Squaw Valley

Squaw Valley Wins 4-1, will Sierra Watch Sue?

Nov 162016

Please note that again, Jennifer Montgomery found an excuse to vote no.

The Sacramento Bee in their usual hard left nimby manner called the project controversial in their headline. Nope. It is only controversial with the BANANA / MINBY crowd that are about 3% of the electorate.

Due to the delays and lawsuits, the project will still take another 25 years to complete. This means I will be 70+ years old when it is done – assuming that Sierra Watch’s expected shakedown lawsuits get tossed expeditiously.

Rather than go further in to the extremely biased article in the Bee, how about the following from Squaw:

The Village at Squaw Valley Specific Plan proposal was reviewed by the Placer County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 15, 2016. The Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 1 in favor of the Project.

We appreciate the hard work and dedication of Placer County staff, consultants, Board of Supervisors and members of our community throughout this process. We are pleased with the Board’s decision, and continue to believe this is the right plan to secure Squaw Valley’s future both in our region and within the ski and travel industries.

Squaw Valley Ski Holdings is prepared to significantly invest in the redevelopment of Squaw Valley, which will position the resort as a true four-season destination, provide more year-round jobs, on-site affordable workforce housing, tens of millions of dollars in other benefits to our local community, and will assist in stabilizing the North Lake Tahoe economy.

Project Overview
The Village at Squaw Valley Specific Plan proposes redeveloping and completing the unfinished Village at Squaw Valley to reestablish the resort as a premier mountain resort destination and ensure it has a sustainable future. The project proposes that 90 percent of the redevelopment would happen on existing asphalt parking lots already zoned for development. If approved, it will provide new on-site lodging and recreation opportunities, create more year-round local jobs, offer on-site affordable workforce housing, rehabilitate Squaw Creek, and provide over $22 million in annual tax revenue to help fund public services including schools, road improvements, transit services and public safety. In response to community feedback, the Village at Squaw Valley redevelopment plan has been reduced by 50 percent and is now only 38 percent of what is allowable per the Squaw Valley General Plan and Land Use Ordinance.

Community Benefits of the Squaw Valley Redevelopment Project
• Ensure that Squaw Valley and the North Lake Tahoe region can be competitive in a highly dynamic North American ski and resort destination market
• Quality and variety of on-site lodging at the base of Squaw Valley creates greater ability for guests to extend their stay and enjoy more of the businesses in the North Lake Tahoe community
• Retain close proximity day skier parking
• Retain the Member’s Locker Room
• 9-acres of Squaw Creek restored and protected
• 500+ new year-round local jobs supporting tourism that isn’t seasonally dependent • New on-site workforce housing

Fiscal Benefits of the Squaw Valley Redevelopment Project
• $22M in annual tax revenue generated by redevelopment in Squaw Valley will help fund public services including schools, road improvements, transit services and public safety
• $20M toward transit initiatives
• $150M in new infrastructure, including road, utility and Fire/EMS improvements, and more
• $2M annually to Olympic Valley environmental initiatives
• $6M dedicated to park and recreation planning, including improved hiking and biking trails in Squaw Valley
• $2M annually to help fund Olympic Valley environmental initiatives
• $2M dedicated to the restoration of Squaw Creek

For more information about the proposed redevelopment of the Village at Squaw Valley, visit squawtomorrow.com.

Is the Lawsuit Sierra Watch Filed Against Martis Valley a Harbinger of Things to Come for Squaw Valley?

Squaw Valley No Responses »

Nov 132016

Remember Fred Ilfeld? He ran for Squaw Valley Public Service District and is 2 Votes out of 2nd Place. It was a vote for 3 so it looks like Mr. Ilfeld will win his election – only to find out that he will not be able to deny service to Squaw Valley if the project is approved by the Board of Supervisors.

Ilfeld has threatened to sue if the Squaw project is approved. So have the greenmail extortionists known as Sierra Watch.

As previously illustrated, when Martis Valley was up for consideration by the Placer County Government, Sierra Watch was conspicuously silent. Then, as reported on this blog, Martis Valley saw their assets magically triple around that same time frame. You ask yourself what happened?

It is the opinion of this blog that the recently filed lawsuit by Sierra Watch against the Martis Valley project is not an accident. In politics, when people are caught in a lie the double down rather than retreat. It is 100% reasonable to think that Sierra Watch is covering themselves after scrutiny. As detailed in the Sierra Sun, the activist NIMBY Attorney from Davis has also plied his sue-happy litigation against other projects in the Tahoe Region.

