When is a retreat not a retreat? When it has hundreds of cars driving through it.
At least that’s what some Northstar homeowners are alleging in a lawsuit filed on Jan. 29 against Placer County, the developers of Martis Camp, and a handful of related companies. At issue is a single-lane road running between Martis Camp and the Retreat, 18 one-acre lots near the intersection of Northstar’s Big Springs Drive and Mill Site Road.
The litigants are not named individually. Instead, the plaintiff in the case is simply “Tahoe Residents United for Safe Transit,” or TRUST, which includes the only property owner in the Retreat to have built a house as yet.
Lev Leytes says when he bought his land in the Retreat more than three years ago, he was assured the dirt road between his neighborhood and Martis Camp would be used only for emergency access. Today, he says it’s a paved road with a gate that homeowners can open from only one side — Martis Camp.
“When we bought the lot, Northstar and the county said this would not be a through street,” Leytes said. “The main point here is that we want the county to deliver what it promised to the public. It’s not just about me; a lot of people at Northstar are very upset about this.”
County officials could not be reached for comment at press time.
