Leah Kaufman Planning "The Planner you want to stay away from" Tahoe Vista, California

1.           Hurricane Bay Custom Home Development:  The client hired Leah Kaufman of Leah Kaufman Planning as a planner from December 2005-April 2007. She was contracted to ascertain the feasibility of doing a subdivision lot split on a split lake front parcel located at 3005 Westlake Blvd Homewood, California. She was also contracted to obtain a building permit from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and Placer County.

After 10 months and spending $20,000 Leah Kaufman said the TRPA permit was available. The client arranged a meeting with the TRPA planner and was told by TRPA that they had no documentation to allow a TRPA permit to split the lot or build.  Lea Kaufman never documented the permit process. The client was told that they would have to start over.

The client immediately terminated their contract with Leah Kaufman Planning and hired Gary Midkiff, a South Lake Tahoe Planner, to help fix the problem. To try and reconcile what had occurred the client asked Leah Kaufman to provide a timeline, and document any discussions or filings. To the date the client had no information or documentation but relied on their paid planning expert (Leah Kaufman Planning). She reluctantly agreed but wanted to collect $900 she said was owed by the client. The client obviously disagreed and Leah Kaufman refused to provide the filings and documents that the client had paid $20,000 for her to create. This put the client in an extremely difficult situation given the 17 months of time already spent and the potential of another two years of rework and expense. In our years of experience she is without a doubt the most vindictive and dysfunctional contractor/planner of any kind that we have ever worked with.

2.           Kings Beach, California Sewage Spill: On July 19, 2005 Lake Tahoe experienced the largest and most damaging sewage/hazardous waste spill in its history.  The beaches in Kings Beach were closed for more than two weeks. The result was irrepreable damage to the environment and millions of dollars in damages to the local business. This is all in the public records. This spill occurred when Pacific Built Inc drilled into the lake bed to secure a pier piling and hit the sewer line located on the lake bottom. Leah Kaufman was the planner of record for the Davis and Coffeng families who were building this pier. As a land planner it is her job to review all available public records related to the permitting and building of a pier. She failed to review these documents and notify Pacific Built about the location of sewage pipe. She was named in the lawsuit brought by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board against the Davis and Coffeng families. She blamed Pacific Built for the accident and took no responsibility.

3.           Tonopolo Fractional Resort Tahoe Vista, California: In 2003 the Tonopalo Fractional Resort was completed. This resort includes 1/7 shares in 19 home with 270 feet of beach front and adversely impacts the natural environment. Leah Kaufman Planning was the planner of record on this project. She signed the Conditional Use Permit for the Developer; this is part of the public records. . Despite being a very vocal member of the League to Save Lake Tahoe she signed for and is responsible for the removal of the historical natural sands dunes that were hundreds of years old. This was to accommodate the developers desire to create 270 feet of beach. Leah Kaufman speaks out of both sides of her mouth depending on who she is speaking with or is willing to pay her.

4.           Sandy Beach: This project would have cleaned up a large site of very old decrepit cottages and camping sites. The developer would have initiated Best Management Practices as requested by the Tahoe Regional Planning Association. This would have been welcomed by many local residents and businesses. The developer knew of Leah Kaufmans many TRPA and legal issues and was unwilling to hire her firm to perform the land planning work. Out of spite Ms. Kaufman partnered with the League to Save Lake Tahoe and stopped the project for years. The project is moving forward to clean up this area despite Ms. Kaufman. The  League extorted thousands of dollars in legal fees. If Leah Kaufman planning had been hired by the developer there would have been no issues with the League.