Above: A concept map of the Village at Palisades development proposal from 2015. Credit: Placer County.
This story was shared with permission from KUNR Public Radio. For an audio version of the story, please visit the KUNR website.
Over 100 community members spoke up at the Placer County Board of Supervisors meeting in North Lake Tahoe on Nov. 19. People voiced both support for and opposition to the proposed Village at Palisades Tahoe development.
The nine-plus hour meeting ended with a unanimous approval of the controversial development.
This was a familiar scene for Allison Silverstein, community organizer of environmental watchdog group Sierra Watch and the Tahoe Truckee True Campaign, who oppose the development.
In 2016 the board of supervisors made the same decision to approve the development, but Sierra Watch fought its approval in the courts – and won, Silverstein said.
“Now we’re basically in the same fight, one step down the road, because we’ve already won one time and we’ve gotten massive community support,” Silverstein said. “Right now we’re talking to our lawyers, because we believe that this project is not only irresponsible, but it’s illegal.”
Silverstein said Sierra Watch’s main concerns have to do with the scale of the project, and the ensuing environmental and fire safety issues it brings with it.
“So the fire danger that comes with adding 1,493 bedrooms to a valley with one road in and one road out, and adding those 3,300 daily car trips to our congested roads, it’s just too big of a development for North Lake Tahoe. It’s more Vegas style,” Silverstein said.
The county environmental report found that it would take about 11 hours to evacuate everyone from the valley to the base of Highway 89, a distance of three miles.
The added cars on the road are also a concern for lake clarity, something Tahoe is internationally known for.
The proposed development would add 850 new condo and hotel units, a 90,000 square foot indoor recreation center, and over 297,000 square feet of commercial space to the village.
Sierra Watch and Tahoe Truckee True are determined to fight the development but hope to come to an agreement with the resort, Silverstein said.
“We hope that Palisades will consider a collaborative plan, instead of just fighting with us, with the courts as our mediator for the next five years or decade,” she said.
Kat Fulwider is the 2024 fall intern for KUNR and the Hitchcock Project for Visualizing Science.
