Central Tahoe Community Improvement Plan, a proposed new redevelopment project area to enhance where the locals live, work and play.

Welcome! To the City of South Lake Tahoe and South Tahoe Redevelopment Agency’s website where you can get all the information about the proposed new redevelopment project area, the Central Tahoe Community Improvement Plan (CTCIP) also known as South Tahoe Redevelopment (STR) Project Area 2. These pages and the links to other pages and information are provided to make it easier for the community to access documents and staff reports presented to City Council and Planning Commission on the proposed project area and a project map. This site will be updated regularly as new documents are released by the City. If you need information you don’t find here, please give us a call and we’ll be happy to assist you.

Redevelopment: A Tool to Build a Better City

The City of South Lake Tahoe is a beautiful place to live and work and it is home to over 24,000 people. Like most cities, the City of South Lake Tahoe has many needs, from more affordable housing, fixing aging buildings, stimulating economic growth and upgrading streets and storm drainage systems. The City constantly examines the range of services it provides and how to pay for those services and improve them. Like every other California city, the City of South Lake Tahoe has a tool available to help finance some of those unmet needs. This tool is redevelopment. Redevelopment is an economic engine that drives vitalization and opportunities where they can be focused on specific areas identified.

Redevelopment funds come from the Redevelopment Law (passed by the state legislature), which allows cities to keep a greater share of the future growth of property taxes. Property owners pay the same property tax as they normally would, they do not pay any more. Without Redevelopment, the property tax paid by local property owner doesn’t stay in the community in which the property is located (it goes to the state and other government agencies). Once a city adopts a Redevelopment Agency, the property owner pays their tax as they normally would, but a greater share stays with the local agency. Then as new private investment and natural turnover of properties occur, the increase in the tax, that new additional amount, is known as Tax Increment.

State redevelopment law allows the City to use taxes generated from the higher property values that result after the properties are improved (the Tax Increment) to pay for the repairs and improvements that would otherwise require higher fees or taxes on ratepayers, which is why Redevelopment is so valuable to a community. If it were not for Redevelopment, the funds for affordable housing, to improve aging buildings, upgrade infrastructure and to address economic issues would have to be drained from other city services or not be done at all. Prior to the Redevelopment Law, cities and counties were not able to provide affordable housing without adding new taxes. According to data collected by the California Redevelopment Association (CRA), “Redevelopment agencies are the largest contributor to affordable housing in California, second only to the federal government. Since 1994, Redevelopment agencies have helped build or rehabilitate 73,120 affordable housing units.”

Redevelopment dollars have also been used to provide new buildings for public safety (fire and police stations), and reduce crime by revitalizing rundown neighborhood. Redevelopment dollars have also been used to build and repair roads and water systems and especially valuable, create jobs and stimulate the economy.

The CRA indicates redevelopment agencies in California generate $31.8 billion in economic activity and create more than 300,000 good paying jobs every year.

Central Tahoe Community Improvement Plan South Tahoe Redevelopment Project Area 2

The new proposed redevelopment project area (Central Tahoe Community Improvement Plan, STR Project Area 2) would allow the City of South Lake Tahoe to keep roughly 75-80% of future grown in property taxes rather than the current 17-18%. Redevelopment does not raise taxes, as described above, it merely changes the way the property taxes are distributed keeping local dollars local.

City officials recently began an update to the South Lake Tahoe General Plan, which will create policies for community land use and guide investment over the next twenty years. In addition, the City Council has initiated a specific planning process, called the Tahoe Valley Community Plan, to define preferred land use policies tailored specifically for the Tahoe Valley (aka the “Y”) Area.

Once the Tahoe Valley Community Plan is approved by the City Council and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency the question then becomes one of implementation. How can private investment be encouraged to undertake change? City officials want to ensure that needed and desired public infrastructure improvements, like sidewalks and street lighting, do not result in tax increases. As a result, the City Council has authorized an evaluation of the use of different financing tools to see if it makes sense to pay for needed improvements through redevelopment rather than through tax increases in the community.

The Planning Commission defined an area (see proposed “Project Area” map) and advisors have studied the proposed Project Area in depth evaluating the area for eligibility of redevelopment assistance. This evaluation process has taken many months to complete because it is a comprehensive look at the entire project area. The evaluation resulted in a portion of the area recommended to be removed from the final Project Area. The recommendation must go to the Planning Commission and then the City Council.

A Redevelopment Area for the Locals

The existing Stateline redevelopment area was established to enhance an important tourist portion of the City and has resulted in providing significant improvements to the area, generating funds to provide affordable housing in the community, and needed infrastructure.

The goals for the new project area (Central Tahoe Community Improvement Plan) would focus on improvements serving local residents and business owners and strengthen the area. The area needs an investment tool to help vitalize the area to provide enhanced amenities for locals. Approximately one-third of the City’s Commercial Floor Area is located in the new project area, but incentives for private investment are relatively few. Redevelopment can provide the needed incentives to encourage investment in the area.

In 2008, when the idea of a new redevelopment project area for the locals was being considered, the City Council made the decision early on if the project is adopted it would not be subject to eminent domain authority. The City Council adopted Resolution 2008-16 ensuring eminent domain could not be used on any property within the proposed project area. Residents, businesses, and property owners will need to work together voluntarily to make improvements and maximize the potential benefits of redevelopment.

With that in mind, the City Council needs your help in creating specific public objectives that will encourage private parties to improve the use of our limited commercial floor area. Already, it is known that redevelopment tax increment could help pay for: