Déjà vu? No, you’re not crazy—the Village at Palisades Tahoe Specific Plan (formerly known as the Village at Squaw Valley Specific Plan) has a new name, but the project is exactly the same as it was in 2016, and it’s back for round two. The Placer County Planning Commission & Board of Supervisors will be reviewing the project, the updated environmental analysis, and making a new decision on this land use application in 2023.
The Specific Plan, submitted by the Palisades Tahoe Development Company (under Alterra Mountain Company), outlines the development of 94 acres in Olympic Valley—essentially, the vast majority of the valley floor. The colossal mixed-use project would be built out over a 25-year timeline. It would include everything from timeshare and fractional ownership units to a 90,000-square-foot Mountain Adventure Camp with an indoor water park to 297,733 square feet of commercial space. Other project components include 50 units of employee housing to support 300 employees (you do the math on that one), a transit center, and various recreational facilities.
Placer County originally approved the project and Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in 2016. In a lengthy legal process, the conservation organization Sierra Watch challenged the EIR approval and ultimately won on several counts. The courts determined that the EIR inadequately addressed transportation and circulation, air quality, noise, hydrology and water quality, and hazardous materials and hazards. Rather than using that as an opportunity to go back to the drawing board to address the endless number of community concerns, the project was resubmitted as is, and the EIR was narrowly revised to respond to the legal inadequacies of the original document specifically.
MAP supports the redevelopment of the dilapidated parking lots at Palisades, but the scale of the project needs to be reduced, and appropriate mitigation measures must be in place to ensure future development does not degrade Olympic Valley, the region, or public health and safety. Olympic Valley is a constrained box canyon, with one way in and potentially no way out in the event of a wildfire. The valley needs fewer tourist accommodation units and more diverse, year-round workforce housing. The impacts of this project will leak out of the Valley and impact the entire region. Meaningful mitigation measures are a must.
We understand that Alterra wants to include a year-round indoor recreation facility (aka the Mountain Adventure Center), but a 90,000 sq. ft. facility and the resources necessary to pump a year-round water park, are at odds with Tahoe’s values and sustainable recreation. The project should focus on reducing its water consumption needs and concentrating on redevelopment in previously disturbed areas rather than expanding into unsullied lands like Shirley Canyon. Redevelopment can provide environmental and community benefits, but overdevelopment will degrade Olympic Valley’s character and safety.
Finally, the RDEIR needs to be revised again to include current data, an updated project setting, a comprehensive outline of cumulative impacts, adequate mitigation for impacts on water quality and availability, circulation, wildfire evacuation, noise and noise, and more. The environmental analysis by Ascent, the County, and the applicant, just does not cut it! We had hoped after the past decade that Palisades would have brought forward an environmentally responsible alternative to the original Village plan, but it is the same. Palisades, it’s not too late to be a good neighbor and steward to the Valley.
To get involved in the process, submit comments on the RDEIR by 5:00 pm on January 30, 2023.
These written comments should be addressed to Placer County, Environmental Coordination Services at 3091 County Center Drive in Auburn, CA 95603 (to the attention of Shirlee Herrington, Environmental Coordination Services) or emailed to: cdraecs@placer.ca.gov.
MAP Resources