Needs Assessment & Feasibility Study

North Tahoe and Tahoe City Public Utility Districts came together in 2019 to collaborate on an assessment of community needs for future active recreation opportunities in North Lake Tahoe.

What is Active Recreation?
Active Recreation refers to structured individual or team activities and programs that require the use of special facilities, courses, fields or equipment. Examples include baseball, football, soccer, lacrosse, golf, hockey, tennis, pickleball, bocce, basketball, volleyball, skateboarding, pump tracks, swimming pools, senior and youth programs and centers, yoga, martial arts and other fitness classes.

Passive Recreation refers to activities that do not require developed facilities like ball fields, sports fields or pavilions, tend to place minimal stress on site resources and include paved and unpaved trails. Examples include biking, hiking, walking, running, cross country skiing and snowshoeing, backpacking, camping and picnicking.

Phase Three

The NTPUD and TCPUD are performing a Needs Assessment for Active Recreation along the shared boundaries of the Districts. The study has already been through two phases which determined community desires and identified active recreation needs along the shared District boundaries.

In February 2023, the Boards directed staff to continue with the Needs Assessment in the form of Phase Three. In Phase Three, the Districts will further evaluate the feasibility of jointly funding, developing, constructing, operating, and maintaining, the Facility.

Consultants working with the NTPUD and TCPUD will assist the agencies in  –

  1. Determine the best Property Based Special Tax to fund a Recreation and Aquatic Center and/or Field House
  2. Poll the community to evaluate the level of support for a tax measure
  3. Provide data to inform the strategy for placing a measure on the ballot that could fund the project.

Phase Three will itself consist of three stages, including the – 1) feasibility of the ballot initiative (Phase A), 2) awareness building of the project (Phase B), and 3) development of the measure (Phase C). The pursuance of Phase B and C is subject to the results of Phase A – polling for community support.

Phase Two

Phase Two included an assessment of North Lake Tahoe’s current active recreation facilities. Balancing recreation planning best practices with community input, the study generated during Phase Two will be used to determine the needs and feasibility of creating new, modified, and/or consolidated active recreation facilities and how to prioritize future planning and funding.

Phase II of the Assessment included four steps:

  1. Visiting, Evaluating, & Benchmarking Facilities & Funding Opportunities
  2. Identifying Potential Facility Improvements
  3. Reviewing & Refining Opportunities & Funding Realities with the Community
  4. Distilling & Documenting Findings

In the fall of 2021, a team of recreation planners, architects, landscape architects, sports field specialists, and financial/funding experts conducted facility assessments and began an analysis of the overall recreation system and funding realities.

Phase Two Public Meetings:

  • Public Open House: Tuesday, May 23rd, a public open house was held to share the findings of the Needs & Feasibility Study. All members of the North Lake Tahoe community were invited to learn about the study’s recommendations, share input on what facilities a recreation & aquatic center might include, discuss their level of support for funding and building new facilities, and volunteer to help move projects forward in our region.
  • Open House Materials (presentation boards)
  • Survey link to gather input following the open house
  • Stakeholder Meeting: May 4th, almost 50 of the region’s recreation stakeholders and community leaders met to provide their feedback on the study’s findings and discuss their support for recreation facility recommendations.
  • Joint Board Workshop #2: Thursday, February 16th, the NTPUD and TCPUD Board of Directors met to continue their work evaluating the feasibility and necessity of new, modified, and/or shared recreational facilities in our region. This second workshop in Phase Two of the project was open to the public and included a consultant-led review of cost analyses and possible funding sources for any new, modified, and/or shared recreational facilities across our communities.
  • Winter 2023 Joint Board Workshop Operations & Funding Analysis Presentation

Phase One

This was the first step of the process. Phase One included opportunities for the community to provide input and influence planning through Zoom Meetings, Stakeholder Working Groups, and Community Listening Sessions.

In Phase I Over 600 community members participated in a survey and focus groups to help shape the future of North Lake Tahoe Active Recreation. Learn more about priorities, constraints and opportunities.

Phase One occurred during the COVID-19 Global Pandemic. The NTPUD and TCPUD transitioned all public outreach to virtual meetings for 2020 and 2021.

To learn more about the Phase I findings, please use the following links: