AUBURN, Calif. — The Placer County Planning Commission will consider recommending approval of the Tahoe Basin Area Plan Phase 2 Housing Amendments to the Board of Supervisors at its meeting Thursday, Sept. 11. 

An addendum to the TBAP environmental impact report has been prepared by county staff to satisfy California Environmental Quality Act requirements. The meeting will be held in Auburn at the Community Development Resource Agency (3091 County Center Drive) with a virtual interactive location in Tahoe City (775 N. Lake Boulevard) for community members to share input and ask questions.

These phase 2 housing amendments focus solely on deed-restricted housing projects within and outside of the town centers in Kings Beach and Tahoe City. They were approved by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Governing Board on Dec. 13, 2023, with further amendments approved June 26, 2024. Those amendments were subsequently litigated before the parties settled in July 2024. 

These amendments must be incorporated into the Lake Tahoe Basin’s applicable area plans to be consistent with the TRPA Regional Plan and Code of Ordinances. As the TBAP is a joint document, the TBAP Phase 2 Housing Amendments must be approved by both TRPA’s Governing Board and the Placer County Board of Supervisors. TRPA’s Governing Board adopted the TBAP amendments March 26.

The TRPA is not a single-state agency and thus it cannot act as the lead California agency to complete the necessary California Environmental Quality Act requirements. Placer County underwent its own CEQA process and will present its findings at the Sept. 11 meeting. The Planning Commission will then consider whether or not to recommend adoption of the amendments to the Board of Supervisors. The public can provide input on these amendments during the process.

In 2020, TRPA formed the Tahoe Living Working Group to identify development standards that could incentivize the construction of multi-family and missing-middle housing options to support local workers. The working group is composed of representatives from local jurisdictions, nonprofits, builders and community members. The group has identified the following three phases for recommended amendments:

First phase:

• Align Tahoe Basin accessory dwelling unit allowances with state requirements
• This phase was approved by the Board of Supervisors on Dec. 15, 2020, and by TRPA’s Governing Board on Feb. 24, 2021

Second phase:

• TRPA hired a consultant, Cascadia Partners, to conduct a study in 2020 to outline what development standards could be changed to make projects financially feasible without public subsidies
• The changes target height, density, parking and coverage for deed-restricted housing, mixed-use development and accessory dwelling units

Third phase, called ‘Cultivating Communities’:

• The working group began meeting in December 2024 to discuss a new system to govern development rights and create future housing amendments to TRPA code and regional planning
• The third phase is expected to return to TRPA’s board next summer

The potential changes to the area plan must pertain to fully deed-restricted housing projects to support one of three categories: affordable, moderate or local worker groups.  

Community members may submit comments about this environmental review in written form by either emailing comments to the Clerk of the Board at planningcommission@placer.ca.gov or mailing comments through the U.S. Postal Service to the county, Attn: Clerk of the Board, 175 Fulweiler Avenue, Auburn, CA 95603.

Learn more about the Planning Commission here: https://www.placer.ca.gov/2403/Planning-Commission.

Find more details about the meeting location on our calendar: https://www.placer.ca.gov/Calendar.aspx?EID=48692.