Design a master plan
March 14, 2007
What would you do if you were TRPA?
Related posts: [ What would you do if you were TRPA? ] [ Back to square one: TRPA to reconsider Heavenly Master Plan ] [ What happened? ] [ Is there missing information? ] [ Most connected groups ]
Visualize the Alternatives
March 14, 2007
What would you do if you were TRPA?
Related posts: [ Most connected groups ] [ What would you do if you were TRPA? ] [ What happened? ] [ Back to square one: TRPA to reconsider Heavenly Master Plan ] [ Is there missing information? ]
Is there missing information?
March 14, 2007
==Start Related Links==
What would you do?
What happened?
Visualize the alternatives
Design your master plan
Stakeholders speak out
Read reporter's blog
==End Related Links==
Board member Norma Santiago says there is important information about the environmental impacts of each alternative that she and the other Board members didn't have when they voted to approve Alternative 4. To some, that might seem impossible considering the 18 to 24 months of consideration that went into this project.
Santiago did not support the plan the overall Board approved. She voted for Alternative 4A, which would allow Heavenly to put in a kinked lift to avoid stands of old growth trees. Since her vote, Norma says her constituents and a California Registered Professional Forester have given her new information that the rest of the Board needs to hear.
"Show me the science and be clear cut and specific about the issue," she said. "Cut out the emotion."
Santiago has asked several members of the conservation community, a registered forester, water clarity experts, and environmental scientists and engineers from the University of California, Davis to evaluate the environmental impacts of each of the alternatives.
Board member Mara Bresnick said the information Santiago is referring to might have been included in the large Environmental Impact Study statement the board recieved; however, it could have been lost in how the details were presented.
"When you look at an issue in context it doesn't seem as staggering as in a vaccum," Bresnick said.
It's also possible that the Board did have access to all of this information. It's equally possible that certain aspects were lost in the large amounts of information presented to the Board. The OurTahoe.org Staff can not make any conclusions about this issue. If you have ideas, thoughts or information about this, please click here to share it with our staff and the rest of the community.
Related posts: [ What happened? ] [ Back to square one: TRPA to reconsider Heavenly Master Plan ] [ What would you do if you were TRPA? ] [ Fire fund extends deadlines for Angora victims ] [ South Lake neighborhood lives on, even without houses ]
What happened?
March 14, 2007
==Start Related Links==
What would you do?
Was there missing info?
Visualize the alternatives
Design your master plan
Stakeholders speak out
Read reporter's blog
==End Related Links==
The TRPA Governing Board voted on Feb. 28 to amend the Heavenly Master Plan to allow Heavenly to replace two existing ski lifts with a single high-speed lift in the North Bowl ski area. Known as Alternative 4, this change also provides for several summer recreation improvements and new ski runs.
The February meeting lasted nearly eight hours and was filled with passionate testimony from citizens, business owners, government agencies and interest groups. The majority of those who spoke, endorsed either Alternatives 4, 4A or 5. Arguments about the alternatives focused on how each plan affected different aspects of environmental health and the South Lake Tahoe economy.
TRPA rules specify that any Board member has seven days after a vote to request that the Board reconsider an issue. Three Board members, Norma Santiago, Jerome Waldie and Mara Bresnick filed a motion on March 7 to do so. Santiago had orginally voted for Alternative 4A and the other two members were not able to attend the meeting.
The Board members who requested the action stated that they had received requests from their constituents to do so. Their motion stated:
"This request for reconsideration is based upon, among other reasons, the numerous requests received by Supervisor Santiago from her constituents as the Governing Board to reconsider its decision to approve Alternative 4; the lack of full Board participation in this important decision, and the difficulties experienced by some or all of the environmental impacts and their relative significance associated with Alternatives 4, 4A and 5, as analyzed in the project EIS."
The full Governing Board will vote whether to reconsider the issue at their regular meeting on March 28 in Kings Beach. Should the Board vote to reconsider the issue they will then set a date and establish a process for a new vote.
Related posts: [ Back to square one: TRPA to reconsider Heavenly Master Plan ] [ Is there missing information? ] [ What would you do if you were TRPA? ] [ Design a master plan ] [ Fire fund extends deadlines for Angora victims ]
What would you do if you were TRPA?
March 14, 2007
==Start Related Links==
What happened?
Was there missing info?
Visualize the alternatives
Design your master plan
Stakeholders speak out
Read reporter's blog
==End Related Links==
After a controversial vote on Feb. 28 to approve a significant change to the Heavenly Valley Master Plan (see related story What happened?) the TRPA Governing Board will be voting on March 28 whether to reconsider their decision.
What would it be like to have to make this decision? What would you do?
Imagine you are a member of the Governing Board. You're charged with approving one of six amendments to the Heavenly Master Plan. You've heard more than a year of testimony from scientists, business owners, conservation groups, citizens and Heavenly Mountain Resort about the alternatives.
The TRPA staff, the Forest Service and the Advisory Planning Commission all recommend you approve alternative 4. After the vote, however, several Board members report receiving numerous complaints from constituents and environmental activists. You start to wonder if you had all the relevant information when you made your decision.
From media reports, public comment and interest group statements you might think there are only two issues to consider: Heavenly's bottom line and a stand of old growth trees. But upon investigation, you discover many other relevant issues.
This site provides an opportunity for you to explore these issues and share your judgement about how you think TRPA should proceed.
The Design your master plan game will help you think about some of the different issues involved and decide which ones are most important to you. An interactive representation of the different plans will help you visualize the alternatives. After you've thought about the issue, we encourage you to read what some major stakeholders and others have said about the plan and then explain what you think in your own words.
On March 28 the Board will vote whether to reconsider the issue. Your comments, which will be made available to Board members, could make a difference in that decision.
Related posts: [ What happened? ] [ Back to square one: TRPA to reconsider Heavenly Master Plan ] [ Is there missing information? ] [ Most connected groups ] [ Design a master plan ]
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