Tahoe Conservancy to use asset hands to help improve neighborhoods

The California Tahoe Conservancy will begin exploring how two of its developable parcels could help improve Kings Beach and implement elements of Placer County’s Tahoe Basin Area Plan.

At its meeting earlier in the month, and following a tour of the properties, the Conservancy Board directed staff to begin pre-sale activities for the two parcels: 8602 North Lake Boulevard and 8644 Speckled Avenue.

Potential opportunities for the parcels could include new affordable housing or mixed-use development, as well as improvements for people walking and riding bicycles, water quality improvement projects, and placement of conservation easements over sensitive open space.

“Placer County looks forward to collaborating with the Conservancy on sustainable development of these properties to benefit Kings Beach,” said Cindy Gustafson, Placer County Supervisor and Conservancy Board member. “We’re excited to explore opportunities to achieve the community’s vision for these neighborhoods.”

As part of its Tahoe Livable Communities program, the Conservancy seeks to use its “Asset Lands” to help foster sustainable development in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Asset Lands include developable lands in urbanized areas of the Lake Tahoe Basin that could support sustainable, compact development, consistent with Tahoe’s regional and local community planning. The two Kings Beach parcels occupy strategic locations near the Kings Beach Town Center.

At the same meeting, the board authorized staff to plan additional forest and watershed restoration activities under the Good Neighbor Agreement between the Conservancy and the U.S. Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Originally authorized by the Board in August 2018, the Good Neighbor Agreement enables the conservancy to plan restoration activities on state, federal, and certain non-federal lands, and to obtain reimbursement from the federal government for costs associated with such activities.