KINGS BEACH, Calif. – Placer County held its third “Discover and Discuss” community event on Wednesday night in the North Tahoe Event Center, giving the public a chance to learn about and give feedback on regional programs and projects. This time around, the county added a housing solutions room where participants could talk to partners addressing housing needs in North Tahoe.

At the event, people had questions about the Placer 2050 General Plan update, infrastructure and road projects from Caltrans, trail and beach projects, and other developments from the core implementation departments at the county. Stephanie Holloway, Placer County’s deputy CEO, said she heard people express interest in learning about highway operations, parks and recreation, and defensible space and wildfire protection.

“That’s the beauty of doing this event twice a year—we get those direct questions about what people are interested in, in different seasons,” said Holloway. She added that there has been increasing interest and this event’s attendance had surpassed the previous event. “The more we do this, the more it becomes a great resource where the public can come ask their questions.”

This event brought Placer County’s housing partners like the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, Truckee Tahoe Workforce Housing Agency, Tahoe Housing Hub, Sierra Community House, North Tahoe Community Alliance, and the Placer County Tahoe housing specialist Tim Cussen. Attendees expressed their interest in the resources offered by each partner.

For instance, the Tahoe Housing Hub’s ADU Accelerator program now can cover all or some of the costs of additional services like site surveys or legal fees. The Truckee Tahoe Workforce Housing Agency is working on a Master Lease program to help provide more affordable workforce housing in partnership with some of the large employers in the area.

The Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation is also partnering with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) to conduct another regional housing survey, assessing housing needs and contributing to the Cultivating Community, Conserving the Basin project. It’s the first time the program will include Truckee, North Tahoe, and the entirety of the Lake Tahoe Basin. The survey can be taken at https://tinyurl.com/TahoeHousingNeeds2025.

The next Placer County “Discover and Discuss” community event will be held in Granlibakken sometime in the winter. To stay up-to-date on their events, visit their webpage at https://www.placer.ca.gov/9952/Discover-Discuss-Community-Events.

Eli Ramos is a reporter for Tahoe Daily Tribune. They are part of the 2024–26 cohort of California Local News Fellows through UC Berkeley.