The City of Reno's ADU Ordinance, staff layoffs, Council's July 23 return & more
Plus, the Reno Planning Commission meets on Wednesday, July 16th.
It’s HOT out there, so please stay prepared by always carrying water with you, for yourself as well as any others who might be in need of it. High temperatures will remain in the 90s or higher for the foreseeable future.
It was great to see several of you at the City’s Strategic Priorities workshop at the McKinley Arts & Culture Center last week. City staff could not have been nicer, and we wrote a lot of ideas on posters, but I left feeling that a more effective way to generate suggestions about Reno’s strategic priorities would be via discussions with other residents on topics of shared interest—the kind of thing that can happen in, say, meetings of citizen boards and commissions that convene for a common purpose.
I wish that had been possible during this process, rather than coinciding with the enforced “pause” on most of those citizen bodies’ meetings. We gain so much from bouncing ideas off each other, rather than simply delivering our own individual thoughts in a vacuum, whether in person or via an online survey. I know that’s true for me, anyway. You’ll see more on the status of those boards and commissions below.
In the meantime, if you do want to attend the final community workshop on the City’s Strategic Priorities—which I do highly recommend—it’s tomorrow (Tuesday) July 15 from 6 pm to 8 pm at the Stead Airport, 4895 Texas Avenue. You can find more information in my last Brief here or on the City’s News webpage here.
There’s just one scheduled City meeting this week: the Reno Planning Commission on Wednesday, July 16th. I’ll include a preview of that meeting a bit further below. But first, here’s a heads-up on some of the items heading to Reno City Council next week.
Tentative Items for the July 23 Reno City Council meeting
A draft agenda for the Reno City Council’s July 23rd meeting was just posted this morning here. Although subject to change, items currently include the following:
CITY STAFF LAYOFFS (Item C.1) - A resolution related to the reduction of City staff (more on that below).
CITY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS (Item C.2) - Presentation and update on the City’s public engagement review process (including “recommendations regarding non-mandated boards and commissions currently on temporary hiatus”). It seems we’ll already be seeing some recommendations from staff on this, as “Proposed changes include adjustments such as repealing, reintegrating, or retaining specific boards and commissions. These changes seek to enhance service delivery, ensure broader and more inclusive representation, and support organizational efficiency as the City adapts to reduced staffing levels.” No additional information is provided at this point, but I expect we’ll see more specifics in the Staff Report, once it’s published later this week.
INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT FOR FIRE & EMERGENCY SERVICES (Item C.3) - Approval of an Interlocal Agreement between Washoe County, the City of Reno, and the City of Sparks to establish a board to study regional fire and emergency services options pursuant to Senate Bill 319 (2025 Legislative Session)
PARKS, RECREATION & OPEN SPACE (Item C.5) - Annual update regarding the Implementation of the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space (PROS Master Plan)
ORDINANCE INTRODUCTION RELATED TO CHILDCARE FACILITIES (Item C.6) - Presentation and potential direction to staff regarding initiation of amendments to Title 18 of Reno Municipal code pertaining to childcare facilities (to evaluate where the review processes can be expedited or amended to help bring more childcare to the area).
There’s much more on the draft agenda for the July 23 Council meeting, so check it out for more items of interest to you, and keep your eye out for the final agenda, to be posted on the Current and Upcoming Meetings webpage by the end of the week.
Unexpected Layoffs of City of Reno staffers
The big City of Reno story this past week was the sudden announcement of plans to lay off eight City staffers—something that is scheduled to be discussed and formalized via resolution during the July 23 City Council meeting (see Item C.1 above). Here’s some recent coverage with quotes from City Manager Jackie Bryant:
City of Reno plans several employee layoffs, reversing its prior stance (This is Reno 7/8/25)
I wrote some initial thoughts about this sudden announcement on Facebook last week:
One of the primary reasons I find this sudden announcement of staff layoffs so troubling is that the City Manager repeatedly assured City Council (and the public, and City staff, for that matter) that there would be no staff layoffs. We were shown the breakdown of City staff positions multiple times through all those budget workshops. All remaining staff were deemed necessary.
