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Home My Public Portal AboutPublic Comment #36 (Thomas)1 Laura Dabe Subject:FW: Tahoe Donner Marina use permit Attachments:TDA Beach Club Marina Activities and Historic Events.pdf From: Paul Thomas [mailto:sinbad.thomas@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, April 22, 2013 1:37 PM To: Bruce Cornell Subject: Tahoe Donner Marina use permit Bruce, Thought you might be interested in the attached, which makes no mention of public events which I believe have taken place. Kind of reminds me of when I was the Chairman of our Covenants Committee for 16 years and hearing our members in non-compliance say “ we have been doing this for a long time, so what is the big deal”? My guess is that our Board & GM will aggressively lobby the Town Council for an “exception” for the overall financial benefit to the Town. Paul Thomas 1 Laura Dabe Subject:FW: Tahoe Donner Marina Use Permit From: Paul Thomas [mailto:sinbad.thomas@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, April 22, 2013 1:40 PM To: Stephen Ramos Subject: Tahoe Donner Marina Use Permit Stephen, Thought you might be interested in the attached, which makes no mention of public events which I believe have taken place. Kind of reminds me of when I was the Chairman of our Covenants Committee for 16 years and hearing our members in non-compliance say “ we have been doing this for a long time, so what is the big deal”? My guess is that our Board & GM will aggressively lobby the Town Council for an “exception” for the overall financial benefit to the Town. Paul Thomas 1 Laura Dabe Subject:FW: Tahoe Donner Marina Use Permit Attachments:TDA Beach Club Marina Activities and Historic Events.pdf From: Paul Thomas [mailto:sinbad.thomas@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, April 22, 2013 1:41 PM To: Heather Beckman Subject: Tahoe Donner Marina Use Permit Heather, Thought you might be interested in the attached, which makes no mention of public events which I believe have taken place. Kind of reminds me of when I was the Chairman of our Covenants Committee for 16 years and hearing our members in non-compliance say “ we have been doing this for a long time, so what is the big deal”? My guess is that our Board & GM will aggressively lobby the Town Council for an “exception” for the overall financial benefit to the Town. Paul Thomas 1 Laura Dabe Subject:FW: Tahoe Donner Marina Use Permit From: Paul Thomas [mailto:sinbad.thomas@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, April 22, 2013 1:39 PM To: Thomas Murphy Subject: Tahoe Donner Marina Use Permit Tom, Thought you might be interested in the attached, which makes no mention of public events which I believe have taken place. Kind of reminds me of when I was the Chairman of our Covenants Committee for 16 years and hearing our members in non-compliance say “ we have been doing this for a long time, so what is the big deal”? My guess is that our Board & GM will aggressively lobby the Town Council for an “exception” for the overall financial benefit to the Town. Paul Thomas 1 Laura Dabe Subject:FW: Tahoe Donner Marina Use Permit Attachments:TDA Beach Club Marina Activities and Historic Events.pdf From: Paul Thomas [mailto:sinbad.thomas@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, April 22, 2013 1:46 PM To: Greg Buchheister Subject: Tahoe Donner Marina Use Permit Greg, Thought you might be interested in the attached, which makes no mention of public events which I believe have taken place. Kind of reminds me of when I was the Chairman of our Covenants Committee for 16 years and hearing our members in non-compliance say “ we have been doing this for a long time, so what is the big deal”? My guess is that our Board & GM will aggressively lobby the Town Council for an “exception” for the overall financial benefit to the Town. Paul Thomas Tahoe Donner Beach Club Marina Activities and Historic Events Summary Tahoe Donner was incorporated in 1971 as a California nonprofit mutual benefit corporation. The development established with Nevada County included specific use permits to support one of the largest homeowner / common interest developments in the nation. These uses were far reaching to support an active outdoor recreational resort environment. Tahoe Donner’s long standing business model is a user based amenity system – i.e., one in which the users pay for the services they receive. In essence Tahoe Donner is a commercial operation primarily focused on its membership, but also allowing member’s guest and some public access to certain amenities. Only $5M dollars of the annual operating budget is assessed to the owners of Tahoe Donner, the remaining $9M dollars of the annual operating budget is generated thru the various business activities of Tahoe Donner as a California Corporation and IRS 501(c)(4) tax exempt not for profit social welfare organization. Specific to the Marina, the following uses have been in place for a considerable period of time and support all 6,471 owners and 25,000 members’ common interest ownership of this private facility. Participants at the Marina are Members and Member’s Guests. - Upper Lawn area reservation policy and fee structure since 1997 (when the upper lawn was first improved). This site has hosting between 15-20 private membership events a summer ranging from weddings to birthdays to reunions to club events with 20 - 200 participants, with the associated range of party commitments – i.e.: caterers, string quartets, bands with amplified music, and rental equipment (chairs, tables, etc.). The association has always charged a rental fee for the area as well as any appropriate access fees for the participants. - Hawaiian Luau – the Hawaiian Luau event has been an annual event at the marina for at least 19 years with 200-300 participants. Over this period, the event has included professional catering, live/amplified music performances, performance lighting, live dance performances, and staff organized guest activities coordinated with a PA system. Over the 19 years, there have been three summers where this event did not occur, but on two occasions it was replaced with a Mexican Fiesta with similar activities. This event occurs in the evening, 5 – 9pm, and the Beach is closed early to manage access to the event where participants pay an additional fee to attend. - An amplified sound system has been in place at the marina for over 19 years to assist in routine and emergency communication with patrons at this facility, including the playing of music, announcing orders ready, announcing the availability of rental equipment, etc. - 4th of July BBQ – this event has also been an annual event for at least 19 years. The event includes the setup of a BBQ on the beach (or on the deck depending on the year) and the setup of an amplified music system outdoors. The PA system is also used into the evening, sometimes as late as 11 pm, to assist with the retrieval of boats from Donner Lake after the fireworks display. Staff sets up portable lights to assist in this effort as well. - Over Night Campout. The Beach Club has hosted several overnight campouts the past few decades (up to 3 per summer). This event involves 20-30 participants who spend the night on the beach. Staff organizes several activities for the participants to enjoy which, over the years, have included: a BBQ dinner, scavenger hunts, bingo (PA system), an outdoor movie showing, arts and crafts, etc. Participants are required to pay a fee to attend this event. - Scavenger Hunts – For at least 5 years, the Beach Club has hosted annual scavenger hunts. There are consistently over 80 participants in these hunts. Again, staff sets up a PA system to address the crowd and play music. The event occurs during the day – around noon. - Employee/Member Cardboard Regatta – This event has been a staple of the summer for over 10 years and also includes an outside BBQ and amplified music and goes into the evening – to approximately 8 pm. - Day Camps have operated out of the marina facility for over 25 years. - Police Department / Search and Rescue boat ramp access for training and real world missions. This has included groups of moe than 10 for purposes unrelated to the operation of a private marina facility.