Bring Back Reno's Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board
The City’s inexplicable disbanding of the RAAB in 2018 has had dire consequences and must be reversed.
Today’s primary topic concerns a matter that will be of great interest to anyone who cares about development of Reno’s downtown (and beyond). But first, here’s your regular reminder that next week’s City meetings are listed on the Current and Upcoming Meetings page. Of particular note this week: The Reno City Council and the Reno Redevelopment Agency Board (which is comprised of the City Council) will hold budget workshops tomorrow, Monday, March 18, to discuss the next fiscal year budget (they will hold several more of these in coming months before finalizing it).
Also, the Planning Commission meets next Wednesday, March 20 to review and potentially approve a long list of “Zoning Code Clean-Up” changes (item 6.1), among other things. You can read the overview of proposed changes in the staff report here, the draft here, and the public comment (so far) here.
The March 20 Planning Commission meeting will NOT include consideration of Accessory Dwelling Units (or ADUs). According to the City’s webpage on Affordable Housing Initiatives and Zoning Clean-Up, the results of the citywide ADU survey will be presented to City Council on March 27 as will the slate of Affordable Housing Initiatives that were approved by the Planning Commission on February 7. If you want a sneak peek of the results of the ADU survey, the link is on the above webpage.
No Esports in the National Bowling Stadium
A quick update: I wrote last week about the idea of developing some kind of Esports venue inside the National Bowling Stadium, which was an item on the Capital Projects Surcharge Advisory Committee meeting agenda this past Tuesday.
Discussion of the item was brief; according to Revitalization Manager Bryan McArdle, Esports is no longer being considered as a use for the facility. He said that UNR is looking to find space for its Esports needs on campus. So that seems off the table.
There was a great deal of interest expressed in finding other uses for the building, discussion of the dismal status of the Capital Projects Surcharge Fee fund, and the desire to augment it. I’ve been researching all of that, and I’ll have a lot more to say about this building, this committee, that fee, and their conversations in a future post.
But for now, the questions this meeting raised for me go far beyond the National Bowling Stadium—questions like these:
Where are ideas for use of city-owned buildings initiated?
Who decides what ideas should be pursued?
How are residents supposed to keep track of all the ideas circulating for downtown, when discussions of many of them seem buried in small committees like this one?
I’ve spent the past week looking into all of this, and I’ve hit upon something alarming. Until about six years ago, these types of questions (and much, much more) were in fact discussed often and at length in public meetings by a board comprised of dedicated and engaged Reno residents, staffed by an Assistant City Manager.
This citizen board didn’t just get updates on all aspects of projects, plans, activities and ideas related to downtown Reno, but helped to set priorities for them. And you may never have heard of it.
The Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board
The Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board (RAAB} was established in 1990 as the Redevelopment Agency Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC). It was renamed in 2009 to avoid confusion with another CAC, the Community Assistance Center.
I’ve come across its name before and even mentioned it when discussing ways that the City has reduced public review of developments. But I didn’t take the time to fully investigate what it was and the role it served in helping shape downtown Reno.
Until now.
The RAAB met consistently from the early 1990s through 2017, after which it was abruptly but quietly disbanded and never referred to again. And that should not just trouble all of us, but spur us into action to demand its reinstatement.
First, some background: The City adopted its original Redevelopment Plan for the 100+ block Downtown Redevelopment Area (now called RDA 1) in 1983 and by 1986 had amended it to include a desired phasing and financing schedule of projects. On the map below, RDA 1 is shaded in yellow.
A few years after creating the original Redevelopment Plan, the Redevelopment Agency (comprised of Reno City Councilmembers) amended and expanded the plan, adding detailed lists of the activities and tools the agency could implement. And it created the advisory group described below.
Once constituted, this citizen board met regularly—at least quarterly and sometimes monthly. The minutes of their meetings can be found through a quick search on the City’s Public Records Search webpage. Reading through them, I was astounded to see the level and extent not just of the reports and updates they received but the input they provided into city plans, policies, and projects. And, of course, they were always updated on recent activities of the Reno Redevelopment Agency Board.
Here are just a few examples from the minutes. See if you glimpse any issues you’d love to get updates on today (as well as issues that we are remarkably still discussing). Feel free to skim this chronological section; because there are no active links to these minutes, I just want to give you a sense of the breadth of topics the RAAB discussed.
