More TIF applications, City of Reno budget workshop & a data center update
Meeting previews for the week of March 3, 2025 and the latest development news
I want to again express my deep respect and appreciation for everyone who wrote in and turned out for last week’s City of Reno meetings. That level of engagement is something that I hope we can see continue, along with discussions of these important issues both before and after public meetings. Please share information with each other in online and in-person conversations, submit opinion pieces to media outlets, maybe start a newsletter or blog of your own, let your representatives and fellow residents know what you’re thinking, and ask them what matters to them.
I’m a great advocate of public conversations, but take advantage of the fact that your local representatives can be reached directly, too (see my Citizen Guide for their contact info). Establishing a greater sense of the direct connection between their decision-making and its impact on residents is the only way to help ensure that they are truly representing the people they were elected to serve.
And let’s try to determine what more we can do to establish a sense of our shared Reno community and work together to make it an even better place to live and work.
I’ll start today with updates from last week, then move on to some of the key development-related items up for discussion this week, including three projects coming to the Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board (RAAB) on Monday, March 3, and both the regular Reno Planning Commission meeting and Special City Council/Redevelopment Agency Board budget workshops on Wednesday, March 5.
Updates from the February 26, 2025 City Council Meeting
You can read the City of Reno’s official Council highlights in the February 26, 2025 Reno City Council Meeting Highlights. And if you want to have the Council Prelights and Highlights newsletters delivered directly to your email inbox, just sign up here.
No text amendment or moratorium for data centers
As I wrote last week, the decision of whether to initiate a text amendment to the land development code regarding data centers—something that could involve a temporary moratorium—was in front of Reno City Council on February 26. The written public comment submitted in advance showed no opposition to the idea, and as several articles reported, the in-person support for a text amendment was articulate, reasonable, and diverse.
However, Mayor Schieve and Councilmembers Kathleen Taylor and Brandi Anderson remained unconvinced, so with Councilmembers Naomi Duerr, Meghan Ebert, and Miguel Martinez in favor of a text amendment, Councilman Devon Reese absent, and those first three opposed, all motions resulted in a tie, and no action was taken.
Multiple outlets published reports and opinions on what transpired, and I encourage you to read them all, as I’m quite sure the conversation about these isn’t over. At the end of the item, Mayor Schieve, who voted against initiating a text amendment, said, “We’ll bring it back to a future agenda so we can maybe get there.”
Reno city council discusses data centers, McCarran Blvd. safety measures (Sophie Lincoln, News 4 Reno, 2/26/25)
In tie vote, Reno council fails to add regulations to data centers (Jaedyn Young, Reno Gazette-Journal, 2/28/25)
OPINION: Yet again, the city council sells Reno out (B Fulkerson, This is Reno, 2/28/25)
OPINION: Digital gold rush: Well-reasoned call for a Reno data center pause goes unheeded (John L. Smith, Nevada Independent, 3/2/25)
Also on the topic of last week’s Council items, here are a few reports on the safety update about McCarran Boulevard:
Crash trends along McCarran Boulevard (Alexandra Rae, 2 News Nevada, 2/26/25)
RPD to set up traffic cameras on McCarran to send warnings and, possibly, tickets (Jaedyn Young, Reno Gazette-Journal, 2/26/25)
City of Reno meetings for the Week of March 3, 2025
The full schedule of this week’s meetings, with agendas and supporting materials, can be found here. They include (but are not limited to) the following:
Mon., March 3, 11am - Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board (RAAB)
Tues., March 4, 1:30pm - Capital Projects Surcharge Advisory Committee
Tues., March 4, 5:30pm - Ward 3 Neighborhood Advisory Board
Wed., March 5, 10am - Reno City Council & Redevelopment Agency Board Budget Workshops
Wed., March 5, 6pm - Reno Planning Commission
Monday, March 3 - Three more TIF applications coming to the Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board
The next meeting of the Reno Redevelopment Agency's Advisory Board (RAAB) is this coming Monday, March 3 at 11am. The full agenda and meeting packet are posted here and you can attend/participate virtually by registering here.
