For immediate release
Feb. 3, 2006
Contact: Anita Yoder, 530-889-4012, or
Mike Fitch, 530-886-4515

COUNTY TO ACCEPT APPLICATIONS FOR TRPA RESIDENTIAL ALLOCATIONS

Placer County will start accepting applications Friday, Feb. 10 for 50 residential building permits allocated to it this year by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
The application period will run from 8 a.m. Feb. 10 to 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17.
Applications will be accepted at the county’s administrative offices at 565 West Lake Blvd. in Tahoe City.
If the county receives more than 50 applications, the Building Department will hold a drawing at 10 a.m. Feb. 28 to determine who receives allocations. The county will create a waiting list for applicants who fail to get allocations in case people with allocations don’t proceed with their projects.
On Jan. 24, the county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the timeline for receiving applications and distributing the residential allocations.
A TRPA housing allocation typically is required in the Tahoe Basin before a property owner can receive a building permit for a new home.
Placer County Chief Building Official Bill Schulze told the board the county held a drawing last year because it received more applications than allocations, but that was the first time it needed a drawing in about 10 years.
Each year, TRPA decides how many new houses should be allocated and distributes them to five local governments that lie alongside Lake Tahoe: Placer and El Dorado counties in California, Douglas and Washoe counties in Nevada and the city of South Lake Tahoe. Their building departments are responsible for distributing allocations to applicants who want to construct housing.
In 2002, TRPA adopted a new system that links the number of new house allocated to environmental improvements in the basin.
At the Jan. 24 meeting, Placer County Supervisor Bruce Kranz, the board member who represents North Lake Tahoe, thanked county staff for working with the TRPA to increase the number of allocations earmarked for Placer County this year.
“Our interaction with TRPA has never been better- this relationship has helped us get our allocation increased from 43 to 50,” Supervisor Kranz said. “Working with TRPA regarding this process, we also will be able to issue allocations three months earlier than last year. Discussions with building interests and property owners have convinced me that this timing is critical to take advantage of the entire construction season.”
Staff from the Building, Planning and Public Works departments and County Executive Office worked to demonstrate Placer County had made greater-than-realized progress on environmental projects that will help improve air and water quality in the Tahoe Basin and convince TRPA that the county’s allocation should be raised to 50 from the 43 recommended earlier.
For more information about the county’s allocation process, call the Building Department’s Tahoe City staff at 530-581-6200.