Take note of this gem in the Sierra Sun Article: The developer planned to build 760 single-family residences on the west side of the highway in-lieu of the 1,360 homes for which the east side was zoned. They also said that if the transfer were completed, the east side would be made available for permanent conservation.

Got it? Sierra Watch succeeded in stopping 60% of the homes that were to be built AND were going to get the parcel(s) that the remaining 60% were supposed to be put on permanently preserved. What reasonable tree-hugging enviro would not take that deal? (especially when the EIR, and all the other absurd red tape has been completed…)

I am not alone in my opinion about the Greenmailing of Sierra Watch. Supervisor Kirk Uhler unloaded on Sierra Watch at a recent meeting.

Supervisor Uhler was trying to get Tom Moores of Sierra Watch to give a straight answer about what suddenly changed in 2016 from the agreement struck in 2013 (which is also the date that their balance sheet suddenly exploded). Moores repeatedly dodged the question and the transcript shows the audience groaning as Moores dodges the questions.

You ask yourself if I am off base in thinking that Sierra Watch is acting like a cat trying to clean its’ mess off of a marble slab.

I am still trying to figure out if Squaw and its’ ownership are completely insane for trying to do business in California.

Squaw Valley Update: Big Vote on Tuesday. Shakedown in the Works?

Sierra Watch, Squaw Valley No Responses »

Nov 112016

The Placer County Supervisors has a big vote coming up this week. Squaw Valley is proposing to redevelop its parking lots with additional lodging and hospitality offerings. The ski industry is changing all over the country. Squaw wants to make improvements to remain competitive with Colorado, Utah and other resorts around the country who have been upgrading and enhancing their offerings to skiers.

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For Placer County, this means more jobs and more economic development for the region.

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The project really doesn’t expand beyond the current asphalt parking lot. But, being in Tahoe, there are always going to be opponents to any proposed redevelopment. The vocal opposition seems to be a mixture of NIMBY types and one particularly aggressive environmental group, Sierra Watch. This organization has waged a campaign, much of which is built on distortions, in a way that’s not often seen – even in Tahoe. You’d swear that Squaw had put measure M on the ballot all by themselves.

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It’s interesting to note however that, Sierra Watch isn’t always so aggressive in its opposition to development in the region. The Squaw Project appears to receive far more intense and vehement opposition than anything else Sierra Watch has undertaken in recent years.

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We think we’ve figured out why. When you take a look at Sierra Watch’s publicly available financial filings shows something they haven’t been telling the public, or even their supporters about. We will dive in to those filings in a future post.

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Here at RightonDaily.com, we’ve learned that over the past few years, they’ve had massive infusions of cash on their balance sheet. In fact, Sierra Watch’s assets nearly quadrupled over 12 months from July 2014 to June 2015. An organization that was worth about $300k now boasts over $1.3 Milion dollars in assets. We are sure it wasn’t Cattle Futures either.

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Where did all the cash come from? There’s been speculation that it may come from developers in the region since Sierra Watch seems to be mildly opposed and simply quiet on some projects and wildly and hair on fire opposed to Squaw.

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What’s even more interesting is Sierra Watch seemingly hasn’t disclosed any of this on their website or in other public communications.

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So, just what is Sierra Watch after when it comes to Squaw?

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Your interpid blogger wants to know – what is the whole story behind all this cash suddenly swishing around Sierra Watch’s coffers?

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There are a lot of questions here. A lot. It looks like the planning commissioners and supervisors need to know what is driving this groups’ opposition as they contemplate the issues over the next few weeks.

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Things that make you go HMMM. If you want to help Squaw Valley expand in to the 21st Century despite Sierra Watch – see below:

Placer County Board of Supervisors

Tuesday, November 15

9:00 am till ?

North Tahoe Event Center

Squaw Valley Update: Sierra Watch Humiliated at Placer County Planning Commission

Squaw Valley No Responses »

Aug 122016

Yesterday featured an all-day meeting of the Placer County Planning Commission. As previously posted, NIMBY-Central sent out urgent alerts to the zombie nation in an attempt to stop Squaw Valley from having their plan approved.

#EPICFAIL

Squaw, using volunteers, had a group that actually outnumbered the rent-a-mob NIMBY-Enviro crew. The zombie nation attempted to assert that the people supporting Squaw were paid. I guess lying for political advantage is part of their playbook too.