On this week’s agenda is the discussion of TIF applications for three projects:
a “mixed-use garage project” near Keystone & 5th Street
a 4-phase Multifamily Mixed-Use project and retail buildout at the Reno Experience District or “RED” (Plumb Lane & Virginia Street)
the buildout of retail space at the Element Hotel and the “Outpost Retail Parcel,” also at the RED.
Mike Van Houten of Downtown Makeover has just published three new explanatory posts in advance of Monday’s RAAB meeting. The first is a very helpful explanation of Property TIF financing; the second covers the two applications for the RED; and the third is about the project near Keystone & 5th Street. I highly encourage you to read them, and if you are so inclined, to read through the full applications and view and participate in Monday’s meeting. Here are the three links:
Reno Experience District going all-in to finish out district - coming before RAAB
RAAB to Weigh in on Parking Garage/Apartments Downtown with Affordable Housing Component
Mike was just appointed to serve on the RAAB himself—and yes, just in case you’re wondering, and as he explains in his posts, he’s been fully cleared to write about projects coming in front of the RAAB, which is an advisory board to the Redevelopment Agency Board (Reno City Council). And I’m so glad he’s willing to dedicate even more time to this public service—Mike has been reporting on and analyzing downtown development for more than 20 years. In fact, he attended the meetings of the former iteration of the RAAB back when it was called the Citizens Advisory Committee (if you want to take a little stroll down memory lane, you can read his posts from 2008 onward here). So thank you, Mike!
Tuesday, March 4 - Capital Projects Surcharge Advisory Committee
This committee is made up of Mayor Schieve, Councilmembers Meghan Ebert and Miguel Martinez, and one representative each from Caesars Entertainment and Jacobs Entertainment. This committee advises City Council on how the Capital Projects Surcharge fee is spent, and, in fact, Mike Van Houten and I described the committee and the fee last August in a piece titled Downtown Reno's city-owned tourism facilities face funding challenges as shortfall looms.
On March 4, the committee’s agenda includes a presentation and discussion of the financial status of the Capital Projects Surcharge Fund; direction regarding repair of the roof of the Reno Events Center; and potential direction to staff regarding the “Reprioritization of the Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan.”
You can watch this one virtually on Tuesday at 1:30pm by registering via this link.
Tuesday, March 4 - Ward 3 Neighborhood Advisory Board
You can find this week’s Ward 3 NAB agenda here and tune in remotely at 5:30pm on Tuesday by registering here. In addition to updates from the Fire Department and RTC Washoe, as well as the City’s 2025 Community Survey, the only development project up for discussion is LDC25-00043 (Earl Wooster and Corbett Zone Change), which would rezone just over 43 acres from SF-8 to Public Facilities.
This change would simply rezone the current sites of Corbett Elementary School and Wooster High School to the zoning category of “Public Facilities” (PF) to match the zoning of most other Washoe County schools. No change to existing uses is proposed.
NOTE: This item is about land use zoning and is NOT to be confused with the possible school district rezoning that has been a hot topic on many platforms lately. For updates on that process, consult the Washoe County School District’s Zoning Advisory Committee webpage.
Wednesday, March 5 - Reno City Council & Redevelopment Agency Board Budget Workshops
As the City Council Staff Report and Redevelopment Agency Board Staff Report state, these budget discussions follow department budget planning that began last November and December. The final budget is adopted in May. I highly recommend reading through both of those reports in full.
There are no attachments for the Redevelopment Agency Board budget discussion as of 3/2/25. Maybe something will be posted later. The Redevelopment Agency Board report indicates that “Final property tax projections are due from the State on March 25,” so the projections presented in this workshop will be adjusted after that.
Attachments for the City Council budget discussion include the following:
Exhibit A - FY26 Draft Fee Schedule
Exhibit B - FY26 Department Additional Funding Requests
Exhibit C - FY26 Department Organization Charts (outlining exactly how many people work in each department and in what capacity)
Exhibit D - FY26 CIP Project Summary Table
If you ever engage in anything with the City that requires a fee, you might want to read Exhibit A closely. For instance, staff is proposing that the cost to appeal a land use decision be raised from $103 to a whopping $500.
