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mtdemocrat.com Hillside haul
MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2024
– E S T. 18 51
VOLUME 173 • ISSUE 28 | $1.00
HILLSIDE HAUL
Mountain Democrat photo by Eric Jaramishian
Somerset residents fill the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors chambers Tuesday, March 5, wearing red to symbolize “stop” during a hearing of an appeal regarding a recent county Planning Commission commercial cannabis permit approval.
Cannabis use permit denied Eric Jaramishian Staff writer
Despite concerns raised by Somerset area residents, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors struck down an appeal that would have halted a local farmer’s cultivation of cannabis for commercial use. Supporters of the appeal took seats in the supervisors’ board room at the Government Center in Placerville Tuesday, most wearing red clothing, symbolizing “stop.” An appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval of Somerset farmer David Harde’s application for a Commercial Cannabis Use Permit was based on a “lack of public access to information, significant deviations from established setback requirements and substantial inaccuracies and omissions in the project document,” among other grounds. Appellants argue there are “discrepancies” in the size and scope of the first phase of Harde’s Perry Creek Road project and “lack of information” in relation to odor and odor neutralizers, water ■ See APPEAL, page A3
A crew from Eli Ollison’s Handy Services removes tents, tarps, a couch and other items from an abandoned homeless encampment on the hillside near Placer Village Apartments off New Morning Court in Placerville March 5, right photo. The workers, managed by Handy Services owner Eli Ollison, spent the morning clearing out trash and debris, making multiple trips to the dump with a single truck and trailer. Placerville local Danika McLean recently purchased the land; she said she buys distressed properties and cleans them up.
Mountain Democrat photo by Eric Jaramishian
Mountain Democrat photo by Krysten Kellum
TO TAX OR NOT TO TAX?
SLT vacancy tax initiative gaining momentum
■ Vacancy tax proponents say 44% of South Lake Tahoe
housing unoccupied most of year Katelyn Welsh Tahoe Daily Tribune
PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
Vacancy tax are two words at the center
of many discussions lately in the city of South Lake Tahoe. These two words have elicited much action from the community, from gathering petition signatures to get a vacancy tax on the November ballot, to groups such as Keep Community First forming in opposition. It’s stirred activity at City Council meetings with attendees filling seats and spilling into hallways. If passed, the vacancy tax would tax property ■ See PETITION, page A7
WHAT’S WITH THE VACANCY TAX INITIATIVE? Proponents of the vacancy tax say the tax could open up already existing houses and raise funds for housing programs to address South Lake Tahoe’s affordable housing shortfall. But just how will it do it? What exactly is a vacancy tax? Who will it impact? And how will it be enforced? What is a vacancy tax? Tahoe Daily Tribune photo by Mike Peron ■ See VACANCY, page A6
The South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting room is standing room only Feb. 27 as residents weigh in on a controversial proposed vacancy tax.
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