Opinion - Foster-Syme: What's next?

Todd Foster, Kirk Syme, their individual investors, and the bank that loaned them $17 million would have been well advised to be acquainted with Christopher Alexander's work on the design process, before going public with their plans for Royal Gorge in the spring of 2008. They would have saved themselves a lot of money, and the Summit and Bay Area communities a lot of aggravation.

The famous Austrian-born Emeritus professor at UC Berkeley, educated in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Architecture at Cambridge University and Harvard, made the simple observation that any good design is constrained and shaped by a context, and that understanding of the full context is key to creating places "where you feel alive". The process of identifying all the elements of the context is long hard work, requiring an open mind with no preconceived notion; once done, design is just about applying the appropriate set of engineering disciplines and trade arts to shape a form that fit the context. There is plenty of room for creativity and great outstanding solutions, provided they are grounded in the context. Today, every product manager and development planner in all industries across the world knows that; but not Foster-Syme! They knew better, possibly blinded by what they thought would be easy profits.

With insight, it is now clear that Foster-Syme went into this venture without doing much research. Cases in point:

• They assumed water would be plentiful, with 20 feet of snow on the ground every winter, and did not bother to contact the local water utility, as they would drill their own wells on their own land - so they missed the massive granite base underlying the topsoil everywhere as part of the context!
• They did not pay attention to the three and an half years long moratorium (2001- 2004) on new sewage connections - so they missed the ever-increasing stringent legal limitations in the disposal of sewage effluent in the Yuba River.
• They ignored that they now owned one of the truly historical landscapes in California - so they missed the laws preventing them from disturbing the historic Emigrant Trail, another big part of the context, even planning to flood a section with an artificial lake.
• As stated by a county official, they did not even contact the Placer County Planning department before their purchase, counting on the pro-development bias of local politicians - so they missed the opportunity to gain an understanding of the Summit communities.
• They ignored the low net operating income generated by the Ice Lake Lodge - so they disbursed $5 millions as per public records, way overpaying for it.
• They did not bother to contact the three local communities, (the Serene Lakes development, the Cedars, and the Palisades), nor the local Soda Springs businesses, assuming they would be easily overcome by slick marketing.

The vast majority of local homeowners and businesses are adamantly opposed to the Foster-Syme plan, which has stayed the same since first unveiled despite numerous setbacks. It is way too big, would change the Nordic character of the existing communities, and is incompatible with natural environmental constraints, in particular with regards to water availability and sewage treatment capacity. Both permanent residents and second home owners could have elected to live in Northstar, Squaw Valley, or Sugar Bowl, had they desired such city-like lifestyles; they prefer the current rural settings; they are not against any development, just to irresponsible unnecessary urban sprawl for the benefit of remote investors blindly applying a resort-101 formula. The larger California community, and in particular the bay area visitors, risk to lose a great cross country resort, and a Nordic environment dedicated to green year-round recreation. The local businesses, whether downhill resorts, general stores, or realtors do not understand Foster-Syme logic in creating competing entities when oversupply has existed for years. Even venerable and popular resorts like Sugar Bowl are not immune to tough time when the snow comes late in the season. Or does Foster-Syme just plan to get entitlement, sell out to a builder, and run? Who will hold the bag last? May be the bank which loaned them $17 millions, as per public records filed in Placer County?

As of August 2008, due to their dream of a very large potential return on investment, Foster-Syme has elected to pursue their plans to the bitter end, and is leveraging every political and legal angle possible to meet their commitments to their investors. Over the next five years, the `Save Donner Summit` issue is likely to gain a California-wide level of awareness, just like the `Save Mono Lake` did four decades ago, because of the wide appeal of the underlying issues with regard to the recreational use of water, the preservation of historical sites, and the environmental responsibilities of property owners.

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