Environmental groups appeal Lake Tahoe Regional Plan update federal ruling
The April court decision to uphold the 2012 Lake Tahoe Regional Plan is being appealed by the Sierra Club and Friends of the West Shore according to a notice filed Wednesday.
The environmental groups filed the appeal seeking review by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals of an April 7, 2014 District Court decision upholding the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Regional Plan Update.
According to a statement by Earthjustice, which is representing the Sierra Club and Friends of the West Shore, it says the environmental impact statement on the RPU failed to analyze the RPU’s negative impacts on soil conservation, water quality, and air quality and that the TRPA made erroneous findings that the RPU would protect Lake Tahoe’s environment.
“The Agency’s strange strategy to protect Lake Tahoe and its surrounding landscape from the damage caused by excessive urbanization over past decades is to promote even more development,” said Earthjustice attorney Wendy Park. “We will continue our fight to protect the lake from the misguided actions of the agency charged with protecting and restoring its environment.”
TRPA successfully defended its updated Regional Plan in the litigation that was filed in February, 2013, only months after a broad coalition of Lake Tahoe citizens, environmental and business groups, and legislative leaders urged its adoption. The agency said Wednesday that it will continue to implement the plan that took nearly a decade to complete and that included the input of more than 5,000 citizens.
“TRPA is confident the Regional Plan will accelerate Lake Tahoe’s restoration and support sustainable communities,” TRPA Executive Director Joanne Marchetta said. “While the appeal makes its way through the legal process, we will continue to put the substantial environmental benefits of the plan into place.”
The April 7 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez was based on the facts in the record used by the TRPA Governing Board to make its decision on the plan in December 2012. The court upheld the Agency’s discretion to make policy decisions based on sound science and a complete record.
Following the Regional Plan’s adoption, state and local leaders hailed the milestone as the next environmental leap forward for Tahoe. The Plan also won three separate awards for environmental innovation from professional planning and architecture organizations in 2013.
The new Regional Plan does the following:
— Authorizes less than half as much new development as the 1987 plan.
— Maintains growth caps and urban boundary limits on all development and authorizes no new hotel accommodation units.
— Continues some of the strongest scenic protections in the nation and assures no new high-rises can be built.
— Supports greenhouse gas reductions and smart growth.
— Proposes modest infill redevelopment in a handful of existing town centers.
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