A small neighborhood of warehouses dots the landscape just 15 minutes east of the Sparks city limits, just south of Interstate-80. To the north, the only neighbors currently are sagebrush, snakes and lizards.

Stonefield Inc. is looking to change that.

The developer is asking the city of Sparks to annex 375 acres into the city, with grand plans for industrial development, including a potential truck stop. The land is currently in the city’s sphere of influence and sits six miles away from the city’s outer limits.

The city may be putting the brakes on the move to develop eastward, however, as city staffers are recommending denial of the annexation request.

“Due to provision of service, including but not limited to fire and police, staff believes this request is premature and has recommended a denial,” a city staff report released Wednesday stated.

The Sparks City Council was set to vote on the annexation at its Monday meeting. However, city representatives confirmed that the item will be pulled from the agenda at the request of Councilman Ron Smith, who will be absent that day.

“I will be in Washington, D.C. that day and I want to be there,” Smith said. “I want everyone to be there when we vote on it.”

The annexation request is now scheduled to be heard at the May 11 council meeting.

Stonefield Inc. vice president Gary Nelson said that plans for the land are still very preliminary.

“I don’t want to say that anything is concrete at this point because I don’t know,” he said.

However, in order to present an annexation request, the developer must submit a report on possible development to the city. In its report, Stonefield Inc. proposed several fast food restaurants, a coffee shop, a gas station, barber shop, laundromat, 200-room hotel, a small casino and a truck stop that would serve about 300 trucks. According to the report, these uses are hypothetical and none of them have received entitlements.

Nelson said the project’s eventual goal is to benefit the city of Sparks by providing economic opportunities. Stonefield has owned the land since about 1999.

Rundle agreed that the eventual goal needed to benefit Sparks.

“We need to make sure that those land uses create jobs, and the right kind of jobs,” Rundle said.

As such, the city is being asked to make an annexation decision on whether or not Sparks is ready to expand eastward.

“It is a policy decision on whether or not we are ready to move out there,” said city senior planner Jim Rundle.

The land next to the Vista Canyon area, was brought into Sparks’ sphere of influence in 2002. According to Rundle, the area is not significantly attractive to large developers due to the awkward terrain. This creates a gap between the canyon, which lies near Sparks’ outer limits, and potential development eastward, Rundle said.

Planners are in the process of developing a land use plan for the sphere of influence area east of Sparks, which extends to Tracy, Nev.

A definitive master plan map for the eastern sphere of influence is still being debated among several local landowners and the city.

According to Rundle, the city has planning jurisdiction in the area, giving it responsibility over the mapping plan.

However, an annexation into the city would make Sparks responsible for more than just the maps.

If the annexation were approved, the city would then have to provide public safety services to the area, which Rundle said raises some serious issues.

In his report prepared for the City Council, Rundle said that a wildland fire was of specific concern to the city planners. According to the report, a 24-hour fire would cost the city about $152,950.

Rundle also mentioned a lack of existing infrastructure as a reason for the staff recommendation to deny the annexation.

Another reason for denial in Rundle’s report was that the land is also disconnected from the existing city limits, creating an island if the annexation were to be approved.

According to existing Nevada law, a city can create such a zoning island if the land meets certain criteria. Nevada Revised Statues state that the annexation must:

* Be identified by the city’s annexation program

* Not create an island smaller than 40 acres

* Have services and facilities required for development

The annexation must also be voluntary on the part of the land owners according to the law.

Annexation would not only provide the developer with city services, Rundle said, but also give the developer the ability to subdivide the land.

“You wouldn’t be able to intensify the land without the annexation,” Rundle said.

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