A ski resort expansion project that took five years and a final marathon, nine-hour meeting to earn a final approval in December, came up against another roadblock this week.
Earthjustice, which is representing environmentalist groups – Sierra Club and Friends of the West Shore – sued the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and Placer County over their approval of Homewood Mountain Resort’s $250 million expansion.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, asked a federal court to reject an inadequate Environmental Impact Report and to stop the construction of a 325-unit complex along California’s scenic west shore of Lake Tahoe. The lawsuit seeks a new environmental impact report of the project’s effects on Lake Tahoe.
Homewood’s expansion plan includes a 75-room hotel, up to 25,000 square feet of retail space, a residential area with 99 ski-in/ski out condos, and a 15,000-square-foot, mid-mountain lodge. The resort would feature 316 total units, with underground parking for guests and 270 day-use skiers.
“We welcome a revitalized Homewood Ski Area, but the current project is simply too large,” says Mason Overstreet, Conservation Director of Friends of the West Shore. “A smaller resort in scale with the surrounding community would still bring in hundreds of jobs for residents and millions of dollars in revenue. We must be careful not to destroy the beauty that attracts visitors to Lake Tahoe in the first place.”
Homewood is currently a small, family-friendly ski facility in Tahoe City that resides on a scenic location off Highway 89 that features gorgeous views of the lake. Homewood is owned by San Francisco-based real estate firm JMA Ventures. The Homewood owners have described its expansion efforts as the most environmentally friendly project ever at Lake Tahoe.
David Tirman, executive vice president of JMA Ventures, has been pretty blunt regarding Homewood’s future if the expansion plan doesn’t move forward. He cites modest numbers – like the average 300 visitors on week days – that have to be increased or Homewood might fold like many smaller resorts have done throughout the United States.
The environmental activists emphasize that they are not asking the court for a permanent halt to the Homewood development. Instead, they claim to be seeking a new Environmental Impact Report that properly mitigates the effects of development near Lake Tahoe’s shores, as required by the Tahoe Regional Plan.
“The agency responsible for protecting Lake Tahoe should be enforcing environmental standards, not creating loopholes to drive bulldozers through,” said Sierra Club spokesperson Laurel Ames. “An honest appraisal of the impact on the residents and the environment will make for a better project and a better result for everyone involved.”
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