Essential Reading: Week of June 3, 2024
Reno City Council, Planning Commission, the future of South Virginia Street & more
First off, before anything else, I have one question for you:
Have you voted in the primary election yet?
If the answer is no, I want you to go to your stack of mail, dig out that mail-in ballot, take a few moments to fill it out, and send it on its way. Prefer to vote in person? You’re in luck! Early voting at Washoe County’s Vote Centers extends through Friday, June 7. And of course, Primary Election Day is Tuesday, June 11.
Still have questions on the candidates? For Reno City Council, refer back to my May 19 Voting Guide which links to candidate websites and interviews. The Reno Gazette-Journal has a page linking to op-eds submitted to them by local candidates here, and their Opinion page will link to any op-eds written about those candidates, too.
If you want your representatives to actually represent you, the only way to ensure that is to participate in the elective process, so please don’t shirk that responsibility and privilege.
This coming week brings meetings of both the Reno City Council (June 5) and the Reno Planning Commission (June 6), gearing up for Council’s annual summer break—after their June 12 meeting, Council won’t meet again until July 24.
As seen on the City’s Meetings webpage, this week’s meetings also include the Ward 3 Neighborhood Advisory Board (NAB) on June 4. I have more news and updates below, but first let’s preview what’s on deck for City Council and the Planning Commission.
Wednesday, June 5: Reno City Council
The agenda for the June 5th Reno City Council meeting can be found here, so skim through it for items of interest to you. Some highlights include the following:
C. 1 – Request for abandonment of part of an alley between S. Virginia and Haskell Streets. As public right-of-way abandonments go, this one is pretty minor, consisting of an approximately 700-sq ft triangle-shaped portion of an alley directly behind the newly-renovated Best Bet Motel in MidTown. You can view the Staff Report here.
D. 1 – Presentation, discussion, and potential approval of a number of improvements to the Truckee River corridor along Riverside Drive using ARPA funds.
This includes a painting refresh, Riverside Drive Park design, cantilever path design, and lighting design, purchase, and installation. The illustration above pertains to a section between Arlington and Booth Streets. Staff Report (with images) here.
D. 2 – This item is listed on the agenda as “Presentation, discussion, and possible direction regarding the recruitment and selection process including feedback to develop a recruitment strategy and recruitment brochure” but doesn’t mention that it refers SPECIFICALLY to the recruitment and selection of a new City Manager.
As stated in the Staff Report, the Mayor and City Councilmembers are being asked to tell the recruiter what qualities they would like to see in candidates for Reno City Manager. Since City Councilmembers are your representatives, that means this is the time for you to let them know what you would like to see in the next City Manager. Doug Thornley will vacate the position effective July 7, 2024 and staff has previously suggested that the selection process could extend from June through December.
I. 1 – This is an appeal of the Planning Commission’s decision to approve a request for a tentative map that would allow for a 59-lot single-family detached subdivision in Rancharrah. The Planning Commission’s approval was appealed by Audrey Keller, who argued that “the approval of the tentative map will allow for the demolition and removal of community owners association (COA) property, conflicting with the covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs).”
You can view the Staff Report here and go back to the full agenda to link to the accompanying materials including the appeal and the Planning Commission minutes.
To comment on any City Council item, you can attend Wednesday’s meeting in person; use the online public comment form at Reno.Gov/PublicComment; send an email to Publiccomment@reno.gov; leave a voicemail at (775) 393-4499; or attend via Zoom by registering at https://links.reno.gov/Council06-05.
Thursday, June 6: Reno Planning Commission
The agenda for the June 6th Planning Commission meeting has two Public Hearings:
5.1 – Chism Mobile Home Park Master Plan Amendment and Zoning Map Amendment. As the Staff Report indicates, these Master Plan and zoning map amendments “are requested on a portion of a…site comprised of four parcels located south of the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way and north of West 2nd Street” to “facilitate more cohesive development in an area disrupted by the ReTRAC railroad Project.” All related materials and maps are linked on the agenda.
5.2 – NV Energy Utility Corridor. This is a request to “establish a major utility to allow for the construction of a new overhead 120kV electrical power line and allow for hillside development. The corridor alignment for the utility is generally located between the Bordertown substation (Cold Springs area) to the north and the California substation (Verdi area) to the south.” This would extend through parts of both Ward 4 and Ward 5. You can view the Staff Report here and maps here, and access all other materials from the agenda.
To comment on any Planning Commission item, you can attend Thursday’s meeting in person; submit an online public comment form at reno.gov/PCPublicComment, send an email to RenoPlanningCommission@reno.gov; leave a voicemail at (775) 393-1776; or attend via Zoom by registering at https://links.reno.gov/3Qqvqjj.
Updates from the May 22 Reno City Council meeting
This is Reno continues its excellent reporting of Reno City Council meetings with three pieces covering some of the items that I previewed in my May 19 Brief:
“Temporary fencing approved for south Reno horse safety” (Kelsey Penrose, 5/24/24). Excerpt: “The Reno City Council on Wednesday approved a $60,000 temporary fence in south Reno to provide emergency access to water for Virginia Range horses to keep both the horses and residents safer….”
“Verdi temporary fire station discussion to continue amid public safety concerns” (Kelsey Penrose, 5/25/24). Excerpt: “The Reno City Council on Wednesday tabled a decision on whether to allow the developers of the Santerrra Quilici subdivision in Verdi to forgo providing a temporary fire station in favor of a $300,000 donation toward a new ambulance….”
“City Council approves budget, fee increases” (Kelsey Penrose, 5/26/24). Excerpt: “The City of Reno’s 2024-25 final budget was approved on Wednesday for a total of $982 million. The majority of funding is in the general fund ($342 million) and the enterprise fund ($338 million)….” This article also covers three new agreements between City Council and NV Energy.
