Tahoe Housing Initiative
Lake Tahoe Basin, CA and NV · 2022–2023
Client: Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
Location: Lake Tahoe Basin, CA and NV
Year: 2022–2023
CP Role: Lead consultant
Practice Area: Housing Policy
Team: Alex Joyce, Principal-in-Charge; Lydia Ness, Code Writing and Analysis
The Challenge
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) wanted to allow more middle and multifamily housing in the Tahoe Basin and needed to know which code changes would make workforce housing feasible to build.
Our Approach
We modeled housing prototypes from duplexes to multi-unit buildings and tested what changes to coverage, density, height, setbacks, and parking would do to the rent or price a project needs. TRPA's changes alone would cut the rent a town center project needed by about 35%. The finding that mattered most was that TRPA's changes were not enough: local parking rules had to change too, and the deepest affordability would still need subsidy.
Outcome
TRPA staff cited our analysis as the basis for the Phase 2 Housing Amendments, which the Governing Board adopted in December 2023. For deed-restricted homes they removed density limits, raised height and coverage, and cut parking minimums.
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