News
ENLARGE
KINGS BEACH, Calif. — The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency has wrapped up the first phase of discussion over the proposed regional plan update that aims to dictate the pace of development and growth in the Lake Tahoe Basin for at least the next 20 years.
The agency's governing board reviewed the fifth and final milestone — conservation — during an all-day meeting Wednesday at the North Tahoe Events Center, a discussion that elicited the least amount of debate or contention from the public of any milestone.
Debate focused on whether updated soil surveys that will be incorporated into the land capability map — one of the more prominent tools TRPA uses to determine a land parcel's capacity for development — will supersede previous soil surveys and maps developed in the 70s and 80s.
The agency currently uses two systems — Bailey's land capability system and Individual Parcel Evaluation System — to ascertain the percentage of a parcel capable of containing built environment, meaning the amount of land on which one can build. The maximum is 30 percent, and that number is not proposed to change.
“The new survey will provide a more accurate baseline from which to begin assessing land capability,” said Regional Plan Update Director Harmon Zuckerman.
Zuckerman said the new soil survey will supplement data derived from current land capability methodologies.
The other conservation topic centered on wildlife management. Zuckerman said the agency would use lists of threatened species compiled by state and federal services to ensure their habitat will not be threatened by development.
The Regional Plan Update process is now on hold for the next six months, as TRPA staff prepares to incorporate direction from the board into a document, which will be analyzed as part of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.
The EIS will be administered by an outside and objective source. The purpose is to analyze the environmental impacts of the suggestions made by staff and endorsed by the board.
When the time comes, further Regional Plan Update discussion will focus on implementation of the various segments of the plan. To this point, the agency's discussion has revolved around more broad policy level discussions.
The agency's governing board reviewed the fifth and final milestone — conservation — during an all-day meeting Wednesday at the North Tahoe Events Center, a discussion that elicited the least amount of debate or contention from the public of any milestone.
Debate focused on whether updated soil surveys that will be incorporated into the land capability map — one of the more prominent tools TRPA uses to determine a land parcel's capacity for development — will supersede previous soil surveys and maps developed in the 70s and 80s.
The agency currently uses two systems — Bailey's land capability system and Individual Parcel Evaluation System — to ascertain the percentage of a parcel capable of containing built environment, meaning the amount of land on which one can build. The maximum is 30 percent, and that number is not proposed to change.
“The new survey will provide a more accurate baseline from which to begin assessing land capability,” said Regional Plan Update Director Harmon Zuckerman.
Zuckerman said the new soil survey will supplement data derived from current land capability methodologies.
The other conservation topic centered on wildlife management. Zuckerman said the agency would use lists of threatened species compiled by state and federal services to ensure their habitat will not be threatened by development.
The Regional Plan Update process is now on hold for the next six months, as TRPA staff prepares to incorporate direction from the board into a document, which will be analyzed as part of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.
The EIS will be administered by an outside and objective source. The purpose is to analyze the environmental impacts of the suggestions made by staff and endorsed by the board.
When the time comes, further Regional Plan Update discussion will focus on implementation of the various segments of the plan. To this point, the agency's discussion has revolved around more broad policy level discussions.
The systems
Bailey's land capability system
The U.S. Forest Service and TRPA developed the Bailey land capability system in the early 1970s based primarily on the official USDA soils maps for the Tahoe Region. Each soil type was assigned to a land capability class ranging from 1 to 7, with capability 1 being the most environmentally fragile and sensitive to development. Individual Parcel Evaluation System From 1985 to 1987, TRPA worked with a large number of interest groups and government agencies to develop a consensus resolution of the issues affecting final approval of a new Regional Plan. One of the products of this process was an ordinance which replaced the Bailey system with an objective and more accurate classification system. IPES assigns a numerical score to vacant parcels and ranks the parcels within each local jurisdiction according to their relative suitability for development. |
