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ENLARGE
Lake Van Norden, left, on Donner Summit, spans Nevada and Placer counties and serves as the upper watershed for the Yuba River.
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ENLARGE
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Map of proposed Royal Gorge development that was shown to nearby residents.
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ENLARGE
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Brian Schmit, left, and Amber Rolf work the counter at the Soda Springs General Store, where people can buy “Save Donner Summit” T-shirts and bumper stickers.
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A proposal for a Donner Summit development straddling the Nevada and Placer county line has set off a storm of resistance from residents who call it suburban sprawl that would forever change the mountain range.
The developers say the criticism is premature, adding it would showcase open space and green building methods. But residents say the Royal Gorge development could affect the water quality that flows into the Nevada Irrigation District, which provides water for western Nevada County.
"There are no places like this left in California," said Carole Raisbeck, a nearby Serene Lakes property owner since 1994. “You can imagine how crowded this place is going to be.”
Countered project manager Mike Livak: “There are people using rhetoric and a confrontational environment early in the game.”
The summit area is known for its rugged terrain, winter snowpacks and freezing temperatures. But developers are banking on buyers willing to pay top dollar for vacation homes close to winter ski resorts and summer hiking trails in the Truckee-Tahoe region.
With the population in California’s Sierra-Nevada mountain range expected to triple by 2040, the Royal Gorge development is just one of many expected for the region in the future.
Not-so-serene?
Concerns about whether water, sewer and road infrastructure would be sufficient to support more people — plus the loss of the area’s tranquility — form the basis of opposition of the summit’s few year-round residents.
At a public meeting in March, Bay Area developers Todd Foster and Kirk Syme unveiled plans to build 950 high-end homes and condos, a new lodge, two ski lifts and two man-made lakes at Royal Gorge, North America's largest cross-country ski resort.
While the development is still in the planning stages, and developers have sought feedback from residents, signs of tension have been mounting on the summit.
In July, a hand-stitched sign with the words, "Save Donner Summit" staked in a front yard summed up the opposition to the plan.
In Soda Springs, "Save Donner Summit" bumper stickers and T-shirts sales at the General Store finance a campaign to stop the development.
Furthering the cause are Web sites, YouTube videos, angry letters printed in the local paper and emotionally charged town hall meetings.
Residents of Serene Lakes, a 1950s-era subdivision built in the heart of Royal Gorge, worry a development in their backyard would upset the tranquility of the area.
A survey of the 800 Serene Lakes homeowners, only 80 of whom live on the summit
year-round, showed that 95 percent disapprove of the project.
Homeowners in Serene Lakes and the surrounding community of Soda Springs have expressed concern that the area’s water, sewer and road infrastructure cannot meet the demands of Foster and Syme's proposed development.
Groups including Sierra Watch and the South Yuba River Citizens League have formed an alliance with Serene Lakes property owners, saying the project poses environmental impacts to the South Yuba River and North Fork of the American River and the species dependent on the watersheds.
Criticism has come too early, said project manager Livak. Developers Foster and Syme's concept for a "conservation community" is still in the planning phase and not yet submitted to Placer County for approval, Livak said.
Foster and Syme have actively sought public feedback from the beginning and have remained "transparent" throughout the planning process, Livak said.
"It would be unnatural for people to support it. We have not defined the project specifically. I would expect people to be resistant of things," Livak said.
Ties to the summit
In 2005, Foster and Syme bought the Royal Gorge property after seeing it advertised in the Wall Street Journal. The purchase included Rainbow Lodge (now for sale), Ice Lakes Lodges, Lake Van Norden, the montane meadow surrounding the lake and 3,000 acres of open land in Placer and Nevada Counties.
Todd Foster, of Redwood City-based Foster Enterprises, is a third-generation real estate entrepreneur. His family developed Foster City in the 1960s and owns more than 6,500 acres of land in California, Florida, Hawaii and Costa Rica for possible future development.
Kirk Syme is the president and managing partner of Woodstock Development Inc., of Burlingame, which owns or manages 1.5 million square feet of office space in the Bay Area.
The partners call themselves outdoorsmen with ties to the summit area going back to high school.
"This is a lot more than a business venture for these guys," Livak said.
Scope of Project
When Foster and Syme bought Royal Gorge, the high cost to groom hundreds of miles of trails and the loss of a wilderness lodge to a fire a few years prior to the sale made the business no unviable, Livak said.
"Without the wilderness lodge, Royal Gorge was a loser. This is a very modest operation. It requires a significant subsidy each year," Livak said.
