SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – On Tuesday, city council met to receive a presentation on the Sugar Pine Village tenant selection process and discuss the AI policy on consent agenda, the tourism improvement district report, the Tahoe Valley Area Plan amendment. The council also heard from public comment on continued local concerns on ICE.
You can read about the VHR ordinance and city manager Joe Irvin’s acceptance of the key to the city in their own stories.
Councilmember Scott Robbins was present on Zoom.
Public comment
Tom Milham, commander of Post 795, invited the public to the American Legion’s St. Patrick’s Dinner on March 17th from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. where there will be live music. Tickets are $20 each.
Melissa Soderston again brought up to city council that there was growing concern from people around the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.) On Monday, NorCal Resist volunteers reported that a DHS vehicle was present in town in the morning and departed towards Pollock Pines the same day. No operations were confirmed.
Julie Lowe, on behalf of South Tahoe Indivisible, read out a resolution that they hoped city council would adopt, saying that the symbolism mattered a lot right now. The resolution included a recognition of immigrant contributions to Tahoe’s community and a commitment to SB 54, which prevents state and local law enforcement from using their resources on behalf of federal immigration enforcement agencies.
While there was support from some attendees, others spoke out against it.
Longtime city council attendee John Messina said, “Why rock the boat? I don’t think any of these people appreciate you bringing attention to them being here illegally and I don’t think the city should focus on that.” Erick Asbury said, “We don’t need this beautiful area becoming a haven for criminals.”
Sugar Pine Village Tenant Selection
Several partners working on Sugar Pine Village came to speak at the presentation, including Saint Joseph’s Community Land Trust, Related California and the John Stewart Company.
As it currently stands, Sugar Pine Village houses 128 families and 219 individual residents, with 106 units occupied by South Lake Tahoe households. 20 households are previously unsheltered families from South Lake Tahoe.
Of the 936 applications received for Phase 1A and 2A, 634 applications were South Tahoe residents. The local preference policies will be applying to the Phase 2B applications, but even previous applications seem to typically pull in local applicants.
During public comment, Messina and Asbury levelled more criticisms at Sugar Pine Village. Messina said that it was supposed to be workforce housing, while Asbury doubted that Sugar Pine Village residents were from the area.
Stacey Ballard spoke out and said that as a disabled person, she was appreciative of Sugar Pine Village and that it provided a place for seniors and disabled people to live. “I’m grateful that 80% of the people living here are people from our town, it’s our own community,” said Ballard, but also said how difficult it was to qualify and go through the “red tape.”
Consent agenda
Councilmember Robbins pulled item 3, the artificial intelligence policy, on the consent agenda to make a suggestion on it. The AI policy will apply to city employees, elected officials and contractors, but the fire department and police department have their own policies. Robbins suggested that they include language regarding citations that AI creates. These citations, Robbins said, are often hallucinated and should also be double checked.
Tourism Improvement District report
The South Lake Tahoe Tourism Improvement District presented their annual report, noting that they budgeted $3,145,345 in 2026, which is flat to the fiscal year budget from 2025. A little over 76% of their budget goes to marketing and promotions.
During their presentation, they shouted out that they won the 2025 eTourism summit award for best data-driven marketing strategy, rolled out Rules to Lake By and supported several events such as the Lake Tahoe Documentary Film Fest, the Ski Run and Meyers farmers markets and Tahoe Brewfest.
Some during public comment expressed concern about international tourism and tourism in general dropping. Jessica Grime represented the Tahoe Chamber and expressed the support for the transient occupancy tax (TOT) and other support that the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority provided to the city and its businesses.
Councilmember David Jinkens expressed interest in further outreach to businesses around the city, as well as to tourists.
Tahoe Valley Area Plan Amendment
Councilmember Heather Horgan recused herself from the item due to her proximity to the project.
Staff presented on an amendment to the Tahoe Valley Area Plan (TVAP), which would add the South Y Industrial Tract to the TVAP. Staff believed this would encourage appropriate commercial growth and reduce barriers to development.
According to their timeline, these amendments will be presented to other stakeholders including the Washoe Tribue, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, the planning commission and other committees in March. The final adoption will happen sometime in August to September.
Council members had questions about parking policies in the area and regulations, which may come back to council as the plan develops. Public comment was supportive of the amendments, as they would revitalize the development in the area, and questioned possible changes to mitigation fees.
Planning calendar and staff reports
While the council was interested in hearing from the Senior Center, the item has been pushed until they attain 501(c)3 status.
The Arts, Culture and Tourism Commission is still soliciting applications for a student member, but will seek an at-large member if they cannot find a student member.
Jinkens expressed interest in hearing on the bear protocol update, which is slated to happen at the March 13th meeting. He also asked about logistics of surveying businesses and the community, which assistant city manager Hilary Roverud said would likely align with their existing community surveys they had.
Mayor Pro Tem Keith Roberts expressed interest in clarifying the differences between affordable and workforce housing, which the Tribune defined in an article in our housing series.
