Letter: Stop overdeveloping the Tahoe area

To the community,

Two spectacularly bad ideas:

Martis Valley West (MVW) and the Brockway Campground (BC) are Proposals with cumulative impacts:

1. Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) and Mountainside Partners (aka East/West) is the developer on both.

2. Both adjacent projects are located on the ridge overlooking Tahoe and Truckee one mile west from Highway 267 on Mt. Watson Road.

3. Both projects propose massive development-MVW is 760 homes in a gated community plus 6.6 acres of commercial. Brockway Campground is huge-550 campsites/RV spaces/yurts on approx. 150 acres. (Yosemite is 1,169 square miles and has only 1,445 campsites.)

4. 4,000-plus people will occupy the iconic ridge between Tahoe and Truckee; 1,900-plus for the gated community MVW and up to 3000 for the campground (Yosemite Valley Family Campground’s 459 sites accommodate 2,754 people)

5. Both projects will alter the rules: MVW lands will require rezoning from forest/conservation and the campground will require a special use.

Why these two adjacent proposals are a terrible idea for the region:

1. Destruction of an important wildlife corridor and natural setting.

2. Degradation of an important recreational open space.

3. Traffic congestion and gridlock.

4. Diminished air quality.

5. Permanently ruins community character and vision.

6. Dangerous precedent to justify further development along Tahoe’s iconic ridgelines.

7. Loss of nighttime dark skies.

8. Ground water loss.

9. Scenic loss.

How much can the Tahoe basin absorb before you don’t recognize it anymore? Isn’t trading development from the Martis Valley onto the ridge above Tahoe just moving Truckee problems to Tahoe which has less capacity to handle them? Who is looking at the big picture? Where is TRPA?

Anne Nichols, North Tahoe Preservation Alliance