A map of the proposal shows four areas of housing, which Foster and Syme call "camps," clustered in and around the ski resort and linked by networks of trails on 2,600 acres of Placer County and 210 acres of Nevada County land.
The dense area, Ski Camp, would feature 100 houses and 500 time-share condominiums, apartments and hotel units. Ski Camp would include retail shops, a restaurant, a health center and ski runs connected to Sugar Bowl ski area.
The significantly smaller Lake Camp, with 250 units, would include two man-made
lakes and cross-country ski trails. The rustic Wilderness Camp, in the southern part of the property, would contain private campgrounds, 50 time-share cabins in two clusters and a small lodge.
In Nevada County, the developers plan to build 50 units in Summit Camp near the banks of Lake Van Norden, the headwaters of the South Fork Yuba River. Attractions would include an interpretive center, skiing and hiking trails and the ski lodge,
Summit Station.
Homeowners would be able to ski from their front doors. Visitors would have access to "entry portals" across Royal Gorge property to adjacent National Forest land, Livak said. The plan incorporates large open space and promises of sustainable green building that "blend into the environment so that the landscape continues to dominate," he added.
Water worries
The extreme climate made famous by the Donner Party’s travails poses challenges for Foster and Syme. The summit landscape of granite and shallow volcanic soils makes finding water difficult and sewage disposal messy.
Critics argue the region isn't equipped to sustain more people. Foster and Syme have hired a team of experts to study the region's water supply and sewage capacity. They promise reports are coming soon.
Public utility managers remain skeptical developers would find water to support their project.
“There won't be enough, in my prediction. I'm doubtful,” said Tom Skjelstad, general manager for the Donner Summit Public Utilities District, located in the Nevada County side of the development. The DSPUD provides water from Lake Angela to the small communities on the summit and the ski resorts of Soda Springs and Norden.
The most controversial source of water is from the joined Lake Serena and Lake Dulzura, in the center of the Serene Lakes subdivision.
Royal Gorge owns the lakes’ bottom, managed by Placer County's Sierra Lakes County Water District. Foster and Syme are considering dredging the lakes to increase the water surface area and meet most of the development’s needs.
Now, the lakes hold water because an impervious rock shelf forms the bottom, said Wade Freedle, president of the Sierra Lakes County Water District.
"If dredging operations created a crack, the lakes could just drain," Freedle said.
The developers counter that dredging was done in the past to recapture storage area and enhance water quality in the lakes. The area offers plenty of water, they added.
“They’re using 10 percent of their water rights,” Livak said. Royal Gorge is determining water needs for their development based on a 46 percent occupancy rate.
That doesn't settle well for Serene Lakes residents, who fear the dredging will turn their lake into a mud hole.
Other options include drilling groundwater wells or developing a reservoir at the marshy Lake Van Norden to capture runoff from snow melt.
Residents unite
Besides losing their water, Serene Lakes residents are worried that the proposed development will destroy the very essence of what makes Serene Lakes an attractive community.
Residents such as Carole Raisbeck describe her community as an idyllic place where neighbors know each other and parents let their children out in the morning knowing they'll be safe until they ring the dinner bell in the evening.
After the development plan was unveiled, Serene Lakes homeowners hired an attorney to provide them with legal advice about the Environmental review process. The group also formed a non-profit that has raised $90,000 in the event of a legal battle.
The view from Serene Lakes would change drastically if the development went forward on the scale that Foster and Syme propose, said Raisbeck. Where residents now look out at a natural landscape, there would be subdivisions and roads.
The twin lakes in the middle of the subdivision, which currently draw swimmers and boaters from 800 households, would draw thousands more if the area population increases.
Residents also worry about the nature of a time-share or weekend population that would flock to the proposed condominiums and hotels at Royal Gorge, snarling traffic on narrow roads.
One of the directors of the Serene Lakes Property Owner's Association claims that Placer County zoning codes do not permit the multi-story, multi-family units in Foster and Syme's plans.
"What they're proposing wouldn't be feasible," property owner’s association director Cliff Busby said.
Placer County planning officials said that they haven't yet received specific map overlays, only loosely drawn "bubble diagrams."
Zoning in the 2,600 acres of Royal Gorge property in Placer County varies, according to Crystal Jacobsen, a supervising planner for the district .
"It's a huge property with multiple zone districts," Jacobsen.
While say they accept development as inevitable, they would be more amenable to a plan that doesn't "overwhelm" the area.
"It just needs to fit with the community," Busby said.
Sewage treatment
Standing on top of a Soda Springs ski run, with 180 degree views of jagged Sierra peaks, Livak pointed to vegetation growing vigorously where treated effluent from Serene Lakes homes is sprayed on the hillside during the summer months.
