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Incline Lake: Public may soon own “Duke of Nevada’s” summer retreat

February 13, 2007

A view of Incline Lake from the lake's western shore. Photo by Ryan Jerz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Forest Service is negotiating to buy the last large private enclave on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe.

If the 777-acre Incline Lake site sells to the government, the property will eventually be open to the public for the first time in 70 years. If the deal dies, the woodland acreage could become a private gated community.

For more than a year, the 19 shareholders of Incline Lake, a property previously owned by Nevada real estate magnate Norman Biltz, have been negotiating with the U.S. Forest Service over the sale of the historic property. An appraisal done for the shareholders puts the value of the land and sales expenses at about $75 million, but the Forest Service's bid fell far short of that, participants said.

The families who own shares in the property, which includes a dam, an observatory and several buildings, have been trading responses with the Forest Service since the government's bid came through this fall. The Forest Service has said it can't maintain the observatory and other structures on the property, but other agencies have gotten involved.

The shareholders' company, Incline Lake Corp., has offered Washoe County a $10 million endowment to maintain existing structures. The county has offered to build parking and trailheads at the site and manage the buildings. Another 11 acres bordering State Route 431 would be managed by the Nevada Department Of Transportation as a parking easement.

The Forest Service also has discussed working with Washoe County Parks, Sierra Nevada College, Sage Ridge School, and others to keep the celestial observatory and family lodge in operation for educational purposes. If the sale goes through, the Incline Village General Improvement District has agreed to spend $1 million to purchase a 5-acre parcel at Incline Lake including 245 acre feet of water rights.

In July, Nevada state government approved $772,500 in grants to help Incline Village offset the purchase. Incline Village schools and other community groups could then use the parcel for outdoor activities. The parcel also could host a Visitors' Center, a Nordic Ski Center and a meeting/conference facility.

 But it all depends on the federal government acquiring most of the land.

"It's been saved from development since my grandfather acquired it in the 1930s and I'd like to see it open for people to enjoy," said Norman Nash of Reno, grandson of Norman Biltz.

The Incline Lake property served as a summer retreat for Biltz, who was known as "The Duke of Nevada" for his efforts to attract business and development to Nevada from the 1930s to the 1950s. Biltz hosted "North-South" meetings at the lake - events that brought politicians, businessmen and powerbrokers from Northern Nevada and Clark County together to plan strategies and make deals for the state's future.

"The powers-that-be in the north and the powers-that-be in the south would come out here for barbeques," said Tim Griffin of Reno, whose family is among the shareholders. "A lot of deals were made over drinks and in fishing boats out on the lake," Griffin said.

Griffin said his family and the other shareholders would miss the property where several generations grew up and vacationed in the summers. "But it will be good if the public gets to enjoy it," he said.

The money for the purchase would come from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act. Under that law, money from the sale of federal lands in Clark County is earmarked for use in projects and land acquisitions around Lake Tahoe.

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February 13, 2007


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