YOUR AD HERE »

Council takes final comment on Downtown Specific Plan

SHERRY MAYS

In a follow-up to earlier deliberations on the Downtown Specific Plan, the Truckee Town Council heard public comment last week on the council’s recommended plan changes.

The purpose was to provide planners with direction during the final stages of the two-and-one-half-year DSP process.

Pointed public comments at the Oct. 16 regular council meeting focused on the Barsell parcel located at the intersection of Highway 267 and Interstate 80. At the Oct. 2 meeting, the council had amended the DSP to include 10,000 additional square feet of commercial for one sit-down restaurant. Opponents said there was too much commercial being allowed at the location.



Stefanie Olivieri, Mountain Area Preservation Foundation president, said she was disappointed with the council’s decisions on the Barsell property.

“I am disappointed that the council has lost its sense of community values,” she said. “They are eroding values. The council never took the cemetery sensitively.”



Others, like fourth-generation Truckee resident Sharon Arnold, agreed.

“I was the hardest one (on the downtown committee) to convince about any commercial on the site,” she said. “I do agree that too much commercial wouldn’t be appropriate.”

Councilman Don McCormack said architecture specifications would keep control of how a potential building would look. He said he thought the lodging and commercial would “fit nicely” with the gateway area and the cemetery.

Councilman Josh Susman disagreed with McCormack and said there was too much commercial planned for the site.

Through more than one hour of deliberations and public comment, the council voted in favor of keeping the allowable commercial square footage in proportion with the potential lodging to be built at the site. The commercial would be phased in depending on the lodge’s size.

The DSP allows a lodge on the 13-acre parcel, which the DSP committee agreed was proper for the site.

Town planners will return to the council Nov. 6 with the final documents required for action to adopt resolutions approving the plan.

A summary of these changes is available from the Truckee Planning Department.


Support Local Journalism

 

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Lake Tahoe, Truckee, and beyond make the Sierra Sun's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.