Letter: Getting on board with reality of development

To the community, 

Wow, what a doozy of a letter in the Sierra Sun from Thomas Greg Traxler on Nov. 3, “Unless Lake Tahoe builds a wall, redevelopment is reality.”

In it, Traxler starts with the false premise that all new development is “re-development.” Martis Valley West (760 units plus 6.6 acres commercial) on lands zoned conservation on our forested ridge is not redevelopment.

Traxler thinks we need to “get on board.” Really? Tahoe’s only choice to save our environment is to build a wall? Tahoe residents had better get on board or get out of the way because 6,000 units are either currently approved or in the Tahoe-Truckee pipeline. I guess this logic comes under the heading of: The beatings will continue until morale improves.

Traxler is entitled to his opinion. He is a Realtor selling shared ownerships, etc., at the formerly bankrupt East-West Partner’s projects at Northstar and Old Greenwood. East-West has morphed into Mountainside Partners, the developer behind Martis Valley West. The project will throw another 1,900 new residents onto the already clogged Highway 267 corridor.

Traxler’s specious rationalizations, if accepted by residents and government, will inevitably result in the destruction of our dark night skies, foul lake clarity, cause traffic gridlock, and make it difficult if not impossible for Basin residents to make it out in case of wildfire.

We don’t have to “get on board” with overdevelopment. This isn’t the lawless Old West. The public has a say through a number of channels to protect the environment and public safety. Unfortunately in the case of Martis Valley West, all but one member of the Placer County Board of Supervisors ignored their own Planning Commission, their Environmental Report, the California attorney general, five conservation groups and hundreds of citizens.

It’s a terrible loss for Lake Tahoe.

Ann Nichols, North Tahoe Preservation Alliance