LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board approved a package of affordable and workforce housing incentives Wednesday to help address the housing crisis that is impacting Lake Tahoe’s environment and communities. The targeted changes to Lake Tahoe zoning regulations will lower the cost to provide affordable and workforce housing, benefit water quality, and reduce traffic and vehicle use, the agency said today.

Following three hours of public testimony, the board adopted the policy changes with refinements based on community and board member feedback.

Rising property values are only part of the housing crisis affecting Lake Tahoe communities, according to TRPA. The development caps and building design requirements enacted by the agency decades ago to save the lake are partly driving the market toward large, single-family homes versus smaller, more affordable multi-family units such as duplexes, triplexes, and apartments.

With a limited amount of new development allowed under the Lake Tahoe Regional Plan, major renovation, redevelopment, and new projects must achieve multiple goals, according to TRPA. Existing incentives encourage water quality and transportation improvements on commercial and tourist accommodation properties. Extending additional incentives to deed-restricted multi-family projects is a key priority for the agency.

“When you look at this breathtaking lake and then recognize what is happening to people and businesses in our communities, it’s heartbreaking,” said TRPA Executive Director Julie Regan. “In resort communities in Tahoe and across the nation, it’s getting harder for people to live where they work. The status quo is unacceptable and these changes are one of many solutions needed.”

The approved policy changes require a high level of stormwater Best Management Practices to protect water quality. The goal is to build public-private partnerships that deliver more affordable housing throughout Lake Tahoe.

Highlights on the new housing incentives:

• They apply only to projects close to transit and services that provide permanently deed-
  restricted units for lower income and local workers.
• Projects in town centers can apply for more flexible building designs with additional land
  coverage, up to 9 additional feet of height, more units allowed within the building
  envelope, and reduced parking if the project will implement alternatives like a car-share
  or shared-parking agreement.
• Smaller projects in surrounding multi-family residential zones can apply for similar,
  stepped down incentives to encourage more duplexes, triplexes, and accessory dwelling
  units.

“Our communities are struggling,” said TRPA Governing Board Chair and Placer County District 5 Supervisor Cindy Gustafson. “I am seeing boarded up buildings in my community of Tahoe City for the first time in the 40 years I have lived here. This approval gives the Tahoe Basin one more tool that the local jurisdictions can choose to use, but we know we need to keep making progress on additional solutions to strengthen our communities and protect some of Tahoe’s most at-risk community members.”

Within a year, local governments are required to align the changes with their local area plans. Area plan updates also allow local communities to tailor the extra allowances as long as they work toward regional housing goals.

Starting in early 2024, TRPA staff will initiate a multi-year effort to more comprehensively integrate housing, equity, and climate goals into key land-use and water quality programs. The agency was recently awarded $2.4 million in grant funding from the California Department of Housing and Community Development to help with further improvements that will benefit the entire region.
To get involved, visit trpa.gov/housing and sign up for the agency’s housing eNews.