“It’s a good way to get rid of it,” Livak said. Royal Gorge developers hope to dispose of the increased waste from their development in a similar fashion.
"Is that really what you want Donner Summit to be used for?" asked Tom Mooers, executive director of Sierra Watch. The Nevada City-based group worked to preserve land in Martis Valley and is working on similar projects at Dyer Mountain and Mount Whitney.
A development the size that Royal Gorge has proposed would need 900 acres of land for effluent spraying, Mooers said.
Expansions of existing sewage treatment plants are in the works by Donner Summit Public Utilities District but will only have enough capacity to serve houses that have been approved for, but not yet built on lots in Serene Lakes subdivision.
The current infrastructure won’t support the additional construction proposed for the Royal Gorge project, Skjelstad said.
Instead, the Royal Gorge owners would have to pay to expand existing plants or build a treatment plant of their own, Skjelstad said.
The developers say the criticism is premature, adding it would showcase open space and green building methods. But residents say the Royal Gorge development could affect the water quality that flows into the Nevada Irrigation District, which provides water for western Nevada County.
"There are no places like this left in California," said Carole Raisbeck, a nearby Serene Lakes property owner since 1994. “You can imagine how crowded this place is going to be.”
Countered project manager Mike Livak: “There are people using rhetoric and a confrontational environment early in the game.”
The summit area is known for its rugged terrain, winter snowpacks and freezing temperatures. But developers are banking on buyers willing to pay top dollar for vacation homes close to winter ski resorts and summer hiking trails in the Truckee-Tahoe region.
With the population in California’s Sierra-Nevada mountain range expected to triple by 2040, the Royal Gorge development is just one of many expected for the region in the future.
Not-so-serene?
Concerns about whether water, sewer and road infrastructure would be sufficient to support more people — plus the loss of the area’s tranquility — form the basis of opposition of the summit’s few year-round residents.
At a public meeting in March, Bay Area developers Todd Foster and Kirk Syme unveiled plans to build 950 high-end homes and condos, a new lodge, two ski lifts and two man-made lakes at Royal Gorge, North America's largest cross-country ski resort.
While the development is still in the planning stages, and developers have sought feedback from residents, signs of tension have been mounting on the summit.
In July, a hand-stitched sign with the words, "Save Donner Summit" staked in a front yard summed up the opposition to the plan.
In Soda Springs, "Save Donner Summit" bumper stickers and T-shirts sales at the General Store finance a campaign to stop the development.
Furthering the cause are Web sites, YouTube videos, angry letters printed in the local paper and emotionally charged town hall meetings.
Residents of Serene Lakes, a 1950s-era subdivision built in the heart of Royal Gorge, worry a development in their backyard would upset the tranquility of the area.
A survey of the 800 Serene Lakes homeowners, only 80 of whom live on the summit
year-round, showed that 95 percent disapprove of the project.
Homeowners in Serene Lakes and the surrounding community of Soda Springs have expressed concern that the area’s water, sewer and road infrastructure cannot meet the demands of Foster and Syme's proposed development.
Groups including Sierra Watch and the South Yuba River Citizens League have formed an alliance with Serene Lakes property owners, saying the project poses environmental impacts to the South Yuba River and North Fork of the American River and the species dependent on the watersheds.
Criticism has come too early, said project manager Livak. Developers Foster and Syme's concept for a "conservation community" is still in the planning phase and not yet submitted to Placer County for approval, Livak said.
Foster and Syme have actively sought public feedback from the beginning and have remained "transparent" throughout the planning process, Livak said.
"It would be unnatural for people to support it. We have not defined the project specifically. I would expect people to be resistant of things," Livak said.
Ties to the summit
In 2005, Foster and Syme bought the Royal Gorge property after seeing it advertised in the Wall Street Journal. The purchase included Rainbow Lodge (now for sale), Ice Lakes Lodges, Lake Van Norden, the montane meadow surrounding the lake and 3,000 acres of open land in Placer and Nevada Counties.
Todd Foster, of Redwood City-based Foster Enterprises, is a third-generation real estate entrepreneur. His family developed Foster City in the 1960s and owns more than 6,500 acres of land in California, Florida, Hawaii and Costa Rica for possible future development.
Kirk Syme is the president and managing partner of Woodstock Development Inc., of Burlingame, which owns or manages 1.5 million square feet of office space in the Bay Area.
The partners call themselves outdoorsmen with ties to the summit area going back to high school.
"This is a lot more than a business venture for these guys," Livak said.