1992: formulated recommendations to help create the City’s first Historic Preservation ordinance and directed staff to evaluate similar ordinances elsewhere; provided input on downtown “Blueprint: Revitalization Plans for Downtown Reno” plan prior to its adoption, including a joint meeting of the CAC and the Redevelopment Agency Board; update on RSCVA-funded signage program.
1993: provided input to City Council on street vendor ordinance amendment; heard a presentation from Bill Eadington about the future of casino gaming outside Nevada and its projected impact on Reno; considered adopting an art in public places policy.
1994: reviewed the Downtown River Corridor Draft Plan; discussed criteria for Development and Disposition Agreements, designated a member to the “Virginia Street Design Committee”; reviewed potential projects for prioritization including a Façade Improvement Program, Wingfield Park upgrades, replacement of the Virginia and Center Street Bridges.
1996: helped formulate the Skyway Ordinance (including addition of a CAC member to its Design Review Committee)
1999: helped to develop the Entertainment Core Revitalization Plan.
2000: reviewed and offered recommendations on Special Events policy; Downtown Market Rate Housing Proposals; Downtown Lighting Study; co-sponsorship of “Once Region – One Vision”; discussion of the feasibility of creating a Business Improvement District called the “Downtown Reno Partnership.”
2006: provided review and recommendations regarding the waterfront condominium project and proposed expansion of second redevelopment district.
2009: operations & food service at the Community Assistance Center on Record Street.
Redevelopment declined but the RAAB continued
The Reno Redevelopment Agency doesn’t have a visible presence now because it has no dedicated staff of its own; City Council simply ends its regular meetings and reconvenes as the Redevelopment Agency Board with the same staff supporting them. But at its height, the Agency had 16 staffers. Many of them including the Redevelopment Director appeared at the RAAB meetings, and of course they assisted City Council in their role as the Redevelopment Agency Board.
After 2000, as downtown Reno continued to suffer closures and vacancies, the revenue from RDA 1 plummeted, particularly after the economic downturn of 2007-2008. In the meantime, the City of Reno had created RDA 2 in 2005—it includes parts of downtown as well as areas to the east, west, and south (view a map here). In the summer of 2009 the Redevelopment Agency Director, Mark Lewis, was laid off to cut costs, and in 2010 four more staffers were laid off, leaving two. In 2010 Assistant City Manager John Hester was doubling as Redevelopment Director. And there was still a full-time economic development director.
In 2011, the economic downturn and the subsequent drop in casino property taxes was said to essentially put the Reno Redevelopment Agency out of business, with only enough funds left to pay debt service and other obligations, and it lost its last 1-1/2 employees (Reno Gazette-Journal, 12/23/2010).
But even with decreased revenues and no redevelopment-specific staff, the RAAB continued to meet.
They reviewed the Redevelopment Agency budget for each fiscal year. And as their minutes demonstrate, their role was not confined to how RDA money would be spent. They discussed practically everything occurring in RDA 1 and 2. Here are some of their topics for the following years (again, feel free to skim):
2012: Recommendation to the Redevelopment Agency Board regarding the developer’s request for a proposed restructuring of baseball stadium construction debt; West Street Market extension of hours; updates on RTC idea for a light rail or trolley on Virginia Street; update on Freight House District; sale of the downtown post office to Bernie Carter’s group; discussion of agency finances and potential plans.
2015: Update on all permitting activity in RDAs 1 and 2; discussion of several ongoing projects including renovations at the El Cortez Hotel; identifying future agenda items including a university-town update; Siegel Group presentation; RTC plans for the Virginia Street corridor between Liberty and Maple Streets; conversion of the Siena Hotel/Casino; homeless update; presentation, discussion, and potential direction to staff regarding redevelopment concepts and options for the ReTRAC (Reno Transportation Rail Access Corridor) covers.
The RAAB and the Revitalization Manager
In 2015 the City created a new staff position: Revitalization Manager. Then-Assistant City Manager Bill Thomas told the RAAB in 2015 that the Council had budgeted money “to recruit a revitalization manager to assist the Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board” and said “Staff is currently writing the job description with an eye to hiring someone who is forward thinking and has leadership abilities, planning skills, and experience in the implementation of projects, along with an ability to deal with downtown blight.”
The position was held by four different people over the next seven years. Bill Dunne was hired for the job in 2015 and provided regular reports to the RAAB. He was followed in that position by Aric Jensen, who held the job until 2019, followed by Jeff Limpert and now Bryan McArdle.
