November 17, 2021

Martis Valley West Oral Argument

SAVE THE DATE
Martis Valley West legal case

(Below is mostly taken from the League to Save Lake Tahoe Website-Thank you League)

Mark your calendars for an important milestone in our ongoing effort to protect Lake Tahoe from the impacts of reckless development.

The Third District Court of Appeals has tentatively scheduled oral arguments in our case against the Martis Valley West development project. The hearing will take place on December 17, 2021, at 9:30 a.m. This is likely the final step before the case is decided.
The League to Save Lake Tahoe, Mountain Area Preservation and Sierra Watch are pressing ahead with the lawsuit we filed in 2016, which seeks to overturn approvals for sprawling subdivisions to be built on the northern rim of the Tahoe Basin – with no regard for impacts on the Lake – and to secure responsible planning for the region. (California Clean Energy Committee is also suing).

The hearing will likely be virtual and open to the public. We’ll share further details, including how to watch online, as we’re able.

Ann Nichols

Martis Valley West

ABOUT THE PROJECT
Martis Valley West is a proposed 760-unit residential development with an additional 6.6 acres of businesses planned to be built on a ridgeline overlooking Lake Tahoe and the Martis Valley, immediately adjacent to the Tahoe Basin.

HISTORY
In 2016, Placer County approved the proposed project against strong opposition from the League, environmental organizations and community members who cited unavoidable impacts to Lake Tahoe’s fragile environment, among other objections. After exhausting all other means to amend the project, the League to Save Lake Tahoe joined with Sierra Watch and Mountain Area Preservation to ask a court to enforce California’s environmental law to protect Lake Tahoe from pollution caused by the proposed Martis Valley West project.

In the spring of 2018, Placer County Superior Court issued an order to vacate and set aside Placer County’s 2016 approvals of the proposed Martis Valley West project, citing Placer County’s failure to provide sufficient analysis of the project’s impacts on emergency evacuation, such as in the event of a wildfire.

The project developers had originally also proposed development on adjacent land inside the Basin (the Brockway campground), but that property has been sold to the U.S. Forest Service where it will be protected from development in perpetuity.

WHAT’S NEXT
The Third District Court of Appeals has tentatively scheduled oral arguments in our case against the Martis Valley West development project. The hearing will take place on December 17, 2021, at 9:30 a.m. This is likely the final step before the case is decided.

The hearing will likely be virtual and open to the public. We’ll share further details, including how to watch online, as we’re able.

RELATED NEWS
In August of 2021, a court invalidated approvals for a proposed development project in Olympic Valley in a case very similar to Martis Valley West. In that decision, attorneys for Sierra Watch argued that the project’s environmental impact report intentionally failed to analyze or mitigate the project’s potential impacts to Lake Tahoe from added traffic. With a favorable decision in the Martis case, it will set a strong precedent to help secure responsible, Lake-friendly planning for the region.

Court halts Martis Valley West project