Scope of Project
When Foster and Syme bought Royal Gorge, the high cost to groom hundreds of miles of trails and the loss of a wilderness lodge to a fire a few years prior to the sale made the business no unviable, Livak said.
"Without the wilderness lodge, Royal Gorge was a loser. This is a very modest operation. It requires a significant subsidy each year," Livak said.
A map of the proposal shows four areas of housing, which Foster and Syme call "camps," clustered in and around the ski resort and linked by networks of trails on 2,600 acres of Placer County and 210 acres of Nevada County land.
The dense area, Ski Camp, would feature 100 houses and 500 time-share condominiums, apartments and hotel units. Ski Camp would include retail shops, a restaurant, a health center and ski runs connected to Sugar Bowl ski area.
The significantly smaller Lake Camp, with 250 units, would include two man-made
lakes and cross-country ski trails. The rustic Wilderness Camp, in the southern part of the property, would contain private campgrounds, 50 time-share cabins in two clusters and a small lodge.
In Nevada County, the developers plan to build 50 units in Summit Camp near the banks of Lake Van Norden, the headwaters of the South Fork Yuba River. Attractions would include an interpretive center, skiing and hiking trails and the ski lodge,
Summit Station.
Homeowners would be able to ski from their front doors. Visitors would have access to "entry portals" across Royal Gorge property to adjacent National Forest land, Livak said. The plan incorporates large open space and promises of sustainable green building that "blend into the environment so that the landscape continues to dominate," he added.
Water worries
The extreme climate made famous by the Donner Party’s travails poses challenges for Foster and Syme. The summit landscape of granite and shallow volcanic soils makes finding water difficult and sewage disposal messy.
Critics argue the region isn't equipped to sustain more people. Foster and Syme have hired a team of experts to study the region's water supply and sewage capacity. They promise reports are coming soon.
Public utility managers remain skeptical developers would find water to support their project.
“There won't be enough, in my prediction. I'm doubtful,” said Tom Skjelstad, general manager for the Donner Summit Public Utilities District, located in the Nevada County side of the development. The DSPUD provides water from Lake Angela to the small communities on the summit and the ski resorts of Soda Springs and Norden.
The most controversial source of water is from the joined Lake Serena and Lake Dulzura, in the center of the Serene Lakes subdivision.
Royal Gorge owns the lakes’ bottom, managed by Placer County's Sierra Lakes County Water District. Foster and Syme are considering dredging the lakes to increase the water surface area and meet most of the development’s needs.
Now, the lakes hold water because an impervious rock shelf forms the bottom, said Wade Freedle, president of the Sierra Lakes County Water District.
"If dredging operations created a crack, the lakes could just drain," Freedle said.
The developers counter that dredging was done in the past to recapture storage area and enhance water quality in the lakes. The area offers plenty of water, they added.
“They’re using 10 percent of their water rights,” Livak said. Royal Gorge is determining water needs for their development based on a 46 percent occupancy rate.
That doesn't settle well for Serene Lakes residents, who fear the dredging will turn their lake into a mud hole.
Other options include drilling groundwater wells or developing a reservoir at the marshy Lake Van Norden to capture runoff from snow melt.
Residents unite
Besides losing their water, Serene Lakes residents are worried that the proposed development will destroy the very essence of what makes Serene Lakes an attractive community.
Residents such as Carole Raisbeck describe her community as an idyllic place where neighbors know each other and parents let their children out in the morning knowing they'll be safe until they ring the dinner bell in the evening.
After the development plan was unveiled, Serene Lakes homeowners hired an attorney to provide them with legal advice about the Environmental review process. The group also formed a non-profit that has raised $90,000 in the event of a legal battle.
The view from Serene Lakes would change drastically if the development went forward on the scale that Foster and Syme propose, said Raisbeck. Where residents now look out at a natural landscape, there would be subdivisions and roads.
The twin lakes in the middle of the subdivision, which currently draw swimmers and boaters from 800 households, would draw thousands more if the area population increases.
Residents also worry about the nature of a time-share or weekend population that would flock to the proposed condominiums and hotels at Royal Gorge, snarling traffic on narrow roads.
One of the directors of the Serene Lakes Property Owner's Association claims that Placer County zoning codes do not permit the multi-story, multi-family units in Foster and Syme's plans.
"What they're proposing wouldn't be feasible," property owner’s association director Cliff Busby said.
Placer County planning officials said that they haven't yet received specific map overlays, only loosely drawn "bubble diagrams."
Zoning in the 2,600 acres of Royal Gorge property in Placer County varies, according to Crystal Jacobsen, a supervising planner for the district .
