Inventory of the California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
Processed by Rebecca Crowther
California State Archives
© 2009
California State Archives
1020 "O" Street
Sacramento, California 95814
Phone: (916) 653-2246
Fax: (916) 653-7363
Email: ArchivesWeb@sos.ca.gov
URL: http://www.sos.ca.gov/archives/
California Secretary of State. All rights reserved.
Inventory of the California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
Collection number: R358
California State ArchivesOffice of the Secretary of State
Sacramento, California
- Processed by:
- Rebecca Crowther
- Date Completed:
- June 2008
- Encoded by:
- Jessica Knox
© 2009 California Secretary of State. All rights reserved.
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.)
ID R358.001, Box 1-1, Folders 1-22
Series 1 Governing Board Meeting Packets 1981-1984
Physical Description: 22 file folders
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by meeting date.
Scope and Content Note
Governing Board Meeting Packets contain summaries of monthly meetings held by the CTRPA governing board. The majority of records
in this series are a compilation of agendas, staff reports, public hearing information, consent calendars, and correspondence
brought together in a monthly volume. The series begins on May 1, 1981 and continues with few gaps until May 7, 1982. There
is some disruption to the series, with June 1982 through February 1983 being absent. The series resumes again in March 1983
and continues at an almost monthly rate until March 30, 1984. Issues discussed at the meeting include the review of commercial
development, road and highway development, tree removal and timber harvesting, marina and pier development, and recreational
area improvements.
ID R358.002, Box 1-9, Folders 23-24
Series 2 Subject Files 1913-1934
Physical Description: 248 file folders
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Scope and Content Note
Subject Files contain background material for a wide range of topics considered by the California Tahoe Regional Planning
Agency. Air and water quality, housing, land use, transportation, and noise are some of the more common subjects within the
series.
The series also includes meeting packet rough drafts for the years 1978-1979, files pertaining to the deactivation of CTRPA
(found under the folder titles AB 2794 Deactivation Legislation and Deactivation Background), and several files regarding
urgency ordinances. The issue of tree cutting can be found within two folders: El Dorado Tree Cutting-Sawmill Road (1976)
and another folder titled Tree Cutting (1976-1977.)
The researcher may be interested in several folders in the series regarding a hearing on the oversight and critique of agencies
responsible for managing growth in the Lake Tahoe basin. The hearing was initiated by Assemblyman Victor Calvo, Chairman of
the Assembly Committee on Resources, Land Use, and Energy and took place on December 13, 1977. Folders regarding this trial
can be found under the titles: Calvo Hearing and Calvo-Chappie Responses.
ID R358.003, Box 9, Folders 5-11
Series 3 Lot Count and Population Estimate Files 1974-1979
Physical Description: 7 file folders
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Scope and Content Note
Lot Count and Population Estimate Files contain statistical data compiled by the California Tahoe Regional Agency regarding
the distribution of lots and residential units within the California portion of the Lake Tahoe basin. Many also contain estimates
of the number of residents living in the region. These records usually consist of charts containing hand-written counts of
the number of single-family dwellings, apartments, mobile homes, motels/hotels, commercial structures, and vacant lots that
exist in a given area. The researcher should beware that some of these records may be unreliable, as they may be missing dates
of when the data was compiled and may also be missing a description of which community the data was taken from.
ID R358.004, Box 9, Folders 12-33
Series 4 Transportation Plan Program Files 1974-1979
Physical Description: 22 file folders
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Scope and Content Note
Transportation Plan Program Files concern such topics as automobile and bus traffic in the Tahoe Region, as well as roadway
and highway impacts on the Basin environment. Folders in this series cover topics such as Transportation Alternatives, Tahoe
Regional Transportation Studies, Long-Range Regional Transportation Plans, and Unsubdivided Land Surveys.
ID R358.005, Box 9-10, Folders 34-38
Series 5 Reports 1971-1984
Physical Description: 44 file folders
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by publication date.
Scope and Content Note
Reports Files were collected by the California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency for research use and were typically authored
by other agencies, primarily the California Department of Transportation (Cal Trans), and cover topics such as Bus Passenger
Waiting Shelters, Public Transportation Projects to Improve the Interface of Transportation Modes, California State Rail Plan,
and California State Intercity Bus Plan. Some of the reports authored by sources other than Cal Trans include titles such
as Research Needs of the Lake Tahoe Basin, Heli-Skimmer Watercraft, and Lake Tahoe: An Environmental Crisis.
ID R358.006, Box 11, Folders 1-27
Series 6 Carrying Capacity Files 1974-1979
Physical Description: 27 file folders
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Scope and Content Note
Carrying Capacity Files contain records that review the amounts of infrastructural growth that is needed in the California
portion of the Tahoe Basin, as well as how much growth it can withstand. Records in this series include topics such as energy,
fire and police protection, recreation (including skiing, horseback riding, camping, hiking, and swimming), schools and education,
water quality, sewerage, and solid waste. A researcher interested in municipalities around Tahoe region may find this series
especially useful.
ID R358.007, Box 12, Folders 1-34
Series 7 Shore Zone Study Files 1971-1982
Physical Description: 34 file folders
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Scope and Content Note
Shore Zone Study Files contain records that directly pertain to the shoreline and waters of the California portion of Lake
Tahoe. This series contains titles such as Erosion, Marina Plans, Shore Zone Ordinances, Shore Zone Access, and Piers and
Permits.
ID R358.008, Box 13, Folders 1-10
Series 8 Press Files 1975-1983
Physical Description: 10 file folders
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by affidavit publication date.
Scope and Content Note
Press Files contain Affidavits of Publications for every year between 1975-1983. These Affidavits provided proof of the California
Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's efforts to notify the community about upcoming public hearings held by the agency. The affidavits
were generally created by a news media agency, such as a Tahoe area newspaper, and included a clipping of an actual published
public notification. A notary public has also signed the affidavits.
ID R358.009, Box 13-14, Folders 11-33
Series 9 John Vostrez Subject Files 1974-1978
Physical Description: 84 file folders
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Scope and Content Note
Subject Files in this series were generated through the office of John Vostrez, Executive Director of the California Tahoe
Regional Planning Agency during the late 1970s. The researcher should note that another series of subject files in this collection
(R328.2) were generated by CTRPA as a whole.
The files in this series contain titles such as The California Committee of Regional Council Directors, Speech Notes, and
Governing Board Meeting Notes. There are also subject folders regarding air quality, condominium developments, transportation
(including a feasibility study on the widening of routes 50 and 89), population studies, and tree cutting.