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Inventory of the California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
R358
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Title: California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Records
Dates: 1974-1984
Collection number: R358
Creator:
California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
Collection Size:
14 cubic feet of textual records
Repository:
California State Archives
Sacramento, California
Abstract:
The records of the California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency cover the years 1974-1984 and consist of 14 cubic feet of textual
records. The records are organized into the following record series: Governing Board Meeting Packets, Subject Files, Press
Files, Reports, Lot Count and Population Estimate Files, Transportation Plan Program Files, Carrying Capacity Files, Shore
Zone Study Files, and John Vostrez Study Files.
Physical location: California State Archives
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
While the majority of the records are open for research, any access restrictions are noted in the record series descriptions.
For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication
is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility
for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives
collections.
[Identification of item], California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Records,R358.[Series Number], [box and folder number],
California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.
Acquisition and Custodial History
The California State Archives acquired the California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Records according to state law.
The Lake Tahoe Basin, which spans across the California and Nevada state line, has long been known for its rich scenic beauty
as well as its abundance of commercial and recreational opportunity. Tourism, logging, and shoreline development have had
a presence around the lake since the middle 1800s, but not without dispute. Early on, conservationists argued that manmade
environments were a risk to the natural ecology found in the basin. It was believed that unless protected, the rare features
of the region would be lost.
In the 1960s, concerns over the impact that rapid development had on the basin became increasingly prevalent. Lawmakers in
California and Nevada were becoming convinced that an agreement between the states should be reached in order to establish
environmental control in the basin. Soon thereafter, designs for what would come to be known as the bi-state Tahoe Regional
Planning Compact (TRPC) began to take shape.
The researcher may be familiar with the bi-state Compact and through media coverage, may also know of the Tahoe Regional Planning
Agency or TRPA (a planning agency in both California and Nevada portions of the Tahoe Basin), which was created out of the
compact and ratified by the United States Congress in 1969. It should be understood that the records in this collection however,
were created by a separate agency, exclusive to the California side of the Lake Tahoe basin, known as the California Tahoe
Regional Planning Agency, or CTRPA.
The California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency was established approximately two years before the compact between California
and Nevada, and the creation of TRPA. As the states of California and Nevada worked together to design the Compact, it was
decided that each state would create their own interim agency for environmental protection. In 1967, California State Legislature
created the political subdivision known as CTRPA and Nevada created the short-lived NTRPA.
From the start, the mission of CTRPA was to establish a long-range management program that would "alleviate problems of resource
use and deficiencies in environmental control" near Lake Tahoe, including portions of El Dorado and Placer Counties. CTRPA's
intention was to regulate commercial and residential construction, development along the shoreline, timber harvesting, and
transportation or roadway growth, so that the region would successfully sustain a human environment while doing little harm
to the natural environment.
In 1980 however, President Jimmy Carter revised the bi-state Compact, allowing TRPA to have greater jurisdiction over environmental
regulation in the Tahoe region, and CTRPA regulation in the basin came to a close. California State Assembly Bill 2794 of
1982 supported Carter's revision to the compact, providing that "no further state funds shall be expended for support of CTRPA."
By 1985, the California political subdivision known as CTRPA was deactivated, however, as of this writing, TRPA continues
to provide environmental regulation for the states of California and Nevada near the Lake Tahoe Basin.
The records of the California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency cover the years 1974-1984 and consist of 14 cubic feet of textual
records. The records are organized into the following record series: Governing Board Meeting Packets, Subject Files, Press
Files, Reports, Lot Count and Population Estimate Files, Transportation Plan Program Files, Carrying Capacity Files, Shore
Zone Study Files, and John Vostrez Study Files. The majority of records are subject files, which cover a variety of topics
including air quality, housing, land use, noise, ski areas, transportation, tree cutting, and water quality. Subject files
can be found in two series: Subject Files, and John Vostrez Subject Files. The first of the two subject series were created
by CTRPA as a whole, while John Vostrez files were created through the office of CTRPA's executive officer.
As a whole, the records of the California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency represent an attempt to protect the California side
of the Tahoe Basin according to California law, which may in some instances be stricter than those designed by the bi-state
Tahoe Regional Planning Compact (TRPC), or regulated by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. This is particularly important
when considering issues such as the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970, which requires development projects to submit
documentation of their potential environmental impact, which was not necessarily a TRPA requirement (for the interested researcher,
the John Vostrez Subject Files contain one folder on the California Environmental Quality Act and follow up legislation from
1978).
Overall, CTRPA has sought to create tough standards for traffic control, air quality, and water quality- especially in the
prevention underwater soil erosion, hence keeping the waters of Tahoe blue. CTRPA has also proved to be stringent on its reviews
of commercial and residential projects in the Basin. Records within the Subject Files series of this collection describe a
debate that came between CTRPA supported Tahoe Area residents and Walt Disney Productions, when the entertainment industry
giant sought to open a year-round resort near Independence Lake in the northern Sierra Nevada. Four folders within the Subject
File series of this collection describe CTRPA's review of the project and Disney's eventual drop of their development plans.
These records can be found under the title Independence Lake (Disney).
The researcher interested in the history of environmental regulation in California will find the records of the California
Tahoe Planning Agency to be particularly useful. Though CTRPA only existed as a California political subdivision for just
under two decades, the environmental policies of the agency, along with those created by TRPA and NTRPA, have helped the Tahoe
region achieve a reputation of being tough in the name of future generations, so that they too may enjoy the rare beauty of
the Tahoe Region.
No further accruals are expected.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
California. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
Water pollution
Air quality
Tahoe, Lake (Calif. and Nev.)