The Town Of Truckee Responds And More…

Talking about the proposed Brockway Collective project since it was first proposed about 6 months ago has been an exercise in patience. There has been a growing group of local residents meeting and talking about what issues may arise from a huge development proposed in our backyards. The Tahoe Sierra Meadows Community Association jumped into the fray, giving our concerns a big dose of credibility.

But missing during that time has been the ability to get much of a response from officials at the town of Truckee, especially from the Planning Department, which is tasked with reviewing the very complicated proposal. They have been great about keeping us up to date on various submissions from the developer. But they could not give any sort of response to anyone’s concerns, at least not until the department had finished their review of the proposal.

But that changed today. In a letter to the developer dated October 14th, 2026, town Senior Planner Chantal Birnberg finally spells out just about all of the department concerns regarding the current proposed version of the Brockway Collective. The document is called a “Housing Accountability Act” response and apparently is a required part of the planning process. It’s 28 pages long. It identifies about 60 different items that “are not in compliance” with the town’s current planning and building standards. There’s another 50 items where the planners “need additional information” before determining whether or not certain features are compliant.

Most of those items may seem somewhat inconsequential. But there are some very substantial ones in there that will likely reduce the number of units that can be built, the height of the buildings, the amount of open space that is left near the buildings and other key components. It’s far too much to list here, so I asked ChatGPT (with my apologies to the environment due to use of AI) to do an Executive Summary of 250 words or less:

Executive Summary: Brockway Collective Housing Development HAA Letter

Town of Truckee — HAA Consistency Letter, October 14, 2026

– Project Overview: Brockway Partners, LLC proposes a 115-unit multifamily housing development at 11478 and 11496 Brockway Road. The project includes 17 units designated as affordable to households earning up to 80% of Area Median Income (AMI), with affordability restrictions proposed for at least 55 years.

– Significant Code Inconsistencies: Town staff identified numerous conflicts with Truckee’s Development Code, including building heights exceeding 35 feet, inadequate setbacks, parking and landscaping deficiencies, architectural design violations, insufficient private outdoor space and storage, and problems with snow storage and waste facilities.

– Traffic, Access and Safety Concerns: Additional analysis is needed regarding traffic impacts, intersection performance, pedestrian and bicycle accessibility, school bus access, and emergency evacuation. The proposed fire access gate conflicts with policies prohibiting gates on new roadways and connections.

– Environmental and Natural Resource Issues: The project requires further evaluation of wetlands, rare plant surveys, protected bird species, stormwater drainage, tree preservation, construction emissions, wildfire protection, and related mitigation measures.

– Affordable Housing and Density Bonus Eligibility: The submitted affordable housing plan does not currently qualify for the requested State Density Bonus benefits. The plan must be revised to satisfy applicable lower-income household eligibility and affordable-rent requirements before the requested concessions and waivers can be evaluated.

– Environmental Review Required: The Town determined the project is subject to CEQA. A consistency checklist will assess whether the existing General Plan Environmental Impact Report is sufficient or whether additional focused environmental review is necessary.

– Next Steps: The applicant must address identified inconsistencies, submit missing technical documentation, revise plans, and coordinate with Town departments and outside agencies. The letter documents staff concerns; it does not constitute final project approval or denial.

I would encourage you to caffeinate yourself and dive into the whole letter posted here. Whenever some speaks up against development in a community, the first thing that people will try to do is to label you as a NIMBY. After that they will call you a “gatekeeper”, trying to keep other people from coming to the community after you have settled here. The only way to fight that is to arm yourself with facts. When you are talking about this development, whether it be to friends and neighbors, at a public meeting or to town officials – you want to have some solid arguments in your head so people don’t dismiss you as a fringe lunatic.

It Was Not Just The Town That Provided Comments

Ms. Birnberg’s letter to the developer also added the “routing comments” regarding the proposal. What that means is that any agency that could be affected by the proposed development was given an opportunity to add their own comments and concerns about the current proposal. Some of those agencies really did not care, as long as the developers paid their fees to their agency. But a couple of them had a lot to say.

