Palisades Tahoe settles with environmental groups to scale back development
Palisades Tahoe has reached a settlement with environmental groups who had sued over a large planned development in Olympic Valley.
The settlement, announced by Keep Tahoe Blue, Sierra Watch and Palisades Tahoe on Tuesday, includes an agreement by all parties to scale back the project.
Most notably, the project will no longer include a large indoor waterpark, the news release said. In addition, developers will build nearly 60% fewer bedrooms than they planned in 2011, and about 20% less commercial space.
“Sierra Watch, Keep Tahoe Blue, and Palisades Tahoe negotiated in good faith to find a solution that effectively ends the fourteen-year conflict over Olympic Valley while supporting the social, economic, and environmental needs of Olympic Valley and the Lake Tahoe region,” the joint statement said.
The 2011 application included 2,184 total bedrooms, while the new agreement includes 896. The 896 figure includes a mixture of hotel, condo hotel, fractional ownership and timeshare units, said Patrick Lacey, Palisades Tahoe spokesperson.
In addition, will also be 296 new beds of workforce housing for Palisades Tahoe employees, as the original larger proposal promised, the release said. The majority of those will be built on site, Lacey said.
There will be 222,000 square feet of commercial space, decreased from 278,000, the release said. In addition, the property at the mouth of Shirley Canyon, once slated for a subdivision, will be permanently protected as open space, the release said. Instead of the indoor waterpark, there will be a smaller Mountain Adventure Center.
Environmental groups in their lawsuit alleged the larger, initial proposal would have caused more traffic, air pollution and water pollution.
Alterra Mountain Company, Palisades Tahoe’s parent company, agreed not to seek any additional development on the property for 25 years.
The project still has several steps to go, including environmental reviews and Placer County Board of Supervisors approval, said Lacey.
Depending on timing of approvals, the first phase of construction could begin sometime within the next 18 to 24 months, Lacey said.
