TRPA waits for Homewood to finish its work
HOMEWOOD, Calif. – In response to Homewood Mountain Resort’s announcement it will remain closed for the 2024-25 season, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) said it is waiting for the resort to submit a more detailed public access plan, employee housing plan, and a development agreement with the North Tahoe Fire Protection District.
“The agency has been working with Homewood management, partner agencies, and community representatives to review amendments to the master plan proposed by the property owners and continue to work through critical issues including public access, employee housing, and a fire safety plan,” said TRPA Public Information Officer Jeff Cowen. “When Homewood Mountain Resort finalizes its work, we will be able to bring the proposed changes to the Governing Board.”
According to a TRPA staff report to the Regional Planning Committee in September, the ski resort submitted a formal application to update the Master Plan.
The agency has requested more details in three areas.
· The Master Plan amendment needs to be consistent with the general public access policies in the TRPA Regional Plan, the approved Master Plan, the Community Enhancement Project Program (CEPP), and the certified 2011 Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR).
· In an updated employee housing plan, new opportunities may be considered to further enhance employee housing opportunities for rent and for sale to meet employee needs and help Tahoe meet its housing goals.
· Homewood and the North Tahoe Fire Protection District need to set a development agreement to offset impacts from the buildout of the Master Plan, as required under the original approval. The agreement should show Homewood making significant investments in updated fire-fighting equipment, a staffing increase, and establishing a shelter-in-place/area of refuge for the West Shore.
“TRPA understands how important Homewood is to skiers and riders and the West Shore, and we will continue keeping the community informed and engaged as we keep the process moving forward,” Cowen said.
Homewood’s message
Homewood notified the public Friday that it will not open for the 2024-25 ski season.
“Homewood Mountain Resort is still awaiting approval of the amendments to the 2011 approved Master Plan that were submitted in May 2024 to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency,” said Vice President of Mountain Experience Andy Buckley from the Homewood Mountain and Lake Club. “Hypothetical fears and false rumors regarding public access to the mountain from Keep Homewood Public’s leadership have dramatically impacted the pace of the approval process. Without a clear path forward, our financial partner is now unwilling to provide the operating funds for this year. As a result, we are in the regrettable position of being unable to operate or sell season passes for the 2024-25 season.”
Buckley wrote that Homewood remains focused on working through the approval process at upcoming planning meetings with community members and governing agencies.
Homewood’s mountain operations update
The mountain operations update for the 2024-25 season on Homewood’s website reads:
As the caretakers of Homewood Mountain, we have always been excited to revitalize the resort and improve the skier experience for all with updated infrastructure and responsible environmental improvements to ensure the resort’s economic and environmental sustainability, consistent with the approved Master Plan.
For many years, Homewood Mountain Resort has been subsidizing the community’s ski experience while operating at a deficit during the approved Master Plan’s planning and permitting phases. Unlike other small ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe basin such as Diamond Peak, Homewood is a privately owned business and is not supported by any public tax or other community assessment. For the last several years we have relied on our financial partner for the annual subsidy.
In May 2024, Homewood submitted an application for minor revisions to the 2011 approved Master Plan to the TRPA. The proposed revisions are site plan modifications only. The proposed site plan changes are to move the gondola terminal to a more skier-friendly position, to reduce the massing of the buildings, reduce residential density, and to open the view corridors of the mountain and lake. The revisions make no changes whatsoever to the Master Plan’s central goal of restoring Homewood as a key gathering center for Lake Tahoe’s West Shore. Anyone who wants to buy a pass and ski at Homewood will continue to be able to do so on equal footing with anyone else.
Since the applications were submitted, the Homewood Mountain Resort team has been diligently working with local and regional agencies and the West Shore community regarding the submission. To date, we are still awaiting approval of the amendments, including the Madden Chair replacement (gondola) permit submitted over a year ago, to move forward on ski infrastructure and other investments. Hypothetical fears and false rumors regarding public access to the mountain from Keep Homewood Public’s leadership have dramatically slowed the pace of the approval process.
Without a clear path forward, our financial partner has withdrawn their support for this ski season. As a result, we are now in the regrettable position of being unable to operate or sell season passes for the 2024-25 season. We understand the deep disappointment this announcement will cause. It goes without saying that this decision was not made lightly.
The team at HMR remains focused on working through the approval process at this year’s upcoming planning meetings with community members and governing agencies in the hope that we can get the gondola installed next year and someday soon resume operations at the resort.
We are also working to support every employee so they have alternative employment or can stay with us while we work through the approval processes.
We remain steadfast in our belief that our proposed revised plan, which includes new state-of-the-art infrastructure, environmental improvements, community gathering spaces, public access to the ski hill, and more, meets all stated requirements, addresses all concerns, and exemplifies economic and environmental responsibility.
We are committed to the vision we share with the community for an enhanced, sustainable skier experience at Homewood Mountain Resort that will be available for locals and visitors alike for years to come.
For Homewood’s complete mountain operations update, go to https://www.skihomewood.com/homewoodoperations2425/
Keep Homewood Public’s response
In response to Homewood not opening for the season, Keep Homewood Public spokeswoman Kathy Astromoff emailed the Sierra Sun and said:
We are shocked and saddened at Homewood Mountain Resort’s decision to close for the winter season.
What’s much, much worse is the thought of Homewood employees, our friends and neighbors, losing their jobs. Or West Shore businesses trying to survive this winter without resort visitors, or rental properties sitting empty.
Homewood is the heart of the West Shore. We don’t want to imagine what could happen to our community if that heart were to stop beating permanently.
We are very surprised that Homewood Mountain Resort’s decision comes on the heels of an encouraging Sept. 25 TRPA meeting that paved the way for the public sharing the mountain with members.
In that meeting, TRPA directors and staff began exploring an enforcement framework that could protect public access while enabling a membership model. That, plus Discovery’s (Land Co., an owner with Mohari Hospitality, and JMA Ventures in Homewood Village Resorts, LLC) statement in the same meeting that they intended to maintain public access, renewed our hope in a negotiated solution. That hope lasted barely two weeks.
We are left wondering why HMR’s “financial partner has withdrawn their support for this ski season.” Is it really that the project is “without a clear path forward?” TRPA gave us all a very clear path forward in that meeting. All the developers needed to do was codify public access with enforceable specifics.
Or perhaps it was the possibility that we at KHP have called out since the beginning: a behind-the-scenes plan to privatize Homewood. Perhaps this investor bailed because TRPA made it obvious that can’t happen.
What is clear is that we all want a thriving healthy ski hill that is open to all. We at KHP will keep working towards that goal. We may just need to get there a different way. And, as always, we will rely on your input and support to get us there!
To contact Keep Homewood Public, email AskUs@KeepHomewoodPublic.com.
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