At the Lake: Kirkwood housing development approved

Amid opposition, supervisors from Amador County unanimously approved a planning commission decision endorsing development of the Martin Point subdivision at Kirkwood Mountain Resort.

Thirty-three single-family homes and one duplex are planned as part of the project.

"The board of supervisors went ahead and denied the appeal so that Martin Point development will proceed forward, but there are stipulations that go along with the procedure," Amador County Supervisor Ted Novelli said in a phone interview on Tuesday.

Supervisors required Kirkwood to be in compliance with existing mitigation measures before construction of the subdivision can begin in the summer of 2008.

"We will be in full compliance with all 159 measures," said David Likins, chief operating officer for the resort. "We're within two or three at this time.

Likins expected full compliance to be reached within "the next several months."

A 2006 parking study, which has yet to be properly submitted, was one of the grievances cited by the Friends of Kirkwood and the Foothill Conservancy during their appeal.

Streams muddied during a November 2006 storm, documented on the Foothill Conservancy's Web site, were also a basis for the groups' claims Kirkwood should not be allowed further development until mitigation measures are met.

"It became a 'he said, she said' meeting and it's really unfortunate that the supervisors did not look at the records as far as mitigation compliance," Friends of Kirkwood President Reid Bennett said Wednesday. "I'm just concerned whether or not the developer will really be in compliance when the time comes or whether they'll just claim to be."

The Board of Supervisors also promoted greater collaboration between Kirkwood Mountain Resort and the environmental advocates, with Novelli encouraging the formation of a committee to discuss issues at the resort and advise the board of their findings.

On Wednesday, Likins seemed pleased with the board's decision.

"We don't have any problem with the suggestion," Likins said. "We think it's a great idea."

Although the members of the committee have not been officially determined and its first meeting date has not been set, the committee is likely to include representatives of Amador County, Kirkwood Mountain Resort, the Foothill Conservancy and Friends of Kirkwood.

With the exception of hazardous materials, debris from demolished buildings in the Stateline redevelopment area won't be headed far from the foundations on which many of the structures stood since the 1950s.

Asbestos has been found in all but one of the buildings slated to be demolished in the redevelopment area. The carcinogen will require special disposal at Altamont Landfill in Livermore.

Remains of the 76 gas station, which stood on the corner of Lake Tahoe Boulevard and State Line Avenue, have also required extra attention. Cleanup of the gas station has been handled by international energy company, ConocoPhillips.

"Their people came in and did that removal. They took care of the whole site and basically just left us with the dirt to build on," said Lake Tahoe Development Co.'s Kevin Lane, who is in charge of the project. "They haven't come up with any contamination that I was notified of."

Dispensers and pipes from the gas station remain at the site awaiting analysis of what, if any, hazards the parts pose to environmental and human health.

Other than these materials of special concern, most of the old buildings won't end up far from the South Shore.

The transfer station run by South Tahoe Refuse Company is the closest possible disposal site, but getting rid of the waste in Carson City cuts out a middleman.

"(Carson City landfill) is where they take their material anyway, so it's better for us to load up the trucks and take it down there ourselves," Lane said. "We would fill (the transfer station) up."

Wood products make up the bulk of the debris with few pieces of high-demand recyclable material, like steel or copper.

"Because of when the structures were built, they don't have a lot of recyclable materials. But we will recycle all of the footing and foundations," Lane said.

These asphalt and concrete materials will be ground up and used as road base back on site.

Even the wood products, not directly recycled by Lake Tahoe Development Co., have hope for a second life after they reach Carson City's landfill.

"That material is chipped up and shipped out for use as biofuel," said Ken Arnold, public works operations manager for Carson City.

Although the wood chips are handled by a subcontractor, many of the chips coming from the landfill will be burned for electricity and heat in Northern Nevada Correctional Facility's biomass utilization facility, according to Arnold.

Lane expected demolitions for the Stateline redevelopment to be completed before the Fourth of July weekend.