When it adopted the budget last fiscal year, the Placer County Board of Supervisors directed Planning Services staff to begin the process of updating community plans within the Lake Tahoe Basin. At the July 26, 2011 Board meeting, County staff presented a report on the update work.

There are currently nine County Community/General Plans within the Basin. Most are joint planning documents between the County and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and were adopted nearly 20 years ago.

TRPA is in the process of updating its Regional Plan, and all Community Plans within the Basin must be consistent with that plan’s update. Given the age of most of the County’s plans, and the need for consistency between the two jurisdictions, the Planning Services Division felt it the appropriate time to update Placer County’s Tahoe nine Basin Community/General Plans, which are:

West Shore General Plan;
Tahoe City Area General Plan;
North Tahoe Area General Plan;
Tahoe City Community Plan;
Carnelian Bay Community Plan;
Tahoe Vista Community Plan;
Kings Beach Community Plan;
Kings Beach Industrial Community Plan; and
North Stateline Community Plan.

Placer County is proposing to consolidate its nine plans into one over arching Tahoe Basin Community Plan with general policy guidance. As part of the Community Plan, four “Plan Areas” have been identified and delineated. The four Plan Areas will have separate, individually tailored zoning/design guidelines, which will be developed with community input. Consolidation of the nine Plans will provide more cohesive, user-friendly planning documents. The County has coordinated with TRPA on the proposed re-formatting and overall mapping of plan boundaries.

“By reducing the total number of community plans in the Tahoe Basin, we will reduce complexity and confusion,” said Fifth District Supervisor Jennifer Montgomery, whose district includes the Placer County portion of Lake Tahoe. “The over-arching perspective will give us the more inclusive vision needed for the Basin and the four proposed ‘Plan Areas’ will allow for local direction and individuality among the various communities.”

Four “Plan Areas” within the Tahoe Basin Community Plan Boundary have been mapped and include:

West Shore Plan Area, which runs from the El Dorado County line to the Sunnyside area;
Tahoe City Plan Area, which includes Tahoe City, Tahoe City Gateway, Lake Forest, and Dollar Hill;
North Tahoe West Plan Area, including Carnelian Bay and Tahoe Vista; and
North Tahoe East Plan Area, which covers the Kings Beach and Stateline community.

A significant part of the County’s overall work program for the Community Plan Update ” will be to conduct public outreach so community members and other interested parties have input on the new planning documents. To include the public in the process, the county will form a technical advisory committeeand four geographical Plan Area teams made up of locally chosen appointees from the community. Additionally, there will be community workshops every two months, town hall meetings, and regular updates to the North Tahoe Regional Advisory Council, the TRPA, the Placer County Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors. Last, but not least, regular updates will be disseminated by electronic newsletter.

County staff began work on the Community Plan Update last November and is coordinating with the TRPA on the overall work program. The next steps that have been identified include: information gathering and background data; development of the technical advisory committee and conducting regular meetings; further coordination with TRPA and refinement of the proposed Transect Zoning Districts; launching the Public Outreach Strategy; and developing planning documents.