Land owners want condos, not mobile homes

unedited oct. mt. news article:

By Kathryn Reed

Prime lakefront real estate in Stateline covered by more than 100 mobile homes is getting closer to being a condominium development.
The draft environmental impact statement for the 20 acres at the end of Kahle Drive is expected to be released this month. The public will have 60 days to comment on it, with the final document possibly going before the Governing Board of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency in early 2008. Construction could begin in May, with the first occupants unpacking in 2010.
It has been a long, bumpy road to get this far for the Incline Village-based Tahoe Beach Club. The property, which was the original South Shore airport, is in sensitive land and the mobile home residents have been upset since the current owners took over in 2001.
“There are a lot of reasons the park should not be developed and never should have been,” said Monroe Friedling, who has lived at what is now known as Tahoe Shores since 1979. “It’s a stream environmental zone. The soil is unstable.”
He’s angry with the owners because of rent hikes as well as the requirement to pay sewer and water.
“One member never paid a dime and he became my hero,” said Friedling, who turns 80 this month. “As president (of the home owners association), about five months ago I stopped paying sewer and water and filed a small claims suit.”
He said the owners then took him to civil court. Friedling said he won the $3,000 small claims suit and the civil was “turned down with prejudice.”
The owners are appealing.
Attorney Lew Feldman is representing Tahoe Beach Club in its quest to develop the land, but did not handle the court cases with Friedling.
Feldman said the current tenants would have first dibs at the condos if they qualify. Nineteen residences will be deed restricted moderate income units and 124 will be sold at market rate.
Nevada law requires developers compensate the mobile home owners, help them find other housing and give them six-month’s notice to vacate the premises.
The entire project, which includes a common recreation area, will be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design level silver – which means it’s a green building.
Wetlands will be restored. Feldman estimates 10,000 fewer pounds of sediment will reach the Lake each year once the project, which will be built in phases, is completed.
“We will produce an area of environmental benefits that will be an enhancement to the region,” Feldman said.
Friedling admits the area is not in great condition now, but puts a lot of the blame on the owners who want to kick him and his neighbors out and therefore have no interest in its upkeep.
“It’s in deplorable condition. We have a rickety old wood pier. We have a beach. That’s our only amenity,” Friedling said. A picnic table where owners and renters at the mobile home park can barbecue is also available.
Friedling talked about going before TRPA a few years ago to get the project stopped and isn’t afraid to do so again.