INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev.— Tahoe Regional Planning Agency governing board voted to approve the amendment to the Tahoe Area Plan in Incline Village’s Special Area 1, with serious mitigations to promote mixed-use development and achievable housing. 

At their meeting Wednesday, June 28, the governing board heard a presentation from TRPA’s senior planner Jacob Stock, who explained the background of the need for an amendment before getting into the different mitigations that would be implemented. 

“Our goal for these mitigation measures was to really implement existing policy that’s already in the area plan,” said Stock. 

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The Special Policy LU2-9 that was approved by the board says that, “single family dwellings shall only be allowed in the Incline Village Commercial regulatory zone when they are part of a mixed-use development or when they are affordable housing units.” 

In terms of mixed-use development, standards include uses such as retail, restaurant, personal services, offices, or use of entertainment. In addition, lobbies, sales offices, and gymnasiums may be permitted if open to the public. 

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There also must be design that promotes pedestrian accessibility, but there will be no minimum parking requirements. 

Mitigations made for the need of affordable housing in the area were made as well, with two different options open to developers. 

The first would require 10% of the development project to be deed-restricted affordable or a mix of affordable and moderate housing, which must be built concurrently on-site or somewhere else in SA-1. 

The second option would require 10% of the site to include deed-restricted achievable housing, with the option for the restriction to be lifted if an offsite parcel of equal total unit capacity deed-restricted affordable housing is built as well. 

The Nine47 Tahoe project would not have to adhere to the new multi-use requirements due to already having a multi-use permit, but would have to adhere to the new affordable housing requirements. 

Representative for the Nine47 project Lou Feldman assured the board that the developers would be using a separate land parcel on Alder Ave. to create 40 new affordable housing units, meeting the new requirement set by TRPA. 

“Hopefully this is a great win for the basin,” said committee member Vince Hoenigman. “I think staff did a really good job kind of getting us where we are… I think this would be a great win for Incline Village to get 40 affordable units.” 

The need for an amendment to the Tahoe Area Plan arose after the Nine47 Tahoe development was approved as a 40 unit multifamily development, which then sought the ability to subdivide into ownership condominiums. 

Throughout the process, multiple committees from the TRPA raised issues regarding the definition of mixed-use development, as well as the impact of allowing condominium subdivisions in the special area recommended originally for mixed-use or workforce housing. 

There was worry about how TRPA would be able to track if the mitigations for affordable housing could be monitored to ensure they are being met, to which staff agreed there would need to be commitment from developers as well as monitoring by HOAs and the TRPA. 

In addition to approving the amendment in the area plan, the governing board also approved the extension of the special use permit for the East Shore Trail Shuttle located at the old elementary school in Incline Village. 

“I wanted to commend staff,” said Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill. “I think they did a great job of mitigating as many issues as were brought to us at TTD and TRPA for this temporary use for the East Shore Trail Express… What’s great is that this board is going to be willing to listen to concerns throughout the season from the community if there are things we need to further mitigate.” 

Hill conceded with what multiple public commenters pointed out, which is that there is still a lot of work to be done to find bigger solutions for traffic and parking in the basin. 

A solution that was mentioned by both the board and community members included outside interception of visitors through partnerships with outside organizations in order to keep cars out of the basin. 

“There’s a lot of players that need to come together to make that happen,” said Hill. 

With approval in hand, the shuttle for the East Shore Trail should begin to run before the end of June. 

To learn more about the TRPA governing board meeting visit http://www.trpa.gov/meeting-materials.