HOMEWOOD, Calif. – In anticipation of Wednesday’s Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board visit, new signs sprung up along Highway 89.
“Hey, TRPA: Get it in writing! Keep Homewood Public.”
The red-and-white signs greeted about 45 people who came to the ski resort for the public meeting and tour.
The Homewood tour was the final stop on a TRPA board member and staff tour of the West Shore. They also toured Commons Beach, the Tahoe City Lodge and the Tahoe City Transit Center.
New signs calling for the TRPA to “get it in writing” lined Highway 89 in preparation for the TRPA Governing Board’s visit.Brenna O’Boyle / Tahoe Daily Tribune
Discovery Land Co. partner Ed Divita began with a short version of its revised Master Plan. On May 9, Homewood Village Resorts, LLC, (Discovery Land Co., JMA Ventures, and Mohari Hospitality) submitted a revised Master Plan to the TRPA that marked a significant step forward in the resort’s redevelopment plans.
The revised plan includes changes aimed at enhancing the skier experience and community benefits while maintaining the resort’s intimate, family-friendly atmosphere.
Divita highlighted three key changes: reduction in housing density, adding a car barn mid-mountain, and moving the gondola terminal down the hill for easier accessibility.
“We brought the gondola lower on the base so people don’t have to hike up the hill,” Divita said.
The original Master Plan was prepared in 2011 and approved and modified in 2014. Because of the lapse in time, it needed to meet current code, safety, operation, and engineering requirements.
The resort’s plans will replace aging infrastructure. It will add a bed base with residential units and a hotel, 13 units of employee/workforce housing, up to 25,000 square feet of commercial retail space, new base mountain facilities, a day-use parking structure, alternative transportation methods, improved snow-making facilities, forestry management, a community pool, an ice skating rink, and an earthen amphitheater, a village core, a gondola, parking, a hotel, an ice skating rink, and commercial and retail spaces.
Steering Committee Member Kathleen Annice and Board Member Candice Wilmuth presented for Keep Homewood Public.
“These TRPA decisions impact not just Homewood, but the entire basin,” Wilmuth said. “And even ski resorts around the country.”
They recounted some of the 50 issues Keep Homewood Public had with Homewood’s revised Master Plan application. Those concerns were submitted to the TRPA in June.
“Keep Homewood Public is asking TRPA to hold Homewood developers accountable to their own original Master Plan to restore Homewood as ‘a ski resort that can be enjoyed equally by local residents and visitors alike,’ ” said Annice.
They said public access is at the foundation of current Homewood project approvals yet public access has not been defined in this application.
“The developers clearly intend to privatize the resort after they receive approvals,” Wilmuth said. “If this were not the case, they would put public access in writing.”
Keep Homewood Public supports a hybrid public-member model if the public retains the currently approved capacity and enforceable specifics regarding public access, according to their presentation.
“Keep Homewood Public is asking the TRPA to hold the Homewood developers accountable to their own original Master Plan by getting enforceable specifics about public access in writing,” Annice said. “Any reduction in access requires a completely new application.”
To address these concerns, Divita has previously explained that “the approved ski area Master Plan already allows that residents and visitors alike will have access to Homewood. We don’t need to create a new definition for ‘general public.’ The only reference in the application to members relates to the Homewood Mountain Resort Home Owners Association (HOA) members, and it was disclosed in the EIR that there will be space dedicated to members of the HMR HOA. This is common practice for a master-planned community.”
From November 2022 to May 2023, Homewood looked at taking the resort private. The plan was nixed after Divita and Discovery Land Co. Community Relations Jessica Insalaco went on a listening tour and heard privatization was not what the community wanted.
“It’s not consistent with the vision of the Master Plan,” Insalaco previously said.
Divita previously addressed Keep Homewood Public’s concerns about the lack of a deed restriction guaranteeing recreation on the ski hill in perpetuity, which is required by the Master Plan’s associated Environmental Impact Report.
Divita assured that the deed restriction will be executed and recorded as required by the TRPA.
“We’re prepared to do it,” he said. “It’s not even a question.”
Art Chapman, founder and chairman of JMA Ventures, was pleased with the turnout.
“Hopefully the public sees that we have responded to their criticism and suggestions in the revised Master Plan,” Chapman said. “They (Homewood Village Resorts team) are sincere, and they want to do the right thing. And they will do the right thing.”
Then Ryan Porter with the JMA Ventures’ development team took the group through the proposed site plan outside.
When the group reached the lift, Homewood Mountain Resort’s Vice President and General Manager Harry Hirsch took over.
“Who’s ridden Madden?” he asked eliciting cheers. “This is what’s being replaced.”
TRPA Special Projects Manager Paul Nielsen said to expect action by the TRPA in the Fall. The revised Homewood Master Plan application is currently in the early stages of review.
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Patrol Division, Capt. Amelia Galicia gave the Incline Village Crystal Bay Citizens Advisory Board an update at its recent meeting.
Galicia was initially assigned to just the Incline Village area as the Incline Village captain
“However since some retirements have happened, I have been reassigned to all of patrol including the valley patrol. So I oversee both Incline Village and Washoe County down in Reno-Sparks area,” Galicia said.
Galicia is responsible for a staff of six lieutenants, 16 sergeants, 60 deputies in the valley and 16 deputies in Incline Village.
Galicia updated attendees on July 4 calls for service. She noted that Incline Village had fireworks for the first time in several years.
