January 20th, 2008
In addition to advocating for a better kind of development in Bear Valley, we aim to provide public documents about the development process (like Environmental Impact Reports, Planning Commission reports) and add pictures of the development. A community forum is planned for the near future.
SUMMARY
We generally support the proposed development of the Village and Mountain as a necessary revitalization of the area. We are also glad to see TBH’s commitment to maintaining Bear Valley’s unique village character and their desire to limit the development to a relatively small area. However, based on the information that is currently available to the public, there are a number of issues that are troubling in the current proposals:
Need a unique village concept: the current proposals for the new Village look a lot like the faux-European villages that populate the greater part of newly redeveloped American ski resorts (see artist sketches here). This look certainly does not maintain the village’s unique character, nor does it offer anything unique to draw visitors. People come to Bear Valley because it is rustic and different; what is currently on offer is neither, and this needs to be addressed in the development. We have some ideas started in the Alternative Proposals section of the site (and we greatly welcome others).
Address issues for the local resident population - The new development plan will benefit a new group of second home/condo owners; it will also provide on-site employee housing for seasonal employees, which is a substantial improvement over the status quo. However, the development will lift property prices out of the range of the people who live and work here but do not currently own property (if the current specualation hasn’t done so already). Moreover, although the rental market here is currently served by basement-apartment houses, we are concerned that the rise in home prices will have the long-term effect of a reduced rental market as well. We would like to see TBH consider creating affordable housing solutions for longer-term residents. We understand that this issue is under consideration by TBH, and we would like to ensure that it is adequately addressed in the new development - the local resident community is the heart and soul of the Village and its unique character depends on their capacity to stay in BV.
Greening Bear Valley - In general, we applaud TBH for keeping the scope of their development limited to the center of town. Environmental groups have, so far, also found the scale and character of the development largely acceptable. However, we think that the new Village can be built and certified as entirely green, and the Mountain can run a green mountain in many facets of its operation. (See our pages on Green Building and Green Mountain Operations)
This is both the right thing to do environmentally and it would be sound marketing for differentiating Bear Valley as a tourist destination in a market that is increasingly rewarding green enterprises (especially given its Bay Area market). What would serve Bear Valley, its tourist-driven economy, and its residents better than be able to market itself as the Greenest Resort in America?
CONTACT US: admin@bvdevelopmentwatch.org