But suddenly, we have these layoffs, without any public meetings where City Council and residents could perhaps offer suggestions for other reductions in city expenditures. I understand that Council will be presented with all of this when they return, and will at that time be given the amount to be saved and other possible cuts. But for the City Manager to simply announce this unilaterally is highly out of order and suggests a serious lack of anticipatory planning.
Obviously all government budgets are very precarious at the moment, but procedurally speaking, the correct step would have been to schedule a Special City Council meeting to discuss what is obviously some kind of urgent and dire budget shortfall. What we haven't been told is why, how much, and why this was deemed the appropriate step to take outside of any public meeting or City Council (or resident) input. Sympathies to these city staffers, who were no doubt as surprised as the rest of us.
If you’re interested in how these layoffs fit into the context of the City’s previous assessments of its staffing needs (and its recent addition of 25+ new staff positions), you can find the Personnel Changes portion of the adopted City budget here.
Kristen Hackbarth and Bob Conrad of This is Reno discussed these layoffs as well as the recent audit of Washoe County’s department of alternative sentencing in a video recap of last week’s news, which you can watch here.
We’ll see what else the City has to say about these layoffs when the Staff Report for next week’s meeting comes out later this week, and especially at the July 23 meeting.
The Latest on the City of Reno’s ADU Ordinance
The City of Reno issued a memo on July 11th with an update on the ADU Ordinance currently in draft form including how it relates to recently passed state legislation. You can read that memo here.
In it, staff reports that they have reviewed the City Council recommendations, public comments, and AB 396 requirements, and have prepared an updated ADU ordinance.
Below are some of the highlights and key changes made since the last draft version:
ADU height is limited to smaller than the primary structure.
ADUs are only allowed on parcels with a minimum lot size of 5,000 square feet.
ADUs must have one parking space that is located on the parcel (not on the street).
ADUs are prohibited from being rented out for less than 28 consecutive days.
Additional design standards have been added for both attached and detached ADUs.
City staff will present the proposed ordinance to the Reno Planning Commission on August 6th and will bring the Planning Commission’s formal recommendation to City Council after that.
You can find the complete text of the draft ordinance here. As you’ll see, the document is 49 pages long because it includes all of the changes that would have to be made to various sections of the code, but you can view the crux of it on pages 21-22 of that document, under the heading 18.03.405 Standards for Specific Accessory Uses.
Staff is taking feedback on the updated ordinance for the Planning Commission and City Council to take into consideration as they review the draft. The city suggests using PC Public Comment to provide that input, but that really only works when you’re referring to a specific agenda item for an upcoming meeting. I’d suggest in the meantime that you send your comments/questions directly to Grace Mackedon at Mackedong@reno.gov and for more information, visit the City’s webpage about the ADU Ordinance here. I’ll let you know when it lands on a published meeting agenda.
The Closure of the Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation
The sudden dissolution of the Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation is having wide-ranging repercussions. You can read what’s known about what happened to the nonprofit organization here:
Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation staff laid off, nonprofit closes amid ‘financial insolvency’ (updated) (This is Reno 7/3/25)
Because the City of Reno is one of the entities impacted by this closure, the City published a memo laying out its responses to those impacts. Available here, the memo covers issues related to Service Agreements, Shared Facilities and Maintenance; Foundation-Held Funds and Donations; ARPA Trail Planning Funds; Fiscal Agent Roles; and Summer Camps.
More on the City’s response to the closure here:
City staff scrambles to maintain services after Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation announces closure (This is Reno 7/8/25)
INPUT REQUESTED: Community Wildfire Protection Plan
I just saw that the City has extended the deadline to provide input on its Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), described as “a plan designed to identify and mitigate wildfire hazards to communities and infrastructure located in the wildland-urban interface (WUI).”
Residents can now give input through July 28, 2025. The survey can be found on the City’s “Wildfires and Living in the Wildland Urban Interface Wildfires” webpage. While you’re there, take the opportunity to review tips on how to protect your home and family from wildfires.
