The Truckee Meadows Lands Bill faced sharp criticism yesterday as dozens of people spoke against the project.
Many cited lack of clarity about what the lands bill actually entails and what will happen next. They criticized local officials presenting information about the bill and then took three hours offering various points of criticism.
Concerns included lack of water, property allegedly being turned over from federal governments to local developers and impacts on ranching, mining and wildlife.
“No one’s identified where the water’s coming from,” said Norman Harry.
More than 100 people — Washoe County did not have an exact headcount — packed a room at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center to air concerns, sometimes yelling at officials. About five spoke in favor of the lands bill.
Next steps remain unclear. An initial deadline of June for the bill to head to Congress appears ambitious and unlikely.
“We will need to process all of the feedback we received to determine the best next steps,” said County spokesperson Amy Ventetuolo.
She said updates would be posted on the landsbill.org website. Watch the video for more about what people said at the meeting.
