Sierra Colina Village
P. O. Box 129
Lake Tahoe, NV 89448

Planning for...
LEED* Green Certification
Energy Star Rating
Pedestrian & Bike Trails
All Fire Sprinklered Homes
Preserving Open Space
Moderate Income Homes

• Sierra Colina Village proposes to create 9 moderate-income deed-restricted homes for our local workforce and residents, “co-mingled” with 41 market rate homes. The proposed deed-restricted homes will be co-mingled (mixed together) with the market homes inside Sierra Colina Village, visually and aesthetically the same on the exterior. There is no TRPA or Douglas Country requirement for Sierra Colina to create moderate-income deed-restricted homes.

  Market rate homes are homes for sale at prices determined by the free market, to individuals of any income level who are able to obtain the necessary financing to buy the home.  In contrast, a moderate-income home is available for sale to persons with a specified maximum income.  For more information on moderate-income deed-restricted homes, refer to the Douglas County Moderate Income Housing Plan (see “Links”).  

  To be eligible to purchase a Sierra Colina moderate-income deed-restricted home, a person’s income must be not more than 120% of the median household income in Douglas County.  The Douglas County Moderate Income Housing Plan is intended to keep quality homes available to the local workforce, in spite of the rising prices of homes in the Lake Tahoe Basin. 

  The “Douglas County Moderate Income Housing Plan” ordinance determines the maximum sales price of a moderate-income deed-restricted home in Douglas County at Lake Tahoe.  As of 2008, the maximum sales price of a moderate-income home in the Tahoe Township of Douglas County could not exceed approximately $360,000 (based on the HUD published fiscal year 2008 Douglas County median family income of approximately $72,000).  Maximum sales prices of moderate-income deed-restricted homes will vary over time as the median household income in Douglas County changes. 

  A deed-restriction is recorded against the moderate-income home so that the maximum sales price of the home to all future owners will have the same restrictions. The free market sales price of the same home not covered by the Douglas County Moderate Income Housing Plan might be twice as high.  However, due to the home being deed-restricted, the maximum sale price would remain limited, and each potential homebuyer of a moderate-income deed-restricted home (the first homeowner and subsequent future homeowners) must satisfy the County’s income requirements at the time of purchasing the home (A homeowner could continue to own his or her home indefinitely, even though his or her household income later increased to an amount which exceeded the 120% of Douglas County’s median household income limit which applies when the home is purchased).  According to Douglas County, individuals or families (working or retired) interested in purchasing such deed restricted homes would be eligible to do so today, if their annual income is approximately $86,000 or less. 

  The Douglas County Moderate Income Housing Plan is different than federal government subsidized mandated programs referred to as “Affordable Housing.”  Sierra Colina Village is not proposing any government subsidized affordable housing.  Many communities have government subsidized “affordable housing” programs for lower income individuals.  That is not what Sierra Colina is proposing.  Sierra Colina Village deed-restricted moderate-income homes will all be privately financed. The market homes on Sierra Colina, like the majority of homes in the Lake Tahoe Basin, will be priced according to the residential housing free market system.



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