Plus updates on the Truckee River Vision Plan and Keystone Avenue Bridge project
By Alicia Barber, PhD
Of course we’re all abuzz about national politics right now, but much at the local level is also deserving of your attention. You can find this week’s calendar of the City of Reno’s Current and Upcoming Meetings and links to their agendas here.
Reno City Council is back from their summer hiatus and will meet this Wednesday, July 24. You can view their full agenda here, so be sure to skim through it for items of interest to you. It kicks off with one of the longest Consent Agendas I’ve ever seen, containing 49 items. As usual, many (B.1 through B. 27) involve the granting or renewal of privileged business licenses, including those being reviewed for compliance with annual “Safe Scape” inspections, plus contract awards and more.
As usual, I’ll be highlighting some items with connections to development. So let’s jump right in.
D.1 – Presentation and discussion related to maintenance and operations impacts adjacent to railroads and potential direction to staff to introduce a new ordinance to the Reno Municipal Code (RMC) prohibiting encroaching within 100 feet of a railroad.
You can view the staff report here and a map of City-owned and ReTRAC parcels in the area of concern here. The report states that such an ordinance “will help ease maintenance access, reduce repair costs, reduce stormwater collection system interference, and ensure emergencies are addressed swiftly and without delays.” This is just at an early stage, with staff requesting direction and input from Council.
D. 3 – Presentation, discussion, and potential direction to staff regarding bill draft requests (BDRs) for the 83rd (2025) Session of the Nevada Legislature.
You can read the Staff Report for this item here, and I highly recommend that you do, because it provides valuable early insight into how Council will determine what potential changes they’d like to see in state legislation that affects City operations. The City can submit up to two bill draft requests (BDRs) per legislative session, and under this item, Council will review some options put forth by Councilmembers, City staff and the Reno City Charter Committee. They have to submit their final requests to the Legislative Council Bureau (LCB) by September 1.
Staff is presenting five potential Bill Draft Requests on five different topics:
BDR24-001: Changes to the Reno City Charter
The Reno City Charter Committee is proposing four amendments:
- 2024-001: Requires that City Council declare a special election to fill a vacant 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
BDR24-002: Changes to the residential construction tax (RCT)
These changes pertain to NRS 278.4983 – 278.4987 and would include:
- Raising the statutory cap – currently capped at $1,000 per unit
- Allowing for cities/counties to consolidate districts to create one singular district for future use
- Remove the 25-acre limit for parks created with RCT funding
BDR24-003: Changes to the Capital Surcharge Fund
These changes pertain to NRS 268.798 and would include the following:
- Increase the surcharge amount per room night (currently limited to $2)
- Place a limitation on how often or by how much the surcharge can be increased
- Expand the district to include hotels that do not hold a nonrestricted gaming license
BDR24-004: Support the creation of a State of Nevada fund to replenish the costs of waiving fees for impact fees, building, sewer, and/or enterprise fees for the provision of affordable housing (NRS 278.235)
BDR24-005: Update on discussions related to a funding mechanism for the regionalization or consolidation of fire departments in the Truckee Meadows
As the Staff Report for item D.3 indicates, Council may select or amend any of these ideas to submit to the state for drafting, but they are not limited to discussing or selecting from these options, and may direct staff to find alternative sponsors. Council may also direct the City’s government affairs team “to spend time focusing on other priority issues, such as housing, that are anticipated to be addressed through various bills sponsored by other stakeholders.”
The report also explains that in addition to BDRs, “Council will adopt a policy platform to give guidance to staff as to the City’s interest in potential legislation on various topics and policy issues,” to be drafted in the coming months.
These options cover a wide swath of topics and could have sweeping implications for various entities, residents, businesses, and the constitution of City Council itself, so if you have opinions or preferences regarding any of these options, definitely weigh in on this agenda item and/or tune in on Wednesday.
F.1 and F. 2 – Ordinances relating to the annexation and rezoning of the Valley View Estates development and adoption of a Planned Unit Development (PUD) handbook
Click on the following links to view the Staff Reports for items F.1 and F.2 and follow the links on the main agenda to view the ordinances and PUD handbook.
F. 3 – Ordinance Adoption – Bill No. 7272 LDC24-00044 (Riverside SPD)
This is the second reading to adopt the ordinance governing the development site just beyond the western terminus of Riverside Drive, adjacent to the Booth Street bridge. You can read the staff report here which indicates a few revisions to the handbook.
F. 4 – Ordinance Adoption – Bill No. 7273 Case No. TXT24-00001
This agenda item constitutes the second reading of the ordinance to adopt the Title 18 Affordable Housing Initiatives as introduced at the June 12, 2024 Council meeting. The Staff Report, available here, summarizes prior actions and the process that led to the final language, which you can read here.
I. 1 – Case No. MUP24-00010 (Mater Academy)
Item I.1 (that’s I as in Idaho and the number one) is a public hearing to consider appeals of the Administrator’s decision to approve a request for a minor conditional use permit to allow for the development of a new primary/secondary (K-12) school campus, adjacent to a residential zoning district.
There’s been a lot of public discussion of this item, involving a new site for the expansion of a public charter school called the Mater Academy of Northern Nevada. You can read some background from the Nevada Current here, and the Nevada Independent here, and a number of opinion pieces expressing various positions published in the Reno Gazette-Journal here.
As the Staff Report explains:
“The subject site, located in the North Valleys, is vacant and includes split zoning (SF-3 and General Commercial). Primary and secondary schools are permitted within the subject zoning districts with the approval of an MUP [Minor Conditional Use Permit]. Five appeals against the Administrator’s decision have been filed. Council may affirm, modify, or reverse the decision of the Administrator.”
Appeals of the June 3 decision by City staff to approve this permit were filed by five entities: two individuals plus representatives of the Washoe County School District, Washoe Education Association, and Nevada State Education Association.
The Staff Report explains the process by which the permit was approved, including review “by various City divisions and partner agencies,” and outlines the criteria and considerations related to that permit approval and any subsequent actions related to it. There are quite a few supplementary materials related to this item, including the comprehensive June 3 decision letter from the City, the appeals, public comments, and more, and you can access all of those under item I.1 on the agenda.
If you would like to comment on any of these or other agenda items for the July 24 Reno City Council meeting, you can submit a “Request to Speak” form to the City Clerk if attending in person. You can also submit an online public comment form at Reno.Gov/PublicComment; send an email to [email protected]; leave a voicemail at 775-393-4499; or 4) register to participate via Zoom at https://links.reno.gov/Council07-24. Be sure to know the agenda item of interest.
Read the complete article over at The Barber Brief.