Why did the RAAB stop meeting?
The last RAAB agenda I can find is dated October 17, 2017. That meeting featured a report and discussion regarding legislation to extend the life span of RDA 1; adult use marijuana; a public art update; a Siegel Group project update; Nevada Sunset Winery; a downtown Dog Park update; and a report from the Revitalization Manager.
In their October 25, 2017 meeting, the City Council acting as the Redevelopment Agency Board reappointed three individuals to the RAAB—Jeffrey Hollingsworth, Kurt Stitser, and Wayne Wiswell. And then…nothing. After more than 25 years, the committee seems to have simply stopped meeting.
So what happened?
Did the RAAB somehow get lost in the shuffle of upper management? There was a lot of staff turnover around that time. Reno City Manager Andrew Clinger had recently resigned, to be replaced by Sabra Newby in March 2017. But when the RAAB last met later in 2017, its Staff Liaison was still then-Assistant City Manager Bill Thomas and its Council Liaison was then-Ward 5 Councilmember Neoma Jardon, both of whom stayed on with the City for several more years (Thomas resigned in 2020 to become Executive Director of RTC Washoe and Jardon resigned in 2022 to become Executive Director of the Downtown Reno Partnership).
In 2021, when I asked a City staffer what had happened to the RAAB, they said they had sent my question “to staff” and received this reply:
“On the Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board, the short answer is the RDAs were and are not spinning off any money, so there was little for an advisory board to review. Further, we now have the Downtown Reno Partnership and Downtown Reno BID, which serve many of the same functions as a redevelopment agency advisory board. The RAAB has been inactive for a number of years now and is one of the topics being reviewed by the new management team for a decision on the future structure. I don’t anticipate new meetings being scheduled in the near future.”
The “new management team” at the time was the administration of City Manager Doug Thornley. Sabra Newby had resigned in the spring of 2020 and Doug Thornley was hired as City Manager later that year, just months before my query.
Since there was never any public explanation of why the RAAB stopped meeting, let’s address the two reasons provided by the City staff member I asked about it.
First off, the contention that the Downtown Reno Partnership (which is the Downtown Reno Business Improvement District or BID) essentially replaced the RAAB is completely inaccurate. The Downtown Reno Partnership does not serve the same role as the RAAB. Not even close.
The Downtown Reno Partnership (or DRP) was formally created in 2018. However, as stated on the City’s website: “A Business Improvement District (BID) is a private sector funding mechanism designed to improve the environment of a business district with new services financed by a self-imposed and self-governed property assessment. These services are provided exclusively within the district, and are different from—rather than a replacement of—those already provided by the City. In 2018, the City of Reno and a group of business and property owners in the Downtown area formed a BID to address operational and functional issues within the area.”
The DRP is a private nonprofit organization made up of downtown property owners. It is not a City board and its Board members do not advise the City Council or Redevelopment Agency (nor should they).
The RAAB and downtown’s various private business associations and organizations have always coexisted but not overlapped. That’s been true whether it was the Downtown Renovation Association or the private working group “Operation Downtown” that Mayor Schieve formed in 2015, or the DRP.
The second explanation given me by the staff member—that the City decided to disband the RAAB because there were no RDA revenues—should be equally rejected.
Obviously, the RAAB did not just discuss how to spend revenues from the RDAs. They discussed a broad range of activity occurring within the Redevelopment Areas, and not just City-funded activity but RTC Washoe, private permitting, broader economic trends, and more. They received updates, held discussions, advised the Redevelopment Agency Board, and—notably—discussed all the continuing issues involved with prior redevelopment projects and activities. And they continued to advise the Redevelopment Agency Board on priorities and budgeting.
And with more development occurring in the redevelopment areas, there will increasingly be revenues for the Redevelopment Agency Board to consider.
In fact, the Reno Redevelopment Agency Board is meeting TOMORROW, Monday, March 18 for a budget information session with potential direction to staff. You can view the staff report with an explanation of RDA 1 and RDA 2 here as well as the RDA Presentation with revenues and expenditures and tax increment projections here.
The RAAB is the Missing Piece
The financial aspect of the redevelopment is huge, and largely out of my area of expertise (I encourage those with expertise to delve into it further). But providing input on priorities for usage of RDA revenues is just one function of the RAAB.
