Placer County Supervisors approve Alpine Meadows Housing Project with innovative fire protection measures

Published on April 25, 2019

The Placer County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved the Alpine Sierra subdivision project in Alpine Meadows, adding 38 homes with advanced wildfire protection measures.

Located between Alpine Meadows Road, the Alpine Meadows resort parking area and the Bear Creek Association neighborhood, the housing development will include 38 single-family lots on 47.21 acres.

Approximately 18.93 acres of the site will be preserved as open space.

The project has been designed in cooperation with North Tahoe Fire Protection District and Alpine Springs County Water District to provide the best available technology to establish a fire safe community. 

Fire safety features include:
●    Fuel modification and defensible space that incorporates the entire project site,
●    Fire restrictive and non-combustible building exteriors and ember-restrictive construction,
●    Sprinkler systems installed in all structures and eaves,
●    Advanced two-way communication systems under NTFPD control installed in each home, a first-of-a-kind early warning system in a Tahoe subdivision,
●    Areas of refuge accessible to all,
●    All propane stored underground,
●    Dedicated easements to U.S. Forest Service on both ends of the project to allow for future emergency vehicle access,
●    Upgrades to existing ASWCD water infrastructure,
●    Purchase of a new four-wheel drive Type I fire pumper truck dedicated to the NTFPD,      
●    On-site noncombustible shelter-in-place facilities with extensive defensible space, filtered air and backup generators and advanced communications systems.

Most notably, the project features a 3,000-square-foot homeowners association building that will serve as a shelter-in-place facility if evacuation is infeasible or undesirable.  

“The fire safety features of this project are a state-of-the-art measure to help save lives in the event of a wildfire or other natural emergency,” said District 3 Supervisor Jim Holmes. “I hope this will serve as a gold standard model for other mountain and rural communities.”

Placer County worked closely with the applicants to revise the proposal to include 38 units compared to the 47 units originally proposed.

The project will also include an onsite employee housing unit for dedicated snow removal from subdivision roadways and to help fulfill other homeowners association functions.