Lake Tahoe, CA/NV—The April court decision to uphold the 2012 Lake Tahoe Regional Plan is being appealed by the Sierra Club, according to a notice filed.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) successfully defended its updated Regional Plan in the litigation that was filed in February, 2013, only months after a broad coalition of Lake Tahoe citizens, environmental and business groups, and legislative leaders urged its adoption. The agency said today that it will continue to implement the plan that took nearly a decade to complete and that included the input of more than 5,000 citizens.

“TRPA is confident the Regional Plan will accelerate Lake Tahoe’s restoration and support sustainable communities,” TRPA Executive Director Joanne Marchetta said. “While the appeal makes its way through the legal process, we will continue to put the substantial environmental benefits of the plan into place.”

The April 7 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez was based on the facts in the record used by the TRPA Governing Board to make its decision on the plan in December 2012. The court upheld the Agency’s discretion to make policy decisions based on sound science and a complete record.

Following the Regional Plan’s adoption, state and local leaders hailed the milestone as the next environmental leap forward for Tahoe. The Plan also won three separate awards for environmental innovation from professional planning and architecture organizations in 2013.

The new Regional Plan does the following:

• Authorizes less than half as much new development as the 1987 plan.
• Maintains growth caps and urban boundary limits on all development and authorizes no new hotel accommodation units.
• Continues some of the strongest scenic protections in the nation and assures no new high-rises can be built.
• Supports greenhouse gas reductions and smart growth.
• Proposes modest infill redevelopment in a handful of existing town centers.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency leads the cooperative effort to preserve, restore, and enhance the unique natural and human environment of the Lake Tahoe Region, while improving local communities, and people’s interactions with our irreplaceable environment. For additional information, call Jeff Cowen at (775) 589-5278 or email him at jcowen@trpa.org.