HomeMy Public PortalAboutPublic Comment #6 (Martin)
John N. Martin, Ph.D.
P.O. Box 9536
14909 Northwood Blvd
Truckee, CA
March 16, 2013
TO: Town of Truckee Planning Commission
FROM: John N. Martin, 14909 Northwoods Blvd, Truckee, CA
RE: Tahoe Donner Revised Plans 2/15/13
The revise plans are not a significant improvement on the originals. They fail to address all but one of
the major concerns raised to the original plans by many citizens, civic groups, and the Staff of the
Planning Commission itself. The one welcome improvement in the original plans is that the new ones do
propose to use native rather than foreign species in new landscaping. This is a welcome improvement.
The new plans, however, essentially ignore all other serious objections that have been raised.
• The revised plans continue to call for the removal of twenty mature Jeffery Pines. The rationale
for doing so is contained in a scanty “forestry report,” which is couched in concepts appropriate
to large scale timberland forestry rather than those of more appropriate urban or scenic
resource forestry. As recommended in the Staff Report on the original plans, the special
environment and natural beauty of Donner Lake, as well as Town of Truckee policies and
regulations (cited the Staff Report), requires that priority be given to the preservation of as
many of the present trees as possible. The revised plans simply ignore this major
recommendation.
• As indicated in Tahoe Donner’s written rationale and by the plans’ details – especially by the
enlarged off-beach gathering and dining areas, and in the new after dark lighting – the revised
plans retain the goal of altering the essential nature of Marina from that of a daytime recreation
site for boating and swimming to a larger all-day event facility for uses additional to those of
boating and swimming. This expanded use is inconsistent with the preservation of the special
scenic properties as well as of the natural environment of Donner Lake. The Commission is
strongly urged to deny approval of these expanded uses, especially those that would allow
larger groups of people to gather for purposes other than boating and swimming or for the use
of the facility after dark.
• The revised plans continue to call for large scale earth moving and reshaping of the hillside. The
site in environmentally sensitive. It is steep; for much of its area it is quite narrow; and it runs
along shore of the Lake and its high water flood plain. Town of Truckee policies and regulations
(detailed in the Staff Report) require special environmental review of major disruptions of this
sort, especially of those on the shore of Donner Lake, which has, by policy, a special status due
to its scenic beauty and sensitive ecology. The Commission is strongly encouraged to deny
permission for the proposed disruptions of the hillside, or at least to require that they be
significantly scaled back, and to require as a condition a favorable recommendation from a
thorough environmental impact study of the proposed alterations.
In short, the revisions to the plans are essentially cosmetic. The current plans should be denied
approval because they are inconsistent with Town of Truckee policies and regulations, and fail to
address the well-founded concerns that have been raised by citizens, civic groups, and your own Staff.