The Development Plan
JMA Ventures and Discovery Land Company, the owners of Homewood Mountain Resort have recently announced a change in their development plan from what had been originally approved. The new plan changes the architectural style of the homes and condominiums to be built, from a classic Old Tahoe Lodge style to a Mountain Modern style that many feel is not compatible with the local Homewood community. The new plan also changes access to the resort from public to a semi-private ski and lodging club for the owners of the Homewood Mountain Resort residences and for property owners in some West Shore homeowners associations, who purchase lifetime family memberships. There may be some availability for members of the public to purchase daily lift tickets.
For a list of the expected Homeowners Associations that will be included in the resort sign up for my Tahoe Insider’s Guide.
The ski area has two base areas; North and South. According to the original Homewood Project Overview the North Base is planned to be the location of the Village/Pedestrian Core with Club Facilities; dining, lounge, fitness center and kids club. There will be several residential buildings with large three and four bedroom luxury condominiums as well as 10 – 20 guest rooms, employee housing units, an amphitheater, underground guest parking, commercial space for shops and ski area base facilities. The South Base is planned to be primarily residential with the following facilities; ski services, dining/lounge, health and safety and parking. The first phase of the development is planned to be seven homes built at the North Base sometime in 2023 or 2024. The second phase has not been made public to date.
Updated Plan
According to articles posted in Moonshine Inc it appears JMA Ventures intends to create a semi-private ski and lodging resort with lifetime family membership instead of traditional ski passes in the next two years. Membership will be for the owners of the Homewood Mountain Resort residences and for property owners in some West Shore homeowners associations, with some available for purchase by members of the public. It has not been stated which homeowner associations will be included or how much lifetime membership will cost, but it will likely be more than most current passholders and local Homewood skiers can afford. JMA President Art Chapman gave the example of the Hermitage Club as a model for what Homewood’s family membership pricing structure might look like. The Heritage Club, located in Vermont opened three years ago and members pay a one-time fee of $75,000 for the whole family, plus a $15,000 annual fee.
JMA will be restricted by its conditions of approval with Placer County to 1,000 people a day on the mountain due to the development’s number of parking spaces. The parking situation, and the number of new housing units JMA sells, will dictate how many non-residential memberships will be available to the public. The current Homewood development plan calls for approximately 180 units and a small boutique hotel with around 20 rooms.
There will be community ski days three times a month where the public will be able to buy day tickets, Children’s ski teams will also continue, and there will be a small grocery store with around 30 surface parking spots open to the public.
The changes have not been approved by both Placer County and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and public agencies do not yet know if the change to a semi-private resort will trigger further review. Locals are mobilizing to object and force the developer to move back into the approval process. The Chambers Beach and Mountain Club President Kevin Foster organized a meeting with more than six West Shore homeowners associations and they unanimously disapproved of Homewood’s decision to become semi-private and believe the change should be viewed as a new project that would require new approvals and entitlements.
Further Reading
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PROTECT OUR MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY
We recommend you email your concerns and questions about the proposed privatization to TRPA’s Special Project Manager, Paul Nielsen at pnielsen@trpa.gov (mailto:pnielsen@trpa.gov) so your feedback can be considered by TRPA.
We will update this post as more information becomes available.
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