I can’t help but think of what a help the RAAB would have been regarding all the issues I’ve been trying to bring to light for more than three years, and all the frustrations citizens had with the plans and projects for downtown that seem to come out of nowhere—the Development Agreement with Jacobs that got next to no public discussion prior to Council approval, and yes, even the fact that this little Capital Projects Surcharge Committee seems to be ground zero for discussions of what to do with the City-owned Bowling Stadium, from painting a mural on its exterior to hosting Esports within, and even the future of the Reno Arch.
Without the RAAB, the determination of development and redevelopment priorities for downtown, to be presented for review and approval by the City Council/Redevelopment Agency Board, seems to have been internalized within City staff, specifically under the auspices of the Revitalization Manager, whose job was created, at least in part, to assist and provide updates to the RAAB.
In a news release issued upon current Revitalization Manager Bryan McArdle’s hire in 2022, the City described his job this way:
The Revitalization Manager oversees economic development, redevelopment and revitalization programs, projects, services and activities for the City of Reno. The position also assists new businesses, developers, residents and other public or private entities in the investment or expansion of operations within the City. McArdle will also develop and implement strategies for the revitalization of deteriorated properties within the City and manage the City’s property program.
This completely ignores the fact that it is the stated job of the RAAB to help the Reno Redevelopment Agency to develop priorities for staff to implement.
You can see that clearly spelled out on the City’s own webpage, which continues to define the role of the RAAB in very clear terms:
“…the Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board recommends and the City Council/Agency Board approves priority economic development/redevelopment projects and programs.”
Just think of how much residents would have benefited from having updates AND INPUT on similar (and sometimes the same!) projects since the dissolution of the RAAB in 2018. They would certainly have played a role in all the projects listed on the City’s Economic Development web page:
They should also be discussing all the projects listed on the Redevelopment Agency page. Based on that list and past minutes, they would likely include topics like these:
Prioritizing economic development & redevelopment in RDA 1 and RDA 2
The Reno Redevelopment Agency budget
The future disposition and use of the Community Assistance Center
Further development of the Freight House District
Future use and operations of the National Bowling Stadium, Reno Events Center, and Downtown Reno Ballroom
Future use and operation of the Lear Theater and Southern Pacific (Amtrak) Railroad Depot
Development and programming of City-owned downtown public spaces
Street abandonments and the disposition of any City-owned property
Permitting activities in RDA 1 and RDA 2
Ongoing City planning studies and pilot projects in RDA 1 and RDA 2
Replacement of Arlington and Sierra Street Bridges
All RTC Washoe projects in RDA 1 and RDA 2
For more than 25 years, the RAAB discussed and advised the Reno Redevelopment Agency on these issues and more in a public forum, assisted by City staff, with no time limits to stifle discussion of important topics. As a former RAAB member told me, their meetings were often standing room only, due to the extent of public interest in the topics they discussed.
The RAAB is the body we are missing. These are all issues that we have to piece together ourselves, and for which the public often feels underinformed.
There is ample City staff available today to staff the RAAB as in the past. As viewed in the draft staffing organization chart (to be presented to City Council during their budget discussion tomorrow), Revitalization Manager Bryan McArdle reports to one of the three Assistant City Managers (with the return of Eric Edelstein back to the Aces Baseball organization, this appears to be Ashley Turney), and has several staff working for/with him: an Activation Coordinator, Economic Development Marketing Program Manager, and Property Development Analysis (RDA). All of these should be informing the RAAB about their ongoing activities and taking direction from them.
The elimination of the RAAB is a problem for so many reasons. It played a valuable role for more than 25 years. It was created by the Redevelopment Plan, and to be honest, I don’t think the City of Reno is even allowed to abolish it. Redevelopment Agency Advisory Boards are a critical part of public deliberation and decision-making about redevelopment throughout Nevada and nationwide. And I know for a fact that many of you would be interested in serving on such a board here in Reno.
So what do we do to encourage the City to reinstate the RAAB? It wasn’t formally dissolved, so it just needs to be reconstituted, staffed, and scheduled. For all of our City staff and representatives reading this (and I know you’re out there), please begin taking the steps immediately to do that.
We are counting on you to bring back the RAAB. Now.
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This civic erasure can't be an accident. Good for you for finding the missing piece!
Alicia, can you recall the old domain name for the Redevelopment Agency's website? Before it got absorbed into reno.gov? I'm trying to find the old PDF of the agency's plans around 2006/07 that showed the mixed used development on the south bank of the river along the fountain the city just recently converted into a huge flowerpot. Was hoping archive.org might have it.