Today, about half of Lake Tahoe’s workforce lives outside the Basin. Collectively we have watched residents move away from the lake or face greater housing insecurity as smaller cabins and affordable rentals become ever scarcer. Large homes and condominiums are gradually taking their place. Even though access to affordable housing serves a basic human need, here and in mountain communities across the nation it is increasingly difficult to provide.
As the next phase of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Tahoe Living program launches this fall, it is time to move beyond the low-hanging policy fixes TRPA has made thus far and start examining the fundamental changes needed to address inequities that have been building in our systems for decades. To do this successfully we need the creative ideas of as many community members as possible.
Lake Tahoe’s unique growth management system is one of many factors we need to consider in identifying solutions. Nearly 55 years ago, TRPA was created by the states of Nevada and California to better manage development and unify land-use planning in the watershed. The regional plan framed a growth management system that set overall development caps which are still in place today. The agency also set an urban boundary, prohibited new development in what remained of Tahoe’s sensitive stream zones, and required all new projects to include stormwater treatment and erosion control. These are all fundamental protections.
However, the cost of some of these development and permitting standards are harder for smaller, middle-sized homes to absorb as compared to larger, detached homes and condominiums. Between 1970 and 1980, average new home sizes in the Tahoe Basin were around 900 square feet. Now they are closer to 2,000 square feet and upscale residential development has become the most cost-effective type of project in the Basin.
Land use planning at this scale needs to be adaptive. Our region’s development patterns are not set in stone, and they cannot be if we are to solve the most pressing challenges of our time. Through the Tahoe Living program, we can modernize TRPA’s growth management system to not only remove roadblocks to workforce housing, but also deliver environmental gains, improve the overall sustainability of the region, and help address historic inequities that affect many members of our community. Already, recent policy changes by TRPA will maintain environmental protections while making it easier to add accessory dwelling units to residential properties and incentivizing deed-restricted workforce housing projects near transit and town centers.
The housing crisis also strikes at the sustainability of our communities by widening the equity gap and dramatically reducing the choices that lower income households have when looking for a place to live. With extensive community input and the support of housing experts, nonprofits, and local government partners, we are doing something about it.
Starting in September, TRPA has begun the next phase of policy updates with the intention of seeking more participation and going further than ever before. Called Cultivating Community, Conserving the Basin, this multiyear project aims to improve the growth management system, make housing more accessible and equitable, build climate resilience, and establish long-term, two-way engagement between residents, agencies, and organizations with a particular focus on historically underrepresented communities.
Now they are closer to 2,000 square feet and upscale residential development has become the most cost-effective type of project in the Basin.
Taking action to solve these issues starts with in-depth discussion and sharing of ideas to create something that maintains our course toward harmonizing the human and built environments. Visit tahoeliving.org to take our online survey, which is open through October, and learn about other ways to get involved. We need everyone’s voice to help us create the best solutions for one of the most challenging issues of our times.
~ Karen Fink is an accredited principal planner with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. She oversees the agency’s Tahoe Living: Housing and Community Revitalization Strategic Priority. Karen first joined the agency’s transportation team in 2004 as a bicycle and pedestrian planner and is an unrelenting bike commuter.
