The Phase 1 Committee of BVRI met with representatives of TBH and Dundee Realty in San Jose on September 19. The Committee presented a list of questions, representing input received so far about future development plans for the Bear Valley village. The following is a summary of the meeting.

The Committee consists of Dave Morley (chairperson), Ron Rossi, and Eric Jung. BVRI President Brian Neth also attended. The Committee's charge is to establish communication and provide information for the Phase 2 Committee, whose core is the BVRI Board, plus anyone else who wants to be on it. The Phase 2 Committee will handle analysis of information and community input.

TBH was represented by Chuck Toeniskoetter, Leah Toeniskoetter, and Steve Hallgrimson. Dundee Realty was represented by Greg Finch and Jim Gentling. This group will be referred to as TD below.

It’s important to keep in mind that the developers are still very early in their planning process.

Is there a marketing plan for the entire corridor?

TD says they want to have a unified marketing focus including the Mountain, the village, and the Highway 4 corridor. They don't know yet if that will mean one person in charge of the whole effort.

Where will employee housing be located?

TD Proposes an employee housing facility on Quaking Aspen Road west of the Transportation Center. These would be in addition to any units built on the Benchmark parcel just west of the Tamarack condos. TD sees the employee housing facility relieving them of the need to have employee housing units in the new condos. Their employees would have priority access to these units, although they want to keep the housing full. They prefer not to mix employee housing in with the condos. There are 8 units in Pine Tree Village that will be dedicated to employee housing.

Will there be affordable lodging?

TD commissioned a study which says that a hotel in the classic sense will not work in Bear Valley, and that they should use condos and a condo-hotel concept to provide a bed base. They feel that their condos will be affordable for purchase and for renting to their targeted family customers, with others staying along the Highway 4 corridor and BaseCamp. They foresee a central reservation system for their lodging in Bear Valley.

Will there be a conference center?

TD says they are not far enough along in their planning to know whether they will have a facility in the new Village large enough to handle weddings, but they do see the need of a conference center for business meetings etc. They feel that Bear Valley will remain a 7-8 month a year attraction because of the off-season weather conditions, but that plenty can be done to improve the visitor numbers during the peak times.

Will the Bear Valley Master Plan be updated?

TD said they will work within the existing Master Plan. They are looking for lower densities than the Plan stipulates. The biggest departure from the Plan, the parking garage/condo building on lots "B" and "C", they view as an improvement on the Master Plan. They will seek amendments to the existing Master Plan and Zoning Ordinance rather than replacing the Master Plan.

How will snowmobiles access the trail to Lake Alpine and beyond?

TD said there will be no snowmobile access through their plaza area. Access to the Highland Lakes trail will have to come down Creekside Drive. It's been suggested to move the start of the trail away from its present location just north of the school to a location between the Bridges parcel (between Granite Vista and the school) and the Granite Ridge subdivision, as the future Black Forest development in that area may cause Creekside Drive to be plowed beyond the current snowmobile access trail in the winter.

Where will we unload our cars?

It's been suggested to use the full width of the county right-of-way at the three interface points between cars and snowmobiles, Bear Valley Road (by the Sundowner condos), Quaking Aspen Road (by the Transportation Center), and Creekside Drive (by the dumpsters).

Where will we park our snowmobiles?

The parking area by the bus stop will disappear. Supervisor Woodrow is working with County Public Works and the owners of Pine Tree Village to get an easement on Pine Tree Village property just north of the Sundowner condo property to widen Bear Valley Road there for more snowmobile parking. We will have to use the full 80 foot right-of-way on Bear Valley Road to park snowmobiles. It was pointed out that there is an area at the north junction of Bloods Ridge and Snowshoe Roads which the Master Plan designates for parking. It was suggested that some homeowners may wish to park their snowmobiles there and ski the rest of the way down to the village lift., then return on Lunch Run or Home Run to their snowmobiles.

How will the new covered parking lots be utilized?

TD intends to deed the ground floor of the parking garage (on lots "B" and "C") to the county. The county will decide how that works. The second floor of the parking garage will be a pay parking lot for visitors. They will commission a traffic and parking study of the proposed Village development and look for ways to control the parking inside Bear Valley.

In considering parking, TD will be mindful of the carrying capacity of the Mountain, called SAOT (Skiers At One Time) or CCC (Comfortable Carrying Capacity). They will use a peak pricing structure, charging more at the busiest times for parking and skiing. The village lift will increase the current SAOT (4400 people) by opening up terrain and making village facilities available to skiers (restaurants, bathrooms, etc.). It may be possible to use the electronic highway message board in Murphys to notify people when the Mountain is full.

Will there be a new day lodge and where will it be?

TD envisions a restaurant at Bear Top. It will not be tied directly to the village lift, which they see terminating near Koala Top. They are not considering changing or replacing Koala Chair to allow down-riders. Even if this lift could be retrofitted to download, there is the problem of how riders get back up to it and then how to get up to the Lodge. Any nonskiers who want to go back and forth between the Mountain and the Village will have to ride the shuttle bus or drive to the Mountain. The village lift is envisioned as a detachable high speed quad chair. It will have summer capability for mountain bikes and hikers.

How will the increased number of skiers, snowmobilers, and walkers share the roads of Bear Valley?

TD sees the ski traffic to the village lift coming down Bear Valley Road, not Creekside Drive. They are working on rerouting the Home Run to the hairpin turn on Snowshoe Road near the Norwegian house, to eliminate the uphill stretch of the current alignment. TD views the issue of increased traffic on the subdivision roads as an issue to be resolved in coordination with the county.

How will the pedestrian traffic flow be affected from the existing Creekside condos?

TD acknowledged that their development will leave people in the Creekside condos with a longer walk to village services.

Will there still be a shuttle bus?

The bus will continue in reduced form. TD doesn't know yet where the bus stop(s) will be. They see the shuttle bus as a smaller vehicle with fewer scheduled trips or an on-demand vehicle to and from the Mountain during the day.

Will there be storage areas available for rent?

TD isn't far enough along in their planning to know if rentable storage space will be available to the public.

Will there be facilities for RV's?

TD hasn't considered new RV facilities, beyond the existing parking areas already at the Mountain and in the "A" lot in Bear Valley.

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