On Friday, June 29, the Alpine County Board of Supervisors approved the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR). This FEIR was prepared for the Bear Valley Village Project. This FEIR consists of two volumes: Volume I, containing the Draft EIR as revised, and Volume II, containing the responses to comments, the mitigation monitoring and reporting program, and technical appendices that were not available when the Draft EIR was prepared. Appendices that were provided in the Draft EIR are not included in the Final EIR distribution. These appendices are available for review at the Alpine County Planning Department in Markleeville, California.
The most comprehensive survey ever of pollutants in California's lakes and reservoirs has found that only a few of the most popular fishing spots are free of mercury, PCBs and other contaminants. Of 152 lakes tested statewide, 21 were clean while 131 showed one or more pollutants at levels above state health guidelines, according to the study released Monday by the State Water Resources Control Board.
In Northern California, some of the cleanest were the high-elevation lakes of the Sierra Nevada and the Trinity Alps. Among these are our own Lake Alpine and White Pines Lake, making the cut well above nearby Caples Lake, Donner Lake, Lake Tahoe and Pinecrest Lake.
The Alpine CountyPlanning Department has released a Fiscal Impact Analysis on the proposed village development. It is not part of the Environmental Impact Report or part of the EIR Process. It is a separate study prepared under the county's direction. There is no specific comment period on this document. It will be used by the county in deliberations on the proposed project. The appropriate time to comment will be during the public hearing processes on components of the project after completion of the EIR process. To read or download the document click here.
Bear Valley Village Fiscal Impact Analysis - Final
Alpine County Releases Draft Environemental Impact Report.
Bear Valley Village Draft Environemental Impact Report
Bear Valley Mountain Resort and the US Forest Service hold scoping sessions in Bear Valley for proposed actions to improve the downhill ski resort including the addition of more parking, installation of new chairlifts as well as replacement of older chairlifts, trail regrading and widening, a new village "skiway" as well as the addition of 480 new acres of skiable terrain.
Bear Valley Mountain Resort Proposed Action - August 2008
Proposed Dowhill Ski Area Expansion Map
Bear Valley Mountain Resort held two scoping sessions on April 19 and April 27 to present information and take public input on development plans. These rounds focused on changes to the ski area. Mountain General Manager Jim Gentling explained that their development planning process is running in parallel with development plans for the village. Gentling discussed the village chairlift. They are planning a high speed quad chair with 50% downloading capacity. The 50 foot wide easements for the lift line are already in place. The bottom terminal is planned to be just north of No Name Road. The top terminal is near the area called the Koala Rocks. If the Mountain can stay on schedule, they would start construction in 2010. Under Forest Service rules, they are only allowed to build from July 15 to October 15, so it will take two seasons to build. The lift would feed skiers to Bono’s Alley, which will be recontoured to accommodate beginner skiers. The Mountain would like to improve the Home Run with an alignment that comes out at the hairpin turn on Snowshoe Road. They are discussing the necessary easements with the affected homeowners in that area. They plan to add 200 parking spaces, and they anticipate that the village chairlift will keep another 195 cars from driving up from the village, effectively increasing parking capacity by 395 spaces.
In July of 2005, the Bear Valley Mountain Resort was purchased by Dundee Realty USA, who also owns Arapahoe Basin Ski Area in Colorado. They then partnered with long time Bear Valley commercial property owners Toeniskoetter and Breeding and 2 other private individuals who all formed Bear Valley Partners LLC. For the first time in history the ski area and the town of Bear Valley are now tied together under the same financial entity.
There are 5 different development projects slated for Bear Valley constructed by 2 separate development companies. All the projects are already on the Master Plan. All are in various states of permitting, design or pre-construction. and most are actually less density than allowed.
The biggest in scope is Bear Valley Partners reworking of our entire village and commercial center with approximately 350 new condos to be built in phases and a new ski lift coming right into the town. The installation of the chair is one of their first priorities. They are hoping to break ground summer of 2008 or spring of 2009 depending on their planning process. No prices or floor plans for the condos have been established for this development yet, but all condos will have under building parking. The complex will include up to 60,000 square feet of commercial space including “The Bear Valley Club” which will be a health/dining/amenities club. See attachment “Artist Village Rendering”.
The Bear Paw Ridge development will be about 40 single family residential lots located underneath the new lift line. No pricing or start date has been established yet on these.