News
ENLARGE
KINGS BEACH, Calif. — New affordable housing in Kings Beach appears all-but-assured as developers and Placer County await final approval on height, area and density amendments.
On Wednesday, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Advisory Planning Commission reviewed three amendments, which would increase the project's building height to 48 feet from 33 feet, increase building density requirements and expand the community plan boundary for one of the project's five sites, and recommended approval to the governing board, which should vote on the project at its meeting Wednesday, Jan. 27, at The Chateau in Incline Village.
TRPA Spokesman Dennis Oliver said the amendments would allow the governing board to approve the Fox and Chipmunk sites, the last two of five locations for Kings Beach Housing NOW, a project to create 77 permanent, multi-family rental housing units throughout Kings Beach. The Fox site, as proposed, is outside the community plan.
However, TRPA will only allow density increases if a project demonstrates it can create affordable housing, if it meets Kings Beach Commercial Community Plan improvement requirements and if additional density is consistent with the surrounding area.
“I think it's important to know that the TRPA is just coming into alignment with standards at the local level,” said Oliver, adding that Placer County has already approved the increases.
Developer Domus Development has been working in conjunction with Placer County Redevelopment on an affordable housing project for the past three years and estimates rents to range from $382 a month for a studio to $1,135 for a three-bedroom apartment. A children's play area and a 2,000-square-foot community space will also be available for residents.
Although it was originally a TRPA Community Enhancement Program project, it no longer is. This allows Domus to pursue a quicker path to approval with the TRPA by working in the agency's traditional approval process.
“Placer County is supportive and the need is there,” Oliver said. “There are just some issues to work through.”
The League to Save Lake Tahoe has expressed concern at past TRPA meetings and in writing that this kind of community plan change might set a precedent for community plan boundaries being pushed farther into urban lands.
However, TRPA is willing to consider the adjustments, Oliver said, because of community agencies such as the North Tahoe Family Resource Center, Project MANA and Placer County arguing for the need for affordable housing.
According to Domus research, Kings Beach has 76 percent low- to very low-income households, 18 percent of households living below the poverty line and 50 percent of households that pay more than half their income on rent.
“We have to accept there are people in our community who contribute to our community, and yet cannot afford basic housing,” said Emilio Vaca, executive director at the North Tahoe Family Resource Center.
Vaca said many homes in the area are converted one-room hotels built more than 40 years ago that were never designed for current uses.
“It's not just for people on welfare or undocumented people who are looking for this housing, it's people like you and me,” Vaca said.
Meea Kang, founding partner of Domus Development, said the housing units will be LEED certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a green building rating system), use 60 percent less energy than most apartment buildings and reduce more than seven tons of sediment runoff into Lake Tahoe each year, through the installment of Best Management Practices.
On Wednesday, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Advisory Planning Commission reviewed three amendments, which would increase the project's building height to 48 feet from 33 feet, increase building density requirements and expand the community plan boundary for one of the project's five sites, and recommended approval to the governing board, which should vote on the project at its meeting Wednesday, Jan. 27, at The Chateau in Incline Village.
TRPA Spokesman Dennis Oliver said the amendments would allow the governing board to approve the Fox and Chipmunk sites, the last two of five locations for Kings Beach Housing NOW, a project to create 77 permanent, multi-family rental housing units throughout Kings Beach. The Fox site, as proposed, is outside the community plan.
However, TRPA will only allow density increases if a project demonstrates it can create affordable housing, if it meets Kings Beach Commercial Community Plan improvement requirements and if additional density is consistent with the surrounding area.
“I think it's important to know that the TRPA is just coming into alignment with standards at the local level,” said Oliver, adding that Placer County has already approved the increases.
Developer Domus Development has been working in conjunction with Placer County Redevelopment on an affordable housing project for the past three years and estimates rents to range from $382 a month for a studio to $1,135 for a three-bedroom apartment. A children's play area and a 2,000-square-foot community space will also be available for residents.
Although it was originally a TRPA Community Enhancement Program project, it no longer is. This allows Domus to pursue a quicker path to approval with the TRPA by working in the agency's traditional approval process.
“Placer County is supportive and the need is there,” Oliver said. “There are just some issues to work through.”
The League to Save Lake Tahoe has expressed concern at past TRPA meetings and in writing that this kind of community plan change might set a precedent for community plan boundaries being pushed farther into urban lands.
However, TRPA is willing to consider the adjustments, Oliver said, because of community agencies such as the North Tahoe Family Resource Center, Project MANA and Placer County arguing for the need for affordable housing.
According to Domus research, Kings Beach has 76 percent low- to very low-income households, 18 percent of households living below the poverty line and 50 percent of households that pay more than half their income on rent.
“We have to accept there are people in our community who contribute to our community, and yet cannot afford basic housing,” said Emilio Vaca, executive director at the North Tahoe Family Resource Center.
Vaca said many homes in the area are converted one-room hotels built more than 40 years ago that were never designed for current uses.
“It's not just for people on welfare or undocumented people who are looking for this housing, it's people like you and me,” Vaca said.
Meea Kang, founding partner of Domus Development, said the housing units will be LEED certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a green building rating system), use 60 percent less energy than most apartment buildings and reduce more than seven tons of sediment runoff into Lake Tahoe each year, through the installment of Best Management Practices.