The largest response was from the Tahoe Sierra Meadows Community Association, more commonly known as the Sierra Meadows HOA. The board has been very active in learning as much as it can about the proposal. An earlier post here mentioned that survey of more than 500 residents this summer indicated that 94% of Sierra Meadows residents were opposed to the Brockway Collective project. The HOA routing comments letter spans 40 pages, addressing over 80 issues. Here’s the opening statement:

Since our initial letter, the proposed project has generated an extraordinary level of concern and engagement within the Sierra Meadows community. In the Board’s experience, we have not seen this degree of sustained community involvement on a neighborhood issue in recent years.

Once again I turned to ChatGPT to summarize their comments:

Executive Summary: Tahoe-Sierra Meadows Community Association Comments on Brockway Collective

Source: TSMCA letter to the Town of Truckee Planning Division, October 2, 2026.

– Purpose and position: Representing more than 500 households, the Tahoe-Sierra Meadows Community Association (TSMCA) supports responsible development but argues that the proposed 115-unit Brockway Collective requires further analysis, design clarification, and demonstrated regulatory compliance. Its stated goal is to reduce potential harm to public safety, neighbors, infrastructure, and environmental resources—not to prevent development outright.

– Environmental review: TSMCA challenges any blanket reliance on the Town’s existing General Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR). It requests project-specific review under CEQA for effects involving wetlands, hydrology, wildlife, wildfire evacuation, and cumulative development, including a full EIR if required by applicable standards.

– Wetlands and site conditions: The letter raises concerns about seasonal flooding, shallow groundwater, drainage from neighboring properties, snowmelt, wetland protection, wildlife habitat, protected species, exterior lighting, winter shadows, and steep slopes. It calls for additional technical studies and consistent project plans before approval.

– Wildfire evacuation and traffic: The project lies in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. TSMCA requests analysis of evacuation capacity at Brockway Road and SR-267, overlapping evacuation zones, peak traffic, regional road closures, and cumulative development.

– Emergency access: The proposed secondary connection through Shore Pine Road and Sierra Meadows raises concerns about neighborhood traffic, winter road widths, sight distance, and fire-apparatus access. TSMCA requests that the Town determine whether the connection is necessary and, if retained, whether it should be restricted to emergency use.

– Density bonus and safety standards: The Association recognizes state housing laws constrain denial or reduction of housing projects. It asks the Town to evaluate each requested waiver, concession, or parking benefit individually, using objective standards and substantial technical evidence.

– Requested outcome: Resolve material uncertainties, correct inconsistent plans, require necessary mitigation or redesign, document findings, and complete all required environmental review before project approval.

Again, I would encourage you to read through the entire letter at the link posted above or below. The HOA response begins on page 53.

Lastly would be the comments from the town’s Engineering Department. They highlighted 34 different items within the current plan that would need to be addressed before they would approve the proposal. Here’s just a few of the highlights:

• The plan to bring Shorepine Road all of the way through the development and exit on Brockway Road is not acceptable. The Engineering Department want to see that traffic come out onto Hope Court. That exit would need to be far enough away from a roundabout that could be built at Hope Court and Brockway Road.
• The current proposal would extend Shorepine Road through the development. The developer planned to deed the road to the town and make it a public road. As proposed, that road does not meet town standards for width and parking, so the road could not be accepted as a public road. Maintenance and plowing would need to be paid by the Brockway Collective HOA.
• There’s a number of issues with buildings that encroach onto utility and drainage easements.

So in conclusion, there is a lot of information to absorb here. Taking some time to learn about what problems this development is facing will help all of us in creating a plan that allows for reasonable growth in our community, while protecting the things we love about this area.

Please take the time to learn what you can. Then share this post widely throughout Truckee so we can engage more people in stopping overdevelopment in all parts of Truckee. There’s a community meeting hosted by the developer one week away on October 22nd. Those details are in this post. It will be interesting to see how the developer responds to the issues brought up by the town and the concerned residents in our community. See you there.