Panel favor pier ban in most of Tahoe’s Glenbrook Bay

Thursday, April 13, 2000 | 10:42 a.m.

But the recommendation Wednesday by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's advisory planning commission wouldn't affect a pier sought by casino lobbyist Harvey Whittemore and wealthy liquor distributor Larry Ruvo, whose property is just south of the affected area.

Organized Glenbrook property owners want a ban on any new piers in the bay, on the Nevada side of the lake, which has one of Tahoe's few remaining strands of mostly undisturbed sandy beach.

The request from the Glenbrook Homeowners Association was to ban pier construction from Slaughterhouse Creek on the bay's north end to beyond Glenbrook Creek on the south, including the Whittemore-Ruvo property.

Wednesday's lengthy debate was the second time the panel found itself in the middle of a battle between the homeowners group and Whittemore and Ruvo, who want to build a pier serving their homes in south Glenbrook.

Ruvo was represented during the hearing by Mark James, the Las Vegas lawyer and state senator caught up in last year's "Piergate" controversy when he helped push legislation Whittemore managed to have amended to help his project.

James characterized the ongoing debate "essentially a private dispute" between Whittemore, Ruvo and Glenbrook homeowners and cautioned Tahoe planners against becoming involved.

The proposed ban on new construction is a "blatant attempt to block that pier application" his client and Whittemore seek, James said.

"The reason we are here is to preserve the scenic quality of Glenbrook Bay," countered Doug Jones, president of the homeowner's association. Jones cited a May 1999 survey in which 93 percent of 185 homeowners polled said they want no more new piers built in the bay.

TRPA staffers said much of the area the homeowners targeted would complement goals to preserve the lake's sandy beaches.

But the planners added the Ruvo-Whittemore parcel is the type of rocky, heavily vegetated shoreline where a pier might be justified if environmental effects are successfully offset.

Only one pier now exists along the half-mile Glenbrook Bay beach. Owned by the homeowners' association, the pier is supposed to be available for use by any of the 273 property owners in the upscale community.