approved Master Plan to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. To date, they are still awaiting approval of the amendments to move forward on ski infrastructure and other investments. Without a clear path forward, the financial partner has withdrawn their support for this ski season. As a result, they will not be able to operate or sell season passes for the 2024-25 season.
Updated September 17, 2024
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) has scheduled an informational presentation on the proposed master plan revisions for September 25 to the TRPA Governing Board Regional Planning Committee. There will be no staff recommendation or Governing Board decision at the meeting. The Public will be welcome to attend virtually or in person.
This will be the first informational briefing to the Regional Plan Committee on the Homewood Master Plan with the purpose to provide the committee an overview of Homewood’s application, answer questions, and garner feedback from the committee members and members of the public on the proposed elements and next steps.
The next step in the process will be an informational briefing to the TRPA Advisory Planning Commission, tentatively scheduled for October 9th. The Homewood Resort Master Plan webpage will be updated with status, links to application documents, and public input opportunities as they are scheduled.
Updated April 24, 2024
According to an article posted in the Sierra Sun on April 23, 2024, Discovery Land Co.’s Homewood Mountain Resort will be public. At a community meeting held April 24, Discovery Land Co. Partner Ed Divita said: “There’s no plans or intention to privatize Homewood, this project is for residents and visitors alike.” “If you have a pass or ticket and a way to get to the mountain, you can ski at Homewood,” “… we want all of our ski products available to all.” He also outlined the full resort plan with current revisions which should be complete in eight years. This plan includes:
- Installing an 8-passenger gondola to replace the Madden Chair
- Replacing Ellis Chair
- Improving snow-making capabilities
- Improving mountain maintenance
- Adding up to 225 residences
- Adding a hotel with up to 75 rooms
- Adding up to 13 on-site workforce housing units
- Adding a new base mountain facility that includes food and beverage service, ski school, rental shop, lockers, restrooms, first aid, and mountain administration
- Adding about 270 day-use parking spaces in a 3-level garage
- Adding a new mid-mountain lodge and gondola terminal with a learn-to-ski lift, store, pool, and food and beverage
- Employing alternative transportation methods
Updated Plan 2023
According to articles posted in Moonshine Inc it appears JMA Ventures intends to create a semi-private ski and lodging resort with lifetime family membership instead of traditional ski passes in the next two years. Membership will be for the owners of the Homewood Mountain Resort residences and for property owners in some West Shore homeowners associations, with some available for purchase by members of the public. It has not been stated which homeowner associations will be included or how much lifetime membership will cost, but it will likely be more than most current passholders and local Homewood skiers can afford. JMA President Art Chapman gave the example of the Hermitage Club as a model for what Homewood’s family membership pricing structure might look like. The Heritage Club, located in Vermont opened three years ago and members pay a one-time fee of $75,000 for the whole family, plus a $15,000 annual fee.
JMA will be restricted by its conditions of approval with Placer County to 1,000 people a day on the mountain due to the development’s number of parking spaces. The parking situation, and the number of new housing units JMA sells, will dictate how many non-residential memberships will be available to the public. The current Homewood development plan calls for approximately 180 units and a small boutique hotel with around 20 rooms.
There will be community ski days three times a month where the public will be able to buy day tickets, Children’s ski teams will also continue, and there will be a small grocery store with around 30 surface parking spots open to the public.
The changes have not been approved by both Placer County and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and public agencies do not yet know if the change to a semi-private resort will trigger further review. Locals are mobilizing to object and force the developer to move back into the approval process. The Chambers Beach and Mountain Club President Kevin Foster organized a meeting with more than six West Shore homeowners associations and they unanimously disapproved of Homewood’s decision to become semi-private and believe the change should be viewed as a new project that would require new approvals and entitlements.
Further Reading
PRO:
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PROTECT OUR MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY
We recommend you email your concerns and questions about the proposed privatization to TRPA’s Special Project Manager, Paul Nielsen at pnielsen@trpa.gov (mailto:pnielsen@trpa.gov) so your feedback can be considered by TRPA.
We will update this post as more information becomes available.
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