The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency will open an office near Tahoe City within months, according to agency officials, marking the first time the federal agency will have a presence at North Tahoe in its 37-year history.

The TRPA is set to move into a two-story office building at Lake Forest Glen, about two miles east of Tahoe City. It will house four or five employees, who can accept applications, said agency spokeswoman Julie Regan.

Although the South Shore offices will remain the hub of the agency’s operations, Regan said the new offices will “keep people from having to drive to the South Shore for project applications.”

“For two years now we have been hearing from the North Shore community that they expected better service for the community,” said Regan.

The facility, at Lake Forest Glen, will be shared with the Forest Service, said Regan. The new office will also be a first for the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit of the Forest Service in North Tahoe.

“We’ve long wanted to have some administrative offices or contact point on the North Shore,” said agency spokesman Rex Norman.

North Shore residents would be able to get wilderness permits or wood-cutting permits at the office, and ask for general information, said Norman. The Forest Service does not have an opening date for the office.

The move may be a temporary measure for the TRPA, as the planning agency has been in discussions with Placer County on the possibility of moving into a new North Shore government center that the county is planning.

“When we did our calculations to see what our need was, we included TRPA staff,” Placer County Tahoe Manager Jennifer Merchant said of the county’s plans for multi-agency government center in eastern Placer County.

Placer County plans to move its land use, redevelopment and possibly emergency services staff into the office when it opens.

Meanwhile, the two-story building, which previously housed women’s fitness center Curves, will be remodeled, and fitted for the TRPA’s use – whether it’s a permanent or temporary home.

The agency is also on the verge of installing a electronic filing system, so applications can be filed without working with an agency staffer. The state of Nevada has approved funding for the system, and California supports the system in the final draft of its unadopted budget, said Regan.