"It's a huge property with multiple zone districts," Jacobsen.
While say they accept development as inevitable, they would be more amenable to a plan that doesn't "overwhelm" the area.
"It just needs to fit with the community," Busby said.
Sewage treatment
Standing on top of a Soda Springs ski run, with 180 degree views of jagged Sierra peaks, Livak pointed to vegetation growing vigorously where treated effluent from Serene Lakes homes is sprayed on the hillside during the summer months.
“It’s a good way to get rid of it,” Livak said. Royal Gorge developers hope to dispose of the increased waste from their development in a similar fashion.
"Is that really what you want Donner Summit to be used for?" asked Tom Mooers, executive director of Sierra Watch. The Nevada City-based group worked to preserve land in Martis Valley and is working on similar projects at Dyer Mountain and Mount Whitney.
A development the size that Royal Gorge has proposed would need 900 acres of land for effluent spraying, Mooers said.
Expansions of existing sewage treatment plants are in the works by Donner Summit Public Utilities District but will only have enough capacity to serve houses that have been approved for, but not yet built on lots in Serene Lakes subdivision.
The current infrastructure won’t support the additional construction proposed for the Royal Gorge project, Skjelstad said.
Instead, the Royal Gorge owners would have to pay to expand existing plants or build a treatment plant of their own, Skjelstad said.
Downstream impacts
Effluent from the Serene Lakes subdivision is treated, then discharged into the South Yuba River in winter months when water flows are high enough to dilute the waste stream. Royal Gorge developers hope to follow suit. The environmental impacts to fish and the people using the water downstream remain unclear.
"It certainly concerns us and should concern all folks downstream," said Jason Rainy, executive director of the South Yuba River Citizens League. The effluent discharge would occur above the wild and scenic stretch of the river. SYRCL is currently trying to bring back the native salmon above Englebright Dam on the lower Yuba River.
Likewise, the potential impacts to water quality raises concerns for water managers at Nevada Irrigation District. The district delivers water to 25,000 homes, farms and businesses in Nevada and Placer counties through a complex network of high Sierra lakes, canals and the South Yuba River.
"We would always be concerned with activities that impact water quality and quantity," said General Manager Ron Nelson. So far, Royal Gorge hasn't submitted any plans to the water agency.
Gateway to the wilderness
The development proposal at Royal Gorge aims to protect open space while serving as a gateway to the outdoors, Livak said.
Livak leads a group of ATV's with his dirt bike along bumpy cross-country trails to a windswept vista known as Point Mariah overlooking the American River canyon and the backside of the Granite Chief Wilderness.
If plans are approved, a wilderness camp will be built there, bringing throngs of people into this remote landscape.
"Development is going to occur. The question is, how will it occur? Not to let other people enjoy it seems kind of selfish," Livak said.
ooo
To contact Staff Writer Laura Brown, e-mail laurab@theunion.com or call 477-4231. To contact Staff Writer Jill Bauerle, e-mail jillb@theunion.com or call 477-4219.
Effluent from the Serene Lakes subdivision is treated, then discharged into the South Yuba River in winter months when water flows are high enough to dilute the waste stream. Royal Gorge developers hope to follow suit. The environmental impacts to fish and the people using the water downstream remain unclear.
"It certainly concerns us and should concern all folks downstream," said Jason Rainy, executive director of the South Yuba River Citizens League. The effluent discharge would occur above the wild and scenic stretch of the river. SYRCL is currently trying to bring back the native salmon above Englebright Dam on the lower Yuba River.
Likewise, the potential impacts to water quality raises concerns for water managers at Nevada Irrigation District. The district delivers water to 25,000 homes, farms and businesses in Nevada and Placer counties through a complex network of high Sierra lakes, canals and the South Yuba River.
"We would always be concerned with activities that impact water quality and quantity," said General Manager Ron Nelson. So far, Royal Gorge hasn't submitted any plans to the water agency.
Gateway to the wilderness
The development proposal at Royal Gorge aims to protect open space while serving as a gateway to the outdoors, Livak said.
Livak leads a group of ATV's with his dirt bike along bumpy cross-country trails to a windswept vista known as Point Mariah overlooking the American River canyon and the backside of the Granite Chief Wilderness.
If plans are approved, a wilderness camp will be built there, bringing throngs of people into this remote landscape.
"Development is going to occur. The question is, how will it occur? Not to let other people enjoy it seems kind of selfish," Livak said.
ooo
To contact Staff Writer Laura Brown, e-mail laurab@theunion.com or call 477-4231. To contact Staff Writer Jill Bauerle, e-mail jillb@theunion.com or call 477-4219.
