Reno City Council, news of the Grand Sierra Resort, RSIC, Lear Theater & more

By Alicia Barber

Happy October! You can find the list of this week’s City meetings and links to agendas and associated materials here. Public meetings include the Ward 5 NAB on Tuesday 10/8 at 5:30pm, Reno City Council on Wednesday, 10/9 at 10am (that agenda is online here), and the Historical Resources Commission on Thursday, 10/10 at 4pm. Be sure to check the calendar for other meetings and events of interest to you.

For Reno City Council, I’ll be highlighting Item D.4 related to the Lear Theater/First Church of Christ, Scientist property (501 Riverