A developer’s request for a fire road easement on Tuesday led to a discussion that seemingly pitted public safety against housing in a lengthy portion of the Washoe Board of County Commissioners meeting.
After three failed votes on the agenda item, commissioners agreed 4-1 to send the issue back to county staff to negotiate a plan that would better balance both interests.
SouthWestern Property Corporation owns a 25-acre swath of land on Spectrum Boulevard just south of the Washoe County-owned Regional Public Safety Training Center (RPSTC). It wants to build a 420-unit apartment complex on the site. According to developer Mark Campbell, the complex would include 30 or more senior apartments with longer leases and an annual cap on rent increases.
The City of Reno approved the development in 2017 and again in 2021, but it included a handful of conditions that would require cooperation from the RPSTC partner agencies.
Those conditions required the developer to upgrade the fencing and access gates at the safety center. Also required was draft language in lease documents alerting residents to noise and activities associated with the training center and the nearby SPCA animal shelter. Noise in the area has already been central to one lawsuit pitting the SPCA against Reno Iron Works and their planned facility.
To meet emergency access, evacuation and utility needs, the developer also needs an easement across unused portions of the RPSTC property.
RPSTC’s executive board, which includes the chiefs of Reno’s and Sparks’ fire and police departments, and the Washoe County Sheriff, opposed the project.
In addition to safety concerns – posed by the site’s five firearm ranges, driving courses and other tactical training features – safety officials said the easement road would use land identified for RPSTC expansion. In a letter to commissioners, the board noted plans for a regional K-9 and mounted horse unit training area in the same location as the proposed emergency access road easement.
“Let me be clear…we are not against seniors,” RPSTC chair and Sheriff Darin Balaam said. “The one thing that Mr. Campbell failed to tell the commission, he can build, and I believe you’re all aware of it, 200-plus apartments right now.”
Campbell disagreed.
“It’s a disaster for us right now, quite frankly,” he said. “We’ve spent $7.5 million and we got nothing. Not even a dog park.”
In addition to meeting the requirements the city included in the development permit, Campbell said his company was willing to expand the number of senior-dedicated units at the site and explore affordable housing options. He said his company is already planning to build a sanitary sewer line that would serve the apartment complex and provide enough capacity for a needed expansion at the nearby jail.
Other work that would be part of the project includes fixing the roundabout at the Dandini and Spectrum intersection, constructing a water line included in the Truckee Meadows Water Authority’s master plan, and launching a local nonprofit to support senior and affordable housing.
Commissioner Mike Clark, who had asked for the item to be included on Tuesday’s agenda, said he supported the sheriff, but also saw the benefit of many of the infrastructure improvements the development would bring.
“The Sheriff has got concerns, and legitimate concerns, but at the end of the day you need to look at the big picture,” he said.
Commissioner Jeanne Herman said she also supported public safety but that there may be opportunities that had yet to be considered.
“I think we have a perfect opportunity at this point for the future. It seems to me that the sheriff’s shooting range, and what’s there now…I see it outgrowing that location,” she said. She suggested modifying the plans she’d been working on for an area shooting range to accommodate public safety needs as well.
“We just have a bunch of kinks to work out,” Herman added.
Commissioner Clara Andriola agreed, suggesting that with more negotiation the situation could be a win-win for everyone. She motioned to send the easement discussion back to county staff to negotiate with the developer and RPSTC.
Commissioner Alexis Hill, who said she couldn’t move forward with a yes vote based on verbal agreements, seconded the motion with an amendment that the developer put promises, such as senior housing, in writing.
Commissioners Mariluz Garcia, Herman and Clark voted against the motion.
“The best and highest use of this land, in my opinion, is to preserve and protect it to meet the increasing public safety needs of our growing community,” Garcia said. “Public safety, in my mind, is the most critical part of a healthy community. You cannot learn unless you feel safe. You cannot grow unless you feel safe. You can’t age unless you feel safe. This will impede opportunities for expansion [at the public safety center].”
Following the vote, Clark moved for approval of the easement as proposed with no additional negotiation. That motion also failed to pass with Garcia, Hill and Andriola voting no.
In a third round, Garcia moved to deny the easement, but the motion wasn’t seconded.
“I didn’t agree with it then, but if that’s the only way to go, then now I do agree with it,” Clark said. He made a fourth motion that was the same as Andriola’s first – for county staff to bring in parties for negotiations and written commitments. The motion passed 4-1 with Garcia voting no.
No deadline was set for county staff to complete negotiations. 
