The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) has begun accepting applications for its competitive Community Enhancement Program. Under the Community Enhancement Program (CEP), TRPA will offer incentives to developers whose projects stand to benefit the environment, enrich the character of local communities, and stimulate commercial and civic revitalization around the Tahoe basin. According to CEP manager Brenda Hunt, TRPA hopes the incentives will attract promising applicants.
‘We are expecting competition to be driven by the program’s incentives and only the best will be chosen,’ Hunt said, ‘But the real winners will be the communities.’
In exchange for extra commercial floor area or modified height, density, or parking restrictions, developers will be asked to meet a set of nine goals designed to promote social and economic improvement. The goals were developed as part of the Pathway 2007 process – TRPA’s strategy for developing a new, 20-year regional plan for the Tahoe basin. Over the last two years, TRPA has held a series of community workshops during which roughly 1,800 people described what they would like to see in Tahoe urban centers in the future. From those comments, TRPA staff assembled the list of nine goals that will shape the developments that pass through the Community Enhancement Program. CEP projects will all be new development, and will only be located in areas governed by a master plan or community plan.
One of the goals outlined in the CEP document is titled ‘Create and Enhance Mixed-Use Community Centers.’ It requires developers to mix commercial space with tourist accommodations or quality residential units. Another goal calls for projects that include public spaces, cultural centers, and gathering places. Yet another goal encourages plans that are friendly to pedestrians, connect well with public transportation, and include bike storage and bike-path access.
To Hunt, these goals add up to communities built on a human scale. ‘We want it to be walk-able. We want it to be bike-able. We want it to have transit links. We’re trying to reduce the use of the automobile,’ Hunt said, ‘We’re trying to create places where people can live, work, get essential services, and play within a limited distance from each other.’
Perhaps the most important goal of the Community Enhancement Program requires developers to implement Environmental Improvement Projects. Developers will be required to complete a project in one of TRPA’s environmental threshold categories that focus on concerns such as air quality, wildlife protection, or soil conservation.
The environmental improvement project goal can be particularly useful in addressing water quality issues. According to Hunt, between 60 and 70 percent of sediment that enters Lake Tahoe originates in urban areas, despite the fact that such areas cover a very small portion of the Tahoe Basin land. As the situation stands now, best management practices that govern runoff prevention operate on a site-by-site basis; but Hunt reasons that with CEP in place, developers will cooperate to fund projects.
‘We believe with (the CEP) process that we can get these amazing net gain results … potentially, area-wide storm water improvements,’ Hunt said, ‘We’re hoping to get people thinking outside the box and thinking outside their lot lines.’
The Community Enhancement Program is also designed to stimulate cooperation between developers, TRPA staff, local planners, and the public. Developers who submit CEP applications early enough will meet with TRPA, city, and county staff members three times before October 31, and the most promising applicants will continue to work with TRPA until their projects are accepted into the Community Enhancement Program and awarded incentives such as allowances for increased numbers of residential units, or a smaller number of parking spaces. During the meetings TRPA staff will help developers shape their projects to meet CEP criteria. Perhaps even suggesting way that developers can cooperate. The public will be given two opportunities to comment on each project.
Such close cooperation between developers, TRPA, and local jurisdictions is a change from business as usual. ‘Right now, the way the process works is that a proponent (of a development) comes in and they give us a 100 percent complete design’ Hunt said, ‘So they’ve already put heaps of money into their project and they don’t want to change anything because they’re already done.’
Hunt explained that the CPE process will allow TRPA staff to identify any conflicts with the TRPA code of ordinances or environmental concerns before the project goes to final review, and that as a result the final approval process will likely proceed more smoothly.
‘Hopefully a lot of the environmental issues will have been identified and maybe even taken care of so that they don’t actually have to review them in an environmental document,’ Hunt said.
If all goes well, the CEP approval and review process could become part of TRPA procedure under the new regional plan.
‘This is a first time for this, but I think it’s going to be great getting all this up-front information and working with (the developers). It’s going to be fun, really. I think it’s going to be quite fun,’ Hunt said, ‘We’re excited and I hope it’s a new way of doing business in the basin.’
The Vision of the Community Enhancement Program
The Community Enhancement Program is seeking net gain solutions for the Lake Tahoe Basin which implement environmental improvements, enhance the quality of life for residents, improve the visitor experience, and contribute to the long-term economic vitality of the region.
Contact Brenda Hunt, 775-589-5225; bhunt@trpa.org.
