Possible new city ordinances governing ADUs and trespassing near the railroad, and much more on tap for the week of July 29, 2024
This week’s City meetings concern a wide array of actions with potentially far-reaching implications. The full calendar can be found on the Current and Upcoming Meetings page here, and I’ll be specifically highlighting three of them:
- Monday, July 29 at 12pm: Concurrent Meeting of the Reno City Charter Committee and Reno City Council
- Tuesday, July 30 at 2:30pm: Capital Projects Surcharge Advisory Committee
- Wednesday, July 31 at 10am: Reno City Council & Redevelopment Agency Board
Let’s start with Monday’s concurrent meeting.
Should Reno’s City Charter be changed?
As I mentioned last week, Council is considering several Bill Draft Requests to forward to the State Legislature by September 1, and this week gives us the opportunity to view the deliberations of two committees where some of the options originated. For more on the preliminary discussions of all of them at last week’s Council meeting, please read “City council mulls changes to its charter, tax revenues through state legislation” (Kelsey Penrose, This is Reno, July 26, 2024).
One set of possible requests pertains to the City Charter, and the Reno City Council and Reno City Charter Committee will meet concurrently on Monday, July 29th to discuss them. Here are the final Charter recommendations forwarded to Council:
- 2024-001: Requires that City Council declare a special election to fill a vacated Council seat if there are more than 180 days until the next general municipal election
- 2024-002: Changes the terms of the Charter Committee members who are appointed by the legislature to align with the terms of an individual officeholder
- 2024-003: Requires that the City Manager reside in the City of Reno no later than six months after the date of his or her appointment
- 2024-004: Eliminates gendered language throughout the Reno City Charter
Several City Councilmembers expressed their preliminary thoughts about some of these in the July 24 meeting, and on the 29th they can engage in conversation with those who recommended them. You can access the agenda, staff report, and associated materials here and participate either in person in Council Chambers or virtually by registering at https://links.reno.gov/CityCharter07-29-24.
Should funding for downtown public facilities be augmented by charging hotel guests more, or charging more guests at more hotels?
Another Bill Draft Request being considered by Council would involve making changes to the Capital Projects Surcharge Fee. The Capital Projects Surcharge Advisory Committee is meeting on Tuesday, July 30th at 2:30pm to discuss that possibility, among other topics. You can attend the meeting in the 7th floor Caucus Room at City Hall or via Zoom by preregistering at https://links.reno.gov/07-30-24.
I feel like this topic has the potential to be easily dismissed because it might not seem that relevant to most residents. But if you care about the revitalization of the old casino core, you should be paying attention to this committee, because their deliberations and recommendations to Council involve some of downtown Reno’s most poorly-performing and least active buildings—those that the City itself owns—the National Bowling Stadium, Reno Events Center, and Downtown Reno Ballroom.
Due to its narrow scope, this committee is composed of three City Councilmembers (currently Mayor Schieve and Councilmembers Reese and Martinez) and reps from Caesars Entertainment/The ROW (Bryan Carano) and Jacobs Entertainment (Jonathan Boulware), the only two entities whose hotel guests currently pay these fees.
Read the rest at The Barber Brief.
