New piers on Lake Tahoe debated
A plan to build 230 new piers around Lake Tahoe over 20 years pits conservationists against lakefront homeowners.
The piers would “benefit the few at the expense of the many and at the expense of the lake,” Michael Donahoe of the Tahoe area Sierra Club told the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency at a hearing Wednesday. The agency also heard about plans to install up to 1,862 additional buoys for tethering boats and a ban on motorized boats about eight days each summer in Emerald Bay.
Jay de Benedetti, president of the Tahoe Lakefront Homeowners Assn., said that “uncontrolled” public use created the greatest impact on the lake. He also threatened legal action if the planning agency encroached on property rights. Many shoreline homeowners have been frustrated for nearly 20 years because agency regulations banned pier construction in prime fish habitat.
A final decision on shoreline development regulations is expected early next year.
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Scott Doggett
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