Development Plan
The Village at Palisades Tahoe Specific Plan is within the 4,700-acre Olympic Valley General Plan area in Placer County. It encompasses 93.33 acres of the 85-acre resort village within the Palisades Ski Resort base area.
The Specific Plan would be developed over 25 years. The project will develop new commercial, retail, and recreational land uses similar to those currently allowed under the Olympic Valley General Plan and Land Use Ordinance. This community plan establishes land uses and policies for Olympic Valley.
Examples include skier services, retail shopping, restaurants and bars, entertainment, and public and private recreation facilities. The new and replacement commercial uses in the plan area are up to 297,733 gross square feet including 206,211 square feet net new commercial.
The specific plan details a hospitality and recreation-based, all-season mountain resort community with up to 850 hotel, condominium-hotel, and fractional ownership residential units. It includes up to 1,493 resort bedrooms.
There is a conservation corridor running the length of Washeshu Creek through the plan area to support improvement of terrestrial and aquatic habitat conditions, improved water quality and sediment management, and increased flood conveyance capacity.
The east parcel is about 8.8-acres, and is located across the street from the Olympic Valley Public Services District offices and the fire station. The proposal for this location includes employee housing for up to 300 employees, off-site parking, shipping and receiving, and a market.
Other improvements include bicycle facilities, a transit center, new/extended utility infrastructure, new/improvements to existing recreational facilities and amenities, and a Village open space network.
In the first phase of development, Palisades Tahoe will construct dedicated workforce housing for its employees. The plan includes substantial funding for regional and local workforce housing initiatives, ensuring that the benefits extend far beyond the resort itself. According to Placer County, the Village at Palisades Tahoe project is estimated to increase annual contributions to transit and housing from the current $10 million to $17.5 million that will directly support much-needed solutions.
Local Opposition
Sierra Watch, a local nonprofit, and many property owners and local residents are opposed to the development. The role of Sierra Watch as a lead organization in opposing the project highlights the strong local activism working to protect the environment. Nonprofits like Sierra Watch often advocate for land-use policies that balance development with conservation, promoting sustainable solutions that preserve the unique characteristics of the area. Given the large turnout at public meetings, it’s clear that this development has sparked a significant debate in the community, with a strong collective desire to protect the environment and ensure safety in the face of growing wildfire risk. Sierra Watch has outlined three key reasons for their opposition:
1. Size of the Development: The scale of the project is a primary concern, likely due to its potential to alter the character of the local area, strain infrastructure, and affect property values. Larger developments can also exacerbate traffic, environmental degradation, and place a strain on local resources.
2. Safety in Wildfire Zones: Given the region’s susceptibility to wildfires, concerns about safety are likely heightened. The threat of wildfires is a real and present danger in many areas, particularly in the Tahoe-Truckee region, which has experienced increasingly severe wildfire seasons in recent years. The project’s design and its ability to withstand or mitigate fire risks is a key point of contention.
3. Environmental Impact: The environmental impact of the development, particularly in the sensitive Tahoe-Truckee ecosystem, is another major concern. Development in areas of natural beauty can disrupt wildlife habitats, contribute to pollution, and alter water runoff patterns, which can have long-term consequences for the region’s biodiversity and water quality.
Update November 20, 2024
On November 20, 2024 the Placer County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Village at Palisades Tahoe Specific Plan project. The board’s approval included certification of the project’s final environmental impact report, approval of the plan’s development standards and design guidelines, an amendment to the Olympic Valley General Plan and Land Use Ordinance, adoption of an ordinance to rezone all acreage in the specific plan area, approval of the plan’s development agreement, and approval of a water supply assessment.
Update September 6, 2024
On September 6, Placer County Planning Commission voted 6 to 1, to recommend approval of the Village at Palisades Tahoe Specific Plan, recommending its approval to the Placer County Board of Supervisors, who will have the final say at a meeting later this fall. The Planning Commission’s role is advisory. The Placer County Board of Supervisors has final authority over the proposed development and will likely take up Alterra’s proposal, for approval or denial, in November but no date has been set for that vote.
Dee Byrne, as her last act as president of Palisades Tahoe, proposed a “no water park plan,” suggesting that they strike the water park features from the plans including simulated skydiving, skate park, BMX park and course, action river, lazy river, rafting, stand-up paddle boarding, rope swings, wakeboarding, water games, water skiing, water slides, waterfalls, wave pool and wave rider, however the 90,000-square-foot indoor recreation facility remains and could house things like swimming pools, an arcade, bowling alleys or a small theater.
Update August 17, 2024
The Olympic Valley Municipal Advisory Council (OVMAC) voted August 17, 2024 against the Village at Palisades Tahoe Specific Plan project. After nearly 7 hours of community comment and deliberations, the unanimous decision was made; NO.
The message to the county and the applicant is that the community is overwhelmingly against this development.
“ We encourage the applicant and county to evaluate a different reduce-sized plan with a reduced-sized mountain activity center,” according to the OVMAC project recommendation. “And that the community wants collaborative input.” OVMAC member David Stepner made the motion, and OVMAC member Andrew Lange seconded it.
The OVMAC recommendation will be in the Placer County report to be presented at the Planning Commission meeting on Sept. 5 at the North Lake Tahoe Events Center in Kings Beach. At which time the Planning Commission will consider certification of the specific plan entitlements and the final Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
History of the Proposal
The Board of Supervisors approved the project on Nov. 15, 2016. Then it was litigated. The Appellate Court found the EIR had deficiencies in four areas and directed Placer County to take action to decertify the final EIR and un-adopt project approvals. On Nov. 8, 2022, the Board of Supervisors followed the Appellate Court’s ruling to decertify the final EIR and rescind the project approvals.
Since then, Alterra Mountain Company has worked with the county and an environmental consultant to revise the EIR analysis.
The final EIR was released on Aug. 9. It includes written responses to all public comments. It is available at https://www.placer.ca.gov/2747/Village-at-Palisades-Tahoe-Specific-Plan
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