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A development designed as an opportunity to enjoy Tahoe\u2019s great outdoors requires the removal of 300 hundred towering pine trees on nine acres of privately owned land in Douglas County near the Lake Tahoe shoreline, as well as on U.S. Forest Service land slated to provide access to the property, which is just off congested Highway 50.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The 53-unit development is planned for year-round camping without the gear, but with the amenities of a luxury resort. Talaz, as it\u2019s known, is intended to create \u201ca positive impact through nature-based hospitality,\u201d according to its website. It\u2019s equipped with air conditioning, running water, and electric vehicle charging stations.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCamping is evolving,\u201d Julie Regan, executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, said of the project at a meeting in late September. \u201cHow people experience the great outdoors is evolving.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n But enjoying the great outdoors should not require the removal of healthy trees, say critics.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The TRPA, which is made up of representatives from Nevada and California, approved the proposal, with only two members against it \u2013 both of them from California.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt is a substantial amount of tree removal,\u201d observed TRPA Governing Board member Ashley Conrad-Saydah, who serves as California Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s appointee on the board. Conrad-Saydah noted the planned removal of trees from 58% of the site \u201cis nothing to just sniff at.\u201d She asked that the removal plan focus \u201cfirst on the dead and dying trees\u201d that create a fire hazard.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n TRPA\u2019s approval process, which involves a checklist, rather than an environmental impact study, determined the removal of the trees \u201cwill have no significant impact\u201d on the environment.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The finding \u201cproves yet again (TRPA) does not know how to assess environmental impact,\u201d civil and environmental engineer Alan Miller said during public comment. \u201cAlmost 300 trees, and all will be cut, and there\u2019s no significant effect from that.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Miller noted that at the same meeting, the TRPA approved a fine of $20,000 against a homeowner who cut down two trees of 14-inch or greater diameter without approval, a violation of TRPA rules, and mandated the resident plant four trees in their place.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Tahoe basin is already enduring the effects of climate change, which is worsened by the removal of trees, experts say. Warmer temperatures inhibit the mixing process responsible for the lake\u2019s clarity, an attraction that helps lure millions of tourists a year.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Rachel Bowers, the developer of the project, told the TRPA she intends to \u201creforest in a more healthy manner,\u201d and contends \u201cthe Jeffrey Pines are somewhat of an invasive species, and it\u2019s actually hurting the health of the forest in Tahoe.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Experts, however, note that Jeffrey Pines are the most common tree in the Tahoe Basin and are native to the area.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Roughing it?<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis is really a kind of a next generation response to camping,\u201d Lew Feldman, an attorney representing the developer, said of the glamping trend. \u201cYou can now camp without gearing up.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Feldman noted his client is paying development mitigation fees of more than $275,000 to TRPA \u201cfor a pretty low impact undertaking.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The nine-acre property was initially zoned for a single-family home, but its use as a campground \u201coffers a greater public benefit and access to recreation than the previously approved residential use, and other potential uses of private property,\u201d says the TRPA\u2019s findings in support of approval. It also allows \u201cmore visitors to camp near Lake Tahoe\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Residents argue the last thing Tahoe needs is more tourists, and suggest the development resembles a hotel more than a campground.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI can see why some people are making the arguments that this is a hotel versus a campground,\u201d said Vince Hoenigman, also an appointee of Newsom.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTRPA should not be approving more of these massive projects without environmental analysis, at the very least,\u201d Tahoe resident Dr. Staci Baker told the Current.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n But TRPA\u2019s Regan said the Tahoe Basin isn\u2019t anywhere near its capacity for development.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe adopted an update of our regional plan in 2012. We\u2019re 13 years in, and we are still under the development caps that were set forth in that plan. We\u2019re not even close to where we thought,\u201d Regan said of the TRPA\u2019s development projections.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n California Senate Rules Committee Appointee Alexandra Leumer, who voted against the proposal, said she\u2019d \u201clove to see access to people that generally can\u2019t afford to come to Tahoe.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n She asked staff \u201cto revisit how we\u2019re defining camping.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Glamping, Leurner observed, \u201cis beginning to get us into a gray area. I\u2019m not feeling like this is even accomplishing some of the goals that I would like to see us prioritizing with camping.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Conrad-Saydah of California said she wanted \u201ca sense of what a stay at this place would cost, If we\u2019re not actually increasing accessibility for people in middle or lower income ranges, we\u2019re just sort of forcing folks into casinos or lower priced hotels and motels around the lake, instead of giving them this access to nature,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that\u2019s a really critical thing to understand. Who is this development serving?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n