Please take a moment to subscribe to This is Reno if you haven’t yet. They’re doing essential work to keep residents informed of local government actions, providing important context and details of Council discussions, including quotes from individual Councilmembers. If you can’t watch Council meetings yourself, these reports are truly the next best thing.
Update on City Zoning and Housing Initiatives
The City of Reno sent an email on Thursday, May 30 to those who signed up for updates on the Zoning Code Clean-Up and Housing Initiatives. I don’t see the info posted on the City’s Zoning update webpage yet (it may be soon), but it sums up the key changes that came out of the May 8 Reno City Council meeting:
Keeping entitlement review as part of the process.
Not making changes to current Code that would expand where duplex, triplex and fourplex units are allowed.
Expanding the affordable housing density bonus for the 0-60% Area Medium Income (AMI) affordability categories, but not expanding affordable housing density bonus allowances beyond the 60% AMI affordability category.
The market rate density bonus categories have been expanded as originally proposed, but the square footage sizes have been reduced. Proposed density bonuses for market rate apartments range from 35%-80% for units ranging in size from 800-1,200 square feet.
The updated draft document will be reviewed again by Reno City Council on June 12, along with updated edits to the Title 18 Zoning Code.
What’s the Future of South Virginia Street?
You may drive at least some part of it every week, maybe even every day, but have you ever really LOOKED at the stretch of South Virginia Street from the vicinity of Meadowood Mall south to The Summit? Prior to the construction of I-580, Virginia Street was the north-south highway through town, and it shows. Like many urban thoroughfares, the corridor was clearly developed with cars and not people in mind.
The future of this inhospitable corridor (and the half-mile walking distance from it) is the subject of an ongoing study by RTC Washoe, and it has to do with much more than transportation. As the RTC explains, “The study looks at land use development and how proper planning can improve pedestrian and bicycle access, as well as increase demand for transit.” That’s why the City of Reno, Washoe County, and NDOT are also key partners in the project.
This week the RTC released a short video about the project that you can view below.
That may sound a bit dry, but trust me when I say that residents will want to have input on this study and the ensuing project as it moves forward.
To give you a taste of what the future might hold, Wood Rodgers has put together one of the coolest tools I’ve ever seen for a local transportation planning project. It’s a Story Map featuring information, maps of the project area and current zoning within it, photos and descriptions of the types of development along the corridor, existing transit service, and planned and potential new hubs and community centers (due to its level of detail, it’s probably best viewed on a computer rather than a phone).
There’s a whole illustrated section on Possible Corridor Development Scenarios, 2024-2050 where the study has identified three different scenarios about how this corridor will grow, incorporating projected population and job growth and transit needs. The Story Map concludes with a section asking for your preferred Development Scenario (1, 2, or 3), Transit Options, NDOT improvements, and other components, with space for residents to explain and elaborate on their choices.
Please, if you care about the future of this central urban corridor, take some time to view and engage with this planning tool. You can access the Story Map from the project’s main website here or directly here.
Lemmon Drive Project informational sessions
On the subject of the RTC, the agency is holding some pop-up information sessions about its Lemmon Drive Traffic Improvements and Resiliency project. The project is described as “an initiative to design and reconstruct a safer, more resilient Lemmon Drive between Fleetwood Drive and Ramsey Way” and “will assess the reconstruction of the roadway above the 100-year floodplain to enhance safety, connectivity, and resilience, particularly in adverse weather conditions and emergency events.”
As reported this week by Channel 2 News, RTC staff will hold two more public events this month at the following locations and times:
Friday, June 7, from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. outside of Ace Hardware, 160 Lemmon Dr.
Tuesday, June 11, from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. in the parking lot near the corner of the Lemmon Dr./ Limber Pine Dr. intersection.
You can find much more information on the RTC’s project website here.
Local Strong Towns chapter open meeting on June 5
I recently saw on the Reno subreddit that a group of area residents has formed a local chapter of the Strong Towns organization, with an open meeting scheduled for Wednesday, June 5 at 4:30pm at Local Beer Works in MidTown (955 S. Virginia Street).
As the Reddit post explains, “Strong Towns is about building people-oriented places and pro-social development. Our goal is to support this vision within the city of Reno.”
Strong Towns is a nonprofit organization/movement that according to its About page strives to “produce content that analyzes the failures of the post-war North American development pattern while giving citizens the knowledge and tools to start making our places better today.” A good overview of the Strong Towns philosophy can be found on the Amazon page for the book by its founder, planner/engineer Chuck Marohn (& includes a short interview with him).
Their website is a terrific resource for those interested in people-centered urban planning, with articles (access their archive here), podcasts, videos, books, and assistance for local chapters. For information on the local Strong Towns chapter, the post indicates that people can email Pierce at strongtownsreno@gmail.com.
HRPS Historic Walking Tours
It’s officially walking tour season, and the Historic Reno Preservation Society has an array of exciting tours for everyone to enjoy this summer. Reservations are required and space is limited, so check out the schedule here and sign up today!
Be sure to check out my Citizen Guide for helpful resources and links for anyone hoping to become more informed and engaged in issues related to urban development (& more) in Reno.
As always, you can view this and prior newsletters on my Substack site, subscribe to receive each new edition in your email inbox, and follow the Brief (and contribute to the ongoing conversation) on X, Facebook & Instagram. If you feel inspired to support my writing and research with a financial contribution, you can sign up for a paid subscription through my Substack site or contribute to my Venmo account at @Dr-Alicia-Barber or via check to Alicia Barber at P.O. Box 11955, Reno, NV 89510. Thanks so much for reading, and have a great week.