At the meeting, Washoe County Department of Community Development planner Eric Young said that although updating the Spanish Springs Area Plan and Community Character Statement has been in talks for about a year, the county no longer has the resources to hold community revisioning workshops that it believes would be truly beneficial to updating the statement.
The Washoe County Planning Commission requested that an update or revision be made to the Spanish Springs Area Plan and Community Character Statement in April 2009 when the commission said it no longer took the area plan into consideration when reviewing future projects.
“There has been amendment after amendment — I believe there have been four of them now — that have asked just to amend the land use cap,” Young said. “That sort of became farcical in Spanish Springs.”
Young said the county planning commission believes the commercial land use cap is not being taken seriously and the CAB should rethink the cap, as well as revising the community’s current low-density suburban zoning requirement to medium-density suburban. The low-density zoning allows about three houses per acre, while medium-density suburban would allow about five houses per acre.
Originally set at 7.5 percent, the commercial land use cap has been increased to 9.89 percent with the January approval of the Village at the Peak project slated for construction on the corner of Calle De La Plata and Pyramid Highway.
“Then there were other changes that they asked us to consider to really look at, (such as) if there really is a limit of three units per acre and there is,” Young said. “They were asking us to look for changes to the plan to look at diversity in housing. And a lot of people instantly think multi-family housing and that’s not necessarily what the county wants.”
Young said a change to the suburban zoning structure now allows for more houses per acre lot in Washoe County.
“The regional plan changed and now states we can do five units per acre,” Young said. “There are other options that because of the three unit per acre limit, just can’t be done. The market is telling them that there is just not that much more space for that kind of growth.
“The question is, do you want to build out just how you are? Or do you want a greater diversity of housing types and business types and that’s not an easy discussion or change,” Young said.
Young said that regretfully the community revisioning workshops, which were discussed at the November CAB meeting, could not be held in a manner the county believes would be helpful to producing a new area plan and community character statement. He also said he believes the planning commission and the CAB will have to at least amend the commercial land use cap language in the area plan.
“We’re not going to jump into any large community revision projects or updates. I’m being told that’s just not going to happen for a while,” Young said. “So we’re still left with the commercial cap issue, so what we’ve decided to do is come forward with one straightforward amendment that removes the commercial cap.”
The board and Young discussed still taking future development projects on a case-by-case basis but rewording the commercial land use cap in the area plan.
“We can replace the language that says there is a cap, we will replace it with the language of things you need to think about before you can propose a commercial project,” Young said, adding the new wording could be ready as early as April. “Looks like I would be coming back out in May with the language and how that language would work and we will be looking at if you believe that’s a wise change and if that is something you can support.”
Although board chairman Steve Grosz and members Greg Prough, Nick Zufelt and John Bilka agreed to Young’s proposal of reviewing the new commercial land use cap statement in May, not everyone at the meeting was sure about the change.
“This whole area is overplanned and overbuilt,” said Gary Schmidt, who attended the meeting to campaign for his state Senate race. “(Overbuilt by) land owners who would like their rears saved by we the people.”
Schmidt said, that as a “practical economist,” he believes people need to explore existing commercial buildings and homes.
“These residents want to salvage the property they paid too much for,” Schmidt said. “Don’t build on the outskirts because it leads to a rotting core. I oppose any lifting of that cap and it’s your community but I oppose it.”
John Bradbury said he doesn’t think there needs to be any more housing development in Spanish Springs until there is demand for it.
“I have a real concern for the ‘six-pack’ housing idea,” Bradbury said. “They already have it right down here on Sparks Boulevard and behind the high school. They’re looking at 2,500 units and this is what we’re getting and if we can keep it out of our community I think we will be better off.
“I don’t think now is the right time because there are so many empty properties in Sparks and Reno that are much more affordable units,” Bradbury added.
The language to remove the commercial land use cap from the Spanish Springs Area Plan will be reviewed at the next CAB meeting on May 12 at 7 p.m. in the Lazy 5 Regional Park Community Center located at 7100 Pyramid Highway in Spanish Springs.
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