Tahoe TRPA shorezone consultant

We are Lake Tahoe planning consultants for shorezone and lakefront projects around the lake — pier and lakefront permit processing for new and existing piers, through the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and the agencies that sit beside it.

Who we are

Jan Brisco Consulting + Basin-Range is one Lake Tahoe consulting practice for shorezone permitting and permit processing around the lake. Jan has been consulting since 1987 as Jan Brisco Consulting and has helped hundreds of lakefront owners with their projects. She specializes in due diligence for sellers and buyers of lakefront property, and in navigating the permitting process for residential, commercial, and public work. She keeps a strict privacy policy.

Aaron Souza is a city and regional planner on the same team. He prepares applications for review by TRPA and local agencies, and the scenic work those applications often need. He is not the principal. Full bios sit on About.

When to hire a Lake Tahoe planning consultant

Hire a Lake Tahoe planning consultant when you need a clear path before you spend on a design that cannot be permitted:

• You want a new private pier. An allocation is not a permit. Start with whether the shore is even eligible: apply for a new pier.
• You already have a pier and want a repair, rebuild, expansion, boat lift, or layout change: modify your existing pier.
• Your project needs how the whole project area conforms with scenic regulations. A new pier is mitigated in the upland: scenic assessment.
• You are changing a lakefront residence (coverage, height, scenic), adding a buoy or boat lift, or verifying coverage. Residence work is its own permit path, separate from a new-pier allocation.

If a deadline is missed, or a step is filed the wrong way, a shorezone project can lose years. That is where experience in the Tahoe Basin matters.

What we prepare

• New pier eligibility and the allocation application: want a new pier
• Existing pier work: already have a pier
• Scenic assessment for the project area: scenic assessment
• Buoys and boat lifts: moorings
• Coverage / site assessment: coverage / site assessment

Sample projects live on Our work.

Multi-agency, not TRPA-only

A Tahoe project is not just a TRPA permit. Our team stays with the project through TRPA and the other agencies with a say on the water: state lands, the Corps, water quality, and fish and wildlife. State lands runs differently in California and Nevada. Sister agencies run on the same clock as the TRPA permit, not after it is done.

Common questions

What does a Lake Tahoe TRPA planning consultant do?

Our team handles shorezone and lakefront permit processing around Lake Tahoe: new piers, existing piers, scenic assessment, moorings, and related residence work. We prepare the applications, stay with the project through the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and the other agencies with a say on the water, and tell you what the rules allow before you spend on a design that cannot be permitted.

What’s the difference between TRPA and the other agencies?

TRPA is the bi-state shorezone permit for Lake Tahoe. It is not the only permit. State lands, the Corps, water quality, and fish and wildlife often run on the same clock. State lands runs differently in California and Nevada. A Tahoe project is multi-agency, not TRPA-only.

When do I need permit processing help for a pier or lakefront project?

When you want a new private pier (an allocation is not a permit), when you already have a pier and want a repair, rebuild, expansion, or boat lift, when scenic review covers the whole project area, or when a lakefront residence change needs coverage, height, or scenic conformance. Missing a deadline or filing a step the wrong way can cost years.

Shorezone vs upland — what should owners know?

Shorezone is the work at and on the water: piers, moorings, shoreline structures. Scenic review looks at how the whole project area conforms with scenic regulations. A new pier is mitigated in the upland — on the land side of the project — so scenic is not only “what you see from the lake.” Photography from the lake is a method, not the whole test.

Talk to us

Send a street address or parcel number and a short note on what you want to change. We will tell you what the rules allow.

Discuss your project

(530) 583-6882 · jan@janbrisco.com
PO Box 1888 · 620 N Lake Blvd, Tahoe City, CA 96145