With budgets tight across the county, this workshop deserves your close attention.
Wednesday, March 5 - Reno Planning Commission
There are two development projects on Wednesday’s Planning Commission agenda, which you can read in full here. You can attend virtually at 6pm by registering here.
6.1 - LDC25-00038 (Arlington Office MPA and ZMA)
East side of S. Arlington Ave., approximately 260 feet north of W. Plumb Lane
This is a request for 1) a Master Plan Amendment from Single-Family Neighborhood (SF) to Suburban Mixed-Use (SMU); and 2) a zoning map amendment from Single-Family Residential - 5 units per acre (SF-5) to Professional Office (PO). As the Staff Report indicates, the parcel has been vacant for more than 30 years and this would enable the future construction of a two-story professional office building (subject to a separate entitlement/permitting process).
6.2 - LDC25-00006 (In-N-Out Burger)
Southwest corner of Kietzke Lane & W. Plumb Lane
This is a request for 1) a conditional use permit to allow: a) business operations between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., b) a pole sign over 35 feet adjacent to a major arterial, and c) nonresidential development adjacent to residentially zoned property; as well as 2) alternative equivalent compliance to vary from ground floor building transparency standards; and 3) a major deviation to exceed the 100,000 lumens per acre site lighting standard by less than 50%.
You can make public comments during the meeting in person or via Zoom by registering here. To comment in advance, you can use the online form at www.reno.gov/PCPublicComment; email RenoPlanningCommission@reno.gov; or (if commenting on something that isn’t urgent) send a letter to the City of Reno Planning Commission, P.O. Box 1900, Reno, NV 89505.
NEWS DIGEST: The latest news in local urban development & related issues
Plan for moving VA hospital to UNR campus still a go, although with smaller footprint (Siobhan McAndrew, Reno Gazette-Journal, 2/26/25)
Reno crews start tree removal project at Virginia Lake Park (Will Payne, News 4 Reno, 2/27/25)
Trustees approve $1.62 million in WC-1 funds for administrative facilities master plan while schools still await funding (Kelsey Penrose, This is Reno, 2/27/25)
Washoe County to sell former medical examiner’s building (Kristen Hackbarth, This is Reno, 2/27/25)
Reno River Festival moves to Idlewild Park for 2025 (News 4 & Fox 11 Digital Staff, News 4 Reno, 2/28/25)
OPINION: The Nevada Commission on Ethics is a toothless tiger (Bill Schrimpf, Nevada Current, 3/1/25)
The stalled Reno City Center project (former Harrah’s Reno building)
Reno City Center Bankruptcy Dismissed! (Mike Van Houten, Downtown Makeover, 2/27/25)
Reno City Center bankruptcy dismissed, $37.5 million second payment due (Jason Hidalgo, Reno Gazette-Journal, 2/28/25)
March 5: “A City in Crisis” Documentary Screening
This week brings a free screening of the documentary “A City in Crisis.”
WHEN: Wednesday, March 5, 2025, 5:30pm
WHERE: Reno Sparks Chamber, 4065 S. Virginia Street #101 in Reno
HOW: The event is free, but registration is required (REGISTER HERE)
WHAT: “‘A City in Crisis’ explores the housing and homelessness challenges in the greater Reno, Nevada area, offering a thoughtful examination of the issue from 2010 through early 2024. This documentary sheds light on the number of unsheltered deaths and the ongoing efforts to address the crisis. Produced by journalist and educator Bob Conrad, the film invites viewers to engage with different perspectives and reflect on the opportunities for meaningful solutions in our community.”
Have a wonderful week, everyone, and please look out for each other.
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.
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 contribute, you may purchase a paid subscription through Substack or contribute via Venmo at @Dr-Alicia-Barber or via check to Alicia Barber at P.O. Box 11955, Reno, NV 89510.