“It was a relatively smooth operation for that holiday weekend,” Galicia said.
There was a significant increase in visitors and people coming up here for the holiday. The sheriff’s office had 111 calls for service on July 4, including subject stops, traffic stops, and calls for assistance that the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office responded to. Of those 111, 38 were stops and/or parking issues.
There were nine citations issued, and eight vehicles posted. There Sheriff’s Office responded to nine disturbances, and seven outside agency assists or EMS medical-type calls for service.
“We only had, knock on wood, one crash report in our area of of responsibility,” Galicia said. “I can’t speak for Nevada Highway Patrol. They do monitor State Route 28, so there could have been others that wouldn’t fall within our purview.”
The Sheriff’s Office boat, Marine 9, was out on the lake during the day and in the evening during the fireworks. It made 27 contacts, they issued 16 warnings, and they rescued one distressed paddle boarder.
“So, I think overall for having a significant planned event that we haven’t seen up here in several years, it ran relatively smoothly,” Galicia said.
The egress out of the beach along Lakeshore Boulevard was smooth with very limited issues if none at all, Galicia said.
“We were able to get people out safely in a timely manner,” Galicia said.
In regards to other Sheriff’s Office statistics, the dispatched and self-initiated calls for service are slightly down for the second quarter of 2024. This is in comparison to its 3-year average.
“While I can’t specifically provide a reason for that, I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing,” Galicia said. “Sometimes it just might be less types of issues that are requiring less police initiated activity or police response.”
Now, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office is specifically addressing several different crime trends or “significant incidents” throughout the county. Those are aggravated assaults that would be assault with a deadly weapon or battery with a deadly weapon. In addition, there is an increase in businesses, home, and vehicle burglaries.
“We are trying to increase our DUI and traffic enforcement to reduce traffic fatalities throughout the county,” Galicia said.
Historically, Incline Village has a higher likelihood for DUI arrests. The deputies are doing some proactive enforcement to try and prevent DUI fatalities, and significant injuries or crashes that result from a DUI, she said.
It’s summertime, so people are out and about.
The biggest issues that we’re saw In the last couple weeks are drowning calls, Galicia said.
“Those are not common or regular occurrences,” she said. “But we do see those during the summer months with people on the lake not fully grasping the severity of entering the water and their abilities to swim and whatnot.”
Several of those incidents are handled by other agencies.
LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – As families are getting ready to have their children go back to school, they’re also researching options for extra-curricular activities.
One option parents at Lake Tahoe are looking into for March 2025 is Girls on the Run Sierras.
“Girls on the Run has fun, evidence-based programs that inspire participants to recognize their inner strength, increase their level of physical activity, imagine their possibilities, and confidently stand up for themselves and others,” according to www.girlsontherunsierras.org.
It also inspires girls to discover, build, and grow their self-confidence, and experience a sense of belonging and connection as a team member.
“The girls learn about confidence, making good friends, and becoming the best version of themselves,” said Kylie Daniels, marketing coordinator and events director for Girls on the Run Sierras. “…We’re really a character building program with a sprinkle of physical activity, but we’re not a running program.”
Girls on the Run Sierras also unlocks girls power and potential by teaching essential life skills.
Girls on the Run is for 3rd through 5th graders. Heart & Sole is for 6th through 8th graders.
Volunteer coaches teach lessons that blend physical activity with life skills, including managing emotions, fostering friendships, and expressing empathy.
At the end of the 10-week session, the team does a community impact project and runs a 5K. This gives the girls a sense of accomplishment in addition to setting a confident mindset into motion, according to the website.
Since 2007, 6,139 girls have participated in Girls on the Run Sierras, which encompasses Northern Nevada and the Lake Tahoe region.
In Spring 2024, 122 girls at Creekside Charter School, Diamond Valley Elementary School, Incline Middle School (Heart & Sole program), Kings Beach Elementary School, Tahoe Lake Elementary School, Tahoe Valley Elementary School, and Truckee Elementary School participated.
“Our program is primarily focused on giving girls the tools and skills to become confident, joyful and healthy not only as children but well into adulthood with the added benefit of physical activity,” wrote Girls on the Run Sierras’ Program Manager Elysa Kleidosty in an email to the Tahoe Daily Tribune. “Girls on the Run celebrates the importance of teamwork while allowing each participant to recognize how her own individual star power can shine brightly. Through the lessons we teach, we build character and resilience in our participants to take on challenges throughout their lives with empathy, compassion and curiosity.”
In 2023, Girls on the Run Sierras hosted Spring and Fall sessions in Reno, Sparks, and Sun Valley. It only holds Spring sessions in Lake Tahoe area because of weather related issues during the Fall.
There were 41 Girls on the Run Sierras sites that served 680 girls in 2023.
There were two weeks of camp that year.
In 2023, more than 300 people volunteered in addition to 15 camp coaches.
Girls on the Run International was founded in 1996. Since then, this nonprofit has helped more than 2 million girls across North America, according to the website.
“Children today are exposed to longstanding gender stereotypes, societal obstacles, and cultural challenges that can be detrimental to their emotional and physical health,” according to the website. “Our program helps girls recognize their potential and rise above limiting gender expectations. Girls on the Run programs … make an impact at a critical age when confidence and physical activity decline.”
Statistics from Girls on the Run Sierras show:
98% of Girls on the Run participants said they would tell other girls to join the program.
94% of parents/guardians said their daughters had a good experience.
