By DOUGLAS DALE | Tahoe City
After experiencing business life in Tahoe City since 1978, I am very hopeful that the Tahoe City Lodge project will be approved as soon as possible. It may be hard to imagine, but Tahoe City was once a thriving mountain ski town both in the winter and the summer. Despite an extraordinary natural setting, Tahoe City can no longer compete with Squaw Valley, Northstar, and Truckee. Tahoe City desperately needs an upscale hotel — that is the request we most often hear from our guests at Wolfdale’s. I have also yet to meet a local business owner that doesn’t agree. Tahoe City deserves a chance to prosper again as it moves into the future.
There are many benefits to the proposed Tahoe City Lodge. Removal of the old commercial complex at the entrance to our town, private money into the community, ongoing stimulation of our struggling Tahoe City economy, and improved recreation at the Tahoe City Golf Course and Winter Park are just a few of the ways this project will revitalize our town. As the Tahoe City Lodge will face Commons Beach and has the golf course at its back door, visitors will be able to immediately enjoy the various activities our community has to offer. Environmentally, it advances our goal with both its green design and restoration of lands. It also addresses and aligns with the Tahoe City vision principles as part of the area plan process. This is what our community has desired, and it is a real tangible example bringing to life our Tahoe City visioning principles.
Life is all about timing. The Tahoe City Lodge project delivers exactly what our town needs right now. I only ask that the local community and the involved agencies respect the immediate need for this project to move forward in an urgent manner. An opportunity like this is rare, critical, and time-sensitive.
I support this long-term investment into our community. Tahoe City Lodge is the smart development we have been waiting decades for to revitalize our town’s economy in the most environmentally sustainable way. The agencies should move the Tahoe City Lodge towards the approval it deserves as soon as possible. The positive future of our town depends on it.
~ Douglas Dale has been the owner/chef of Wolfdale’s Restaurant in Tahoe City since 1978. The long-time Tahoe City local has been involved in the Tahoe City Area Plan process and in creating the Tahoe City vision principles. He has been a residential property owner since 1984, and a Tahoe City commercial property owner since 1986.