80% of the speakers from the zombie nation talked about how personally butthurt they would be if (GASP) more people were allowed to move up to the North Lake Tahoe Area. Hearing stories of the meeting reminded me of the recurring Pam Tobin – Sandy Harris IGMFU/BANANA cancer in Granite Bay. (I got mine… and Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything)

Yesterday was a turning point where the greenmail shakedown artists known as Sierra Watch got a taste of their own Kool-Aid. The developers (yes, I am making that charge) that have been shaken down by Sierra Watch look like fools for donating both because Sierra Watch still opposes progress everywhere (including that of their donors) and their financial contributions will now be used to fund the greenmail enviro lawsuits of Sierra Watch.

Because of California’s absurd laws – NIMBY’s have multiple layers they can go to in order to prevent development. Fred Ilfeld (incidentally, who has filed for the local utility district ostensibly to try to deny service to Squaw Valley) was eviscerated by the truth as he tried to bankroll an effort to incorporate a non-viable town 100% to stop Squaw. Now squaw has won at the Planning Commission Level. Next will be the Board of Supervisors. Finally, Sierra Watch will go judge shopping to try to find the most favorable judge to do their wishes in court after losing more times than the Sacramento Kings.

Omitted from the above list are the thousands in consultant and legal fees + the reports and surveys and the ungodly amount of taxpayer money spent on County/Government staff related to this. (Has Ilfeld paid his bill to the County yet?)

Why anyone wants to develop anything in California is beyond me, especially because people like Sierra Watch are coddled and enabled by the stupidity of Sacramento. At least this time, the citizens of California who deserve modern and up-to-date recreational facilities prevailed over a bunch of selfish malcontents bent on exclusion.

Squaw Valley Update: Sierra Watch Has a Lot Of Explaining to Do Related to Their Opposition

Squaw Valley No Responses »

Aug 102016

The Placer county planning commission has a big vote coming up this week up the hill in Lake Tahoe. Squaw Valley has been pitching a plan to redevelop its parking lots with additional lodging and hospitality offerings. The ski industry is changing all over the country and Squaw says it wants to remain competitive with Colorado, Utah and many other resorts around the country who have been upgrading and enhancing their offerings to skiers. From the perspective of Placer county, this means more jobs and more economic development for the region. It is a total no-brainer were it not for…

…This project being in Tahoe. Out there there will always going to be opponents to any proposed redevelopment, even if it’s on a parking lot. Did you catch that? They are using an existing ugly parking lot for the space to expand their facility, no trees will be harmed!

The vocal opposition seems to be a mixture of NIMBY types (remember my past posts about Incorporate Olympic Valley?) and one particularly aggressive environmental group, Sierra Watch. This organization has waged a campaign, much of which is built on distortions, in a way that’s not often seen – even in the socialist utopia known as Lake Tahoe.

It’s interesting to note however that, Sierra Watch isn’t always so aggressive in its opposition to development in the region. The Squaw Project appears to receive far more intense and virulent opposition than anything else Sierra Watch has undertaken in recent years.

I am pretty sure I have figured out why. A look at Sierra Watch’s publicly available financial filings shows something they haven’t been telling the public, or even their supporters about.

Over the past few years, they’ve had massive infusions of cash on their balance sheet. In fact, Sierra Watch’s assets nearly quadrupled over 12 months from July 2014 to June 2015. This totals to a 375 percent increase.

Where does the cash come from? There’s been speculation that it may come from developers in the region since Sierra Watch seems to be mildly opposed and simply quiet on some projects but seems to be opposed to Squaw with the furor of a movement.

What’s even more interesting is Sierra Watch seemingly hasn’t disclosed any of this on their website or in other public communications. But, It makes sense why they have been threatening a lawsuit. They now have the resources to sustain a legal battle until they get what they want.

All of this makes one wonder what Sierra Watch is really after here with Squaw. A lot of questions can be raised, again because other developments seemed to have been approved with far less controversy.

Is this just another attempt to get a massive cash infusion into its coffers? Is their vocal opposition based on the fact that they see another massive cash payout that can come from a big employer like Squaw? This reminds me of the labor unions threatening Roseville with environmental lawsuits which could all be settled if Roseville agreed to a project labor agreement. (Which they did and the electric rates are higher as a result) We call this “Greenmail”.

What is the whole story behind all this cash suddenly swishing around Sierra Watch’s coffers?

There are a lot of questions here. A lot. It looks like the planning commissioners and supervisors need to know what is driving this group’s opposition as they contemplate the issues over the next few weeks.

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