Homewood Mountain Resort has been open to the public since 1962.
Let’s keep it that way.
Why do we think Homewood is going private?
Instead of “maintaining the heritage of a ski resort that can be enjoyed equally by local residents and visitors,” as landowner JMA promised in their 2011 Master Plan, JMA announced an exclusive residence club for the super-rich, similar to operating partner Discovery Land Company’s clubs in Yellowstone, Scotland, and Southampton.
Have the developers agreed to keep Homewood public?
Under pressure from regulators and the community, Discovery published a “public access definition” that contains generalities that aren’t enforceable in the future.
Discovery used the same approach to roll back public access at their Cordevalle resort in Santa Clara County.
(c) Mike English. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
What are the impacts?
Homewood sells thousands of passes every year. If Discovery were to discourage public recreation by raising prices, reducing pass availability, letting lifts and lodges deteriorate, or reducing parking, those displaced residents and visitors would drive elsewhere to ski/board. This would worsen already-congested Resort Triangle traffic.
Current development on Fawn St
Master Plan architectural visualization (video)
What are those buildings on Fawn St?
The developers have begun building “mountain modern” houses on Fawn Street. These buildings contradict the “style of the classic old Tahoe lodges” specified in JMA’s Master Plan, which could set a precedent for the rest of the resort’s architecture.
Editorial cartoon (c) Mike English, published in Moonshine Ink, June 13, 2024. Used with permission.
What’s the latest?
The owners of Homewood have announced that the ski hill will not open this winter. They have also shared an updated community access plan promising benefits for locals, public servants, employees, and skiers/boarders.
But, actions speak louder than words. We need Homewood to translate their newfound goodwill, transparency, and community focus into enforceable specifics about public access, documented in the 2011 Master Plan amendments and a development agreement. For more detail on what loopholes remain, see this document.
Our next online community meeting will be on December 7 at 10am PDT. Come share your thoughts on what’s next for Homewood!
What is our ask?
We want the vision promised in the Master Plan quantified, built, and enforced.
Public access - ski resort: anyone may recreate at Homewood year-round.
Persons-At-One-Time: dedicate all of Homewood’s regulated operating capacity to the public.
Pricing: guaranteed public capacity on the mountain to be filled on a first-come-first served basis using “dynamic pricing” with the goal of filling the ski hill to capacity every day.
Perpetuity: execute the recreational land use deed restriction required by the Master Plan.
Public safety: deliver on promises to North Tahoe Fire to upgrade West Shore firefighting capability.
Phasing: community benefits, such as ski amenity upgrades, environmental work, food & beverage facilities, and parking, to be front-loaded in the construction schedule and minimally disrupted during construction.
Penalties: predetermined penalties for changes to the project that reduce public access - now or in the future.
Solvency: JMA/Discovery to put up a bonded fund covering 110% of the community benefits’ construction cost before permits are granted.
Architecture: to evoke the “Old Tahoe” look of West Shore landmarks such as Vikingsholm and the Hellman-Ehrman Mansion.
Ski area facilities, including for day skiers, to be upgraded as promised.
Get it in writing: enforceable specifics to be documented in (a) a Ski Area Operating Plan, per TRPA Code of Ordinances; (b) permit conditions; (c) deed restrictions; (d) CC&Rs, and (e) public access easements; as well as (f) a negotiated settlement agreement among KHP, TRPA, Placer County, Discovery Land Company, JMA Ventures, and Mohari Hospitality.
