HOMEWOOD, Calif. – The public is invited to a community meeting Wednesday at 6 p.m. at 89 Bar at Grill to hear an update on Homewood Mountain Resort’s Master Plan.

Discovery Land Co. Partner Ed Divita will give the same presentation he gave in a virtual forum for the Homewood’s Homeowners Association in March. Keep Homewood Public members also attended.

“Thank you so much for the opportunity to provide an update about our work in progress related to the Homewood Mountain Resort,” Divita said in the forum. “As you know, we’ve been reaching out to the public for nearly a year. We’ve been talking about architecture, planning, public access, and other issues. We’ve been taking all the feedback into consideration in our plans, and we’re nearing being ready to apply to the TRPA and Placer County for some revisions to the approved plan. So we wanted to share our work in progress and that’s what today is all about.”

---

---

The Master Plan is being refined in a few areas:

• Homewood’s site plan needs to be updated to reflect a necessary realignment of the gondola path up the mountain. In the conceptual plan, the terminal was higher up the hill, which would have required skiers to climb up steps to the gondola. The new location is down the mountain and better for the skier experience.
• Homewood’s buildings were updated to reduce their size and provide mountain views from surrounding roads.
• Homewood’s architecture was changed to reflect best practices, current environmental standards, and modern techniques while retaining the historic buildings’ West Shore materials, colors, and vernacular.

These refinements will be submitted to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and Placer County.

---

---

As repeatedly stated, Homewood will remain open to the public, Divita said.

“If you have a pass or ticket and a way to get to the mountain, you can ski at Homewood.” Divita said. “… we want all of our ski products available to all.”

Divita referred to day lift tickets, ski passes with blackout days, unlimited ski passes and potentially unlimited lifetime passes.

Divita detailed the project’s history.

In 2011, Homewood Mountain Resort’s master plan was fully approved.

In 2014, the plan was amended. It moved the parking structure from lot 3 to lot 4 and condominium density on lot 3 was cut to 8.

In 2022, the TRPA permitted 7 single-family homes, which the master plan had previously cited as 8 townhomes on lot 3. The TRPA found that change to be in conformance with the existing master plan, said TRPA Public Information Officer Jeff Cowen.

“Here we are now in 2024 preparing to present an application for some additional revisions,” Divita said. “For today, we want to talk about why we’re proposing revisions, what’s revised, what’s not revised … after that, we’ll touch on the next steps.”

Divita talked about the plan’s vision and goals.

“We like going back to foundational principles because they really form a base or a guide for moving forward.”

Homewood Mountain Resort’s approved original master plan’s guiding principles are:

• Updating aging infrastructure and creating a bed base that does not exist today
• Preserving Homewood’s basic personality as a small, uncrowded, family-friendly enclave
• Restoring Homewood as a key gathering center for Lake Tahoe’s West Shore
• Maintaining the heritage of a ski resort that can be enjoyed equally by residents and visitors
• Minimizing impacts of traffic on the west shore (if necessary by limiting the number of ski tickets that are sold on any given day)
• Preserving the character of Homewood by developing new facilities that reflect the existing architectural quality and scale of the community

“Of course, people are very interested in updating Homewood and its aging infrastructure, and creating the bed base so that there isn’t as much traffic or congestion.”

The project’s major components are:

• Installing an 8-passenger gondola to replace the Madden Chair
• Replacing Ellis Chair
• Improving snow-making capabilities
• Improving mountain maintenance
• Adding up to 225 residences
• Adding a hotel with up to 75 rooms
• Adding up to 13 on-site workforce housing units
• Adding a new base mountain facility that includes food and beverage service, ski school, rental shop, lockers, restrooms, first aid, and mountain administration
• Adding about 270 day-use parking spaces in a 3-level garage
• Adding a new mid-mountain lodge and gondola terminal with a learn-to-ski lift, store, pool, and food and beverage
• Employing alternative transportation methods

“These are key, we’ve found, in all of our interviews and meetings with people,” Divita said. “These are things that folks want and support … these are the elements we are committed to providing with our plan.”

The original plan had substantial environmental benefits.

• Reducing forest fuels and improving forest health
• Helping watershed management via road restoration
• Improving lake clarity via reduced sediment flow
• Completing environmental improvement projects. These will continue to include:
  • Restoration of dirt roads and degraded ski runs resulting in 40% sediment reduction to Lake Tahoe
  • $1 million investment in environmental stewardship work from 2010-2014
  • Nearly 300,000 square feet of unpaved mountain road restoration and land retirement
  • Rainfall simulation and ongoing commitments to field-based modeling and monitoring
  • Homewood received the Golden Eagle and Best in Basin awards for these environmental efforts

“The master plan, prepared in 2011 and approved and modified a bit in 2014, was only at a conceptual level,” said Divita in response to why revisions are needed. “It needs to meet current code requirements. It needs to meet current safety practices. It needs to support the practical operation requirements, and integrate in requirements of detailed engineering.”

The revisions realign the gondola path and bring it closer to the base for easier access. It refines the layouts and architecture, and reduces the size.

The general public’s access to recreation is going to remain the same. As are all other representations in the existing approvals, Divita said.

“The main thing driving the revision was we wanted to start construction to the gondola … when Placer County looked at that permit, they saw that the location of the gondola terminal and alignment were a little different than what had been shown on the approved plan,” Divita said. “And they needed to bring that into consistency.”

Homewood Mountain Resort continues to offer a convenient and quality skiing experience to local, West Shore residents and visitors.

Divita said all ski products are available for purchase by residents and visitors. There will be improved infrastructure and snowmaking.

Homewood will create community gathering spaces. It will have a parking reservation system and alternative transportation methods.

There will be public access to mountain trails and other recreation.

The master plan capacity metrics on the mountain, persons at one time (PAOT) are 1,704.

A new parking garage will add 270 spaces for day skiers, and 26 of those are for workforce housing. Day skiers will have overflow in the hotel parking structure.

There will be alternate transportation methods that handle 300 visitors per hour. Those include resort shuttles and dial-a-ride.

Resort residents and hotel guests will have other onsite parking.

Over the last three years, historical peak day metrics hit about 2,000.

“With the 1,700 PAOTs and the ability to have 10% of days go over the 1,700, there’s really adequate skiing to allow access for the general public,” Divita said.

Divita said the path forward includes delivering the approved Master Plan elements in conformance with the Approved Plan. Homewood Mountain Resort will continue its environmental work for the mountain and the lake. After permits are approved, they will move forward with critical ski mountain infrastructure investment.

Homewood seeks approval of its site plan refinements, including the gondola’s new location to optimize the skier experience and meet engineering requirements.

The next steps are:

• Continue to meet with the community to share the refinements. A virtual presentation is scheduled for April 24 at 6 p.m.
• Submit the minor plan revision to the TRPA this month
• Work to get minor plan revisions, gondola permit, and timber harvest permit approved this summer

Then construction of the gondola can begin this summer, Divita said.

“We appreciate the opportunity to share these design elements with you… we’re really keeping Homewood, Homewood,” Divita said.