TAHOE CITY, Calif. — Construction of new tennis and pickleball courts at the North Tahoe Regional Park in Tahoe Vista will begin soon after a critical funding component was approved this week.
On Tuesday, the Placer County Board of Supervisors authorized the Department of Parks and Open Space to allocate $750,000 in Park Dedication Program fees to the North Tahoe Public Utility District to help fund a portion of construction for the new facility, which will include three tennis courts and six dedicated pickleball courts.
“We heard our residents express the need for these new facilities loud and clear during the county’s recent Park and Trail Master Plan process that was completed in 2022,” said Andy Fisher, Placer County parks administrator. “It takes great partners like ours at the North Tahoe Public Utility District to come together and give our residents and visitors the robust recreational offerings that make Placer County a great place to live and play. We are excited to be a part of this project in an incredible park that serves our entire region.”
Located at 6600 Donner Road, North Tahoe Regional Park serves residents and visitors of Kings Beach, Tahoe Vista, Carnelian Bay, and the greater North Lake Tahoe area. The park offers captivating lake views and boasts a variety of year-round recreation activities for visitors of all ages, including sports fields, a dog park, an 18-hole disc golf course, a playground, six miles of forested hiking and biking trails, the Tahoe Treetop adventure course, a sled hill and groomed cross-country skiing trails during the winter.
The county’s allocation provides the final funding needed to complete the $2.2 million construction project.
“Our community has been planning for this project for a long time,” said Bradley A. Johnson, P.E., general manager and CEO of the NTPUD. “Now, with all the funding in place and the design completed, we’re excited to move forward and create a space in the North Tahoe Regional Park for players of all ages and abilities to enjoy tennis and pickleball with their families, friends, and neighbors.”
NTPUD plans to break ground on the project in early June 2023. Additional funding for the project includes approximately $1.26 from the NTPUD’s Five-Year Capital Improvement Project budget, as well as a $182,432 grant from the Placer County Transient Occupancy Tax Tourism Master Plan grant program recommended by the Capital Advisory Projects Committee and approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2022.
Placer County’s contribution comes from the Park Dedication Fee Program, which helps mitigate the impact that new residential development has on existing recreation facilities, by acquiring, constructing new, and/or rehabilitating existing parks and recreation facilities throughout the county. The fee amount of the Park Dedication Fee per development is based on the total cost to build recreational facilities to maintain a ratio of 5 acres of active park and 5 acres of passive park per 1,000 residents, as called for in the recreation element of the Placer County General Plan.
For more information about the North Tahoe Regional Park, visit https://northtahoeparks.com.
For more information about the Placer County Park Dedication Fee Program, visit www.placer.ca.gov/6295/Park-