NEWS DIGEST: The Latest in Local Urban Development
Here’s a quick rundown of some of the latest media coverage of our changing downtown landscape (& beyond):
Reno’s oldest house moved, to be preserved after Jacobs Entertainment sold it for $1 (News4 7/10/25) - As I’ve researched and written about, the historic Benham-Belz House was the last remaining house on the original Reno townsite, and was likely built within Reno’s first year. I’m sad that it won’t be preserved in place, which is always the best case scenario for a significant historic property like this one, with so much to tell us about Reno’s earliest period. But the next best thing is to be relocated and preserved by someone who cares about its history. Meanwhile, a representative for Jacobs Entertainment says they have no immediate plans for the block, where, as you may recall, they demolished eight midcentury motels in 2018 and replaced most of them with—what else?—parking.
New renderings for Reno Revival present a much different vision for the project, plus new architect and new GC announced (Downtown Makeover 7/10/25) - This is the former Harrah’s Reno property, currently undergoing a requested subdivision of parcels (see the Planning Commission agenda below) to enable more efficient development of its separate components. Mike’s article includes some new renderings of what they’re envisioning.
Living Stones Church looking at buying former Century Riverside theater in downtown Reno (RGJ 7/9/25) - The theater closed in November of 2024.
Playfield 76 reopens its doors (2 News Nevada 7/11/25) - The eatery/games destination has moved to the historic Santa Fe Hotel building on Lake Street.
City to install more than 100 flashing school zone beacons (This is Reno 7/14/25) - The beacons are made possible by more than $1.6 million in federal funding.
Mellow Fellow announces closure after 10 years in downtown Reno (2 News Nevada 7/14/25) - The restaurant and bar announced they could not reach an agreement with the building’s owners (so it appears to be about the rent) and its last day will be August 30.
PREVIEW: Wednesday, July 16th Reno Planning Commission meeting
The Reno Planning Commission meets Wednesday, July 16 at 6pm at City Hall. The City of Reno recently started to post helpful previews of Planning Commission meetings on social media, so I’ll just copy below what they wrote on Facebook. You can find the complete meeting agenda here. Consult the agenda for links to Staff Reports and related materials.
Here’s the City’s preview of the Public Hearing items:
6.1 - Stone Village Condition Amendment
A request has been made to amend condition of approval #1 associated with Stone Village. The requested modification would increase the originally proposed number of parking spaces from 379 to 487 and reduce the common landscape area from ±5.2 acres to ±2.3 acres.
6.2 - 2580 Kietzke Lane Multi-Automotive Use Facility
A request has been made for a conditional use permit to: 1) allow for expansion of an existing automobile sales use onto an adjacent lot; 2) the storage of 12 or more automobiles onsite, and; 3) amend conditions 1, 7, and 10 of a prior approved conditional use permit.
6.3 - Moose Ridge Zoning Map Amendment
A request has been made for a zoning map amendment from Single-Family Residential - 3 Units Per Acre (SF-3) to Single-Family Residential - 8 Units Per Acre (SF-8).
6.4 - AAA Paving Storage Yard
A request has been made for a conditional use permit to allow: a) outdoor storage taller than six feet; and b) operations prior to 6:00 a.m. (4:30 a.m.) along with a major deviation to vary from the 20 percent landscaping requirement.
6.5 - South Meadows Parkway Extension Grading
A request has been made for a major site plan review to allow: 1) hillside development; 2) grading resulting in cuts greater than 20 feet and fills greater than 10 feet in height; and 3) disturbance of a major drainageway to allow the extension of South Meadows Parkway east of its intersection with Rio Wrangler Parkway.
6.6 - Reno Revival Tentative Map
A request has been made for a tentative map to subdivide the existing Reno Revival building (former Harrah’s Reno) and create 33 individual parcels to include commercial/retail, plaza area/landscape, hotel, parking garage, skybridge, central plant/utility, residential, subterranean/basement, and common element parcels. you can find the Staff Report for this one here.
You can find the full agenda and supporting documents here. To register for to view/participate via Zoom, click here. You can provide public comment in person at the meeting or live via Zoom, submit an online public comment form at www.reno.gov/PCPublicComment, or send an email to RenoPlanningCommission@reno.gov.
That’s it for today—please stay cool and hydrated and have a good week, everyone.
Be sure to check out my Citizen Guide for helpful resources and links to help anyone 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.