Key MAPF Successes
Accountability to Truckee’s General Plan and the Creation of Transfer Fees 2000-2002
In 2000, a large developer submitted a project proposal to the Town of Truckee for a luxury gated community and golf course on 600 acres northeast of Truckee’s downtown that did not comply with the Town’s open space requirements. Despite 2 years of public testimony and efforts to work with the developers, the project was approved in violation of Truckee’s General Plan. MAPF filed a public interest lawsuit under CEQA that resulted in a negotiated settlement. In the final agreement, MAPF negotiated a .5% transfer fee on every house built and sold over 20 years that could generate $20 million for the purchase open space. We also negotiated a .25% transfer fee in perpetuity for habitat restoration. This was the first time a transfer fee for conservation had ever been used in California.
Saving Martis Valley 1999-2005
MAPF initiated and represented the local voice in the effort to prevent the construction of thousands of homes and numerous golf courses in the beautiful Martis Valley. This large Sierra meadow is sprinkled with wetlands and surrounded by forest that serves as prime wildlife habitat.
In a collaborative effort of pooled resources, MAPF co-founded Sierra Watch, and together with the help of other conservation allies launched a campaign advocating for responsible planning and permanent protection of the Martis Valley. Expert biologists and land-use planners were recruited to identify conservation priority areas. The public was engaged and mobilized in support of saving the valley. Public interest lawsuits were filed. After winning the first lawsuit, the others were replaced by negotiation and reasoned compromise won the day.
The resulting Martis Valley Settlement Agreement provides permanent protection for thousands of acres of land, puts caps on future growth in the Valley, and sets forth transfer fees in perpetuity on each house constructed in the valley that has the potential to generate a $100 million for the acquisition of additional conservation lands, habitat restoration and much-needed work force and affordable housing for Truckee.
Just last year, the Waddle Ranch on the east side of the valley was purchased as public open space in part with funds generated by the Settlement Agreement.
Affordable Housing-The Fight to Keep Our Firefighters, Teachers and Nurses Living Locally 2003-Present
MAPF became involved in the affordable housing issue back in 2003 when a developer made a parcel of land available for open space that was really better suited for affordable housing. MAPF worked with the local affordable housing advocates to get the zoning changed and affordable high-density housing built. Since that time, MAPF helped pass both residential and commercial affordable housing ordinances and make provisions for affordable housing a priority in its negotiations with developers, as was the case in the Martis Valley Settlement Agreement. We sit on the Town of Truckee’s Housing Advisory Working Group and champion the cause against great odds in a town built on growth and the construction industry.
Town Council Approves Pedestrian Undercrossing April 23, 2009!
The Town of Truckee recently approved going forward with the Environmental Review Process necessary to construct a new tunnel under the Union Pacific railroad track on State Highway 89 South just for pedestrians and bikes. The tunnel could be completed in 3 years. Working together, The Family Resource Center, MAPF and the Truckee Trails Foundation made sure that local residents, mostly Latino, received the most current information available on various proposals being considered by the Town through two presentations made in the community that were translated.
Testimony of the local community before Town Council was key in getting approval for the stand-alone pedestrian tunnel and staving off pro-growth interests that wanted to construct an additional new vehicular tunnel (with pedestrian access added) that would open the door to pushing through 4 lanes of vehicle traffic to and from the ski resorts at Lake Tahoe and would have taken as much as 10 years to complete.
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