Olympic Valley, CA – The residents of California’s Squaw Valley ski resort have taken another step towards creating their own town.
Placer County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) has officially accepted the Petition for Incorporation of the Town of Olympic Valley. On August 20, Placer Counties Registrar of Voters certified that petition. The next phase in the incorporation process for the residents surrounding this Lake Tahoe-area ski resort is to formally submit an application to LAFCO, who will determine if Olympic Valley is eligible and financially viable to become a town. If the application is approved, it will become a ballot measure for Squaw Valley’s registered voters.
Olympic Valley, seen from the Squaw Valley tram
A community meeting, presentation and open discussion is planned for Sunday, October 6th at 3:00 p.m. at Plump Jack Squaw Valley Inn. The purpose of the meeting is to get the community involved with the process of the incorporation.
“This is a big decision for the community and we want to share with everyone what phase of the incorporation process we are at, and what lies ahead. We want to hear the concerns of the people,” said Tom Day, a 30-year Squaw resident and member of the group Incorporate Olympic Valley (IOV). “We encourage all Squaw Valley residents, homeowners, stakeholders and all who visit and love Squaw to attend the meeting.”
The IOV began meeting in November and had previously considered including neighboring Alpine Meadows in the incorporation efforts, but residents of that adjacent valley declined.
IOV sees many benefits to incorporation including reviewing and approving new development projects, keeping tax dollars local, and providing services prioritized by local residents.
“Incorporation efforts have been successful in diverse communities, such as Riverside, Goleta, Citrus Heights, and Truckee. We believe our future should be controlled by our mountain community, not a county seat on the other side of Donner Summit,” said Peter Schweitzer, co-founder of the group. “And as indicated by the petition drive, many voters do, too.”
