Editors Note: As of July 14, 2016, Placer County postponed the Board of Supervisors hearing to Sept. 13.
By ALEXIS OLLAR
If you have been following the Martis Valley West (MVW) project through the public process, you have likely realized it is an environmental train wreck. The proposal poses significant and unavoidable impacts to visual resources, night sky, traffic, and air quality in the Truckee/Tahoe region. Despite existing wildfire danger and public safety concerns, the proposal does nothing to address these issues and will only further exacerbate an already dangerous situation. The only positive element of the project is the hope of preserving 6,000-plus acres in Martis Valley. But at what price? The project applicants, Mountainside Partners and Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI), have done a great job confusing the public and decision makers with broad statements such as “Martis Valley West is a collaborative effort among developers and conservation groups.” As one of the aforementioned conservation groups, we question who they are collaborating with? For the last few years, Mountain Area Preservation (MAP) and Sierra Watch have attempted to voice concerns and offer suggestions to create a project we could stand behind. Those efforts have been met with silence and no desire on behalf of the developers to address our concerns.
In 2013, MAP, Sierra Watch, Truckee Donner Land Trust, and Trust for Public Land entered into a deal with SPI and Mountainside Partners called the Martis Valley Opportunity Agreement (MVOA). This was considered a monumental negotiation to preserve the last large landscape in Martis Valley. The concept was to shift land use designations under Placer County’s Martis Valley Community Plan, from the east parcel to the west parcel, both currently owned and operated by SPI. Our goal was to protect priority conservation land, linking Martis Valley to Mt. Rose Wilderness, creating 50,000 acres of contiguous open space. We believed an important component of the agreement was to have a seat at the table to negotiate good land use planning, environmental mitigation measures, and community benefits. Sadly, once the agreement was signed, the applicants shut the door on further negotiations and moved forward with a proposal to include development in the Tahoe Basin, thereby adding the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) into the process. This was not what we agreed upon. The MVOA outlined a process whereby the developers would apply to Placer County for up to 760 units and 6.6 acres of commercial development. However, in 2014 the developers not only applied to Placer County, but also to TRPA, proposing 112 homes on Brockway Summit. This sparked controversy and objections from environmental groups and citizens who requested that the developers withdraw their TRPA application and follow the process as agreed upon in the MVOA.
Rather than withdrawing the TRPA application, they suspended it, and additionally applied in 2015 for the Brockway Campground. MAP publicly opposed the campground and MVW, as they were counter to the spirit of the MVOA. On June 9, more than 250 people attended the MVW Planning Commission hearing to make their voices heard, “Say NO To Martis Valley West!” Many environmental advocacy groups publicly opposed the project, citing numerous illegal flaws within the Final EIR. MAP reiterated that the MVW was not a product of the MVOA, as it is NOT a collaborative effort! We are advocates of good planning and open space preservation. We pride ourselves on our willingness to sit at the table and negotiate appropriate development, but regrettably, MVW and the Brockway Campground are not the right blueprint for the region. We support the preservation of the East Parcel, but we cannot support an over-scaled and unmitigated project for the West Parcel! MVW is slated to go before the Placer County Board of Supervisors August 9. Visit mapf.org/stay-informed/ to stay up to date.
~ Alexis Ollar is the Executive Director of Mountain Area Preservation.
