Truckee development goes belly-up

The controversial Canyon Springs development east of Truckee has gone into foreclosure, and local conservationists said they hope to buy the land for open space.

Property owners Tahoe Boca LLC have defaulted on the property, and lenders are putting up for sale part of the 289-acre site on March 6 to recoup over $7 million in debt.

The project had stalled last year when the developer withdrew from environmental review under growing opposition from neighboring residents.

"This is great news for us," said Andrea Walhof-Grisham, vice president of SOS (Saving Open Space) Glenshire.

"Now there is potential to buy it inexpensively," she said.

If the property does go to sale, SOS Glenshire has expressed interest in working with the Truckee Donner Land Trust to buy and preserve the land as open space, Walhof-Grisham said.

"The land trust is very interested in the property," said Perry Norris, executive director for the Truckee Donner Land Trust.

"It has high biological importance, especially for the Loyalton-Truckee deer herd," Norris said.

Three of the project's six parcels are up for sale, according to the notice of trustee's sale.

The three parcels are about 70 acres each, adding up to about 210 of the project's 289 acres, said Dan Warren, the general manager of the Glenshire Devonshire Residents Association, representing residents of the nearest neighborhoods.

SOS Glenshire would help collect money to help out the land trust, Walhof-Grisham said, and already has some savings from past fundraising efforts.

"Anything we have in the bank we'd happily put toward this purchase," she said. "We'd discourage any buyers from buying it for development, because we would go to battle with them."

The project would have added 213 homes east of Glenshire.

It drew flack for potentially increasing traffic on some roads by more than 1,000 average vehicle trips daily.

Opponents asked that the project be reviewed under more current town standards, leading to a voluntary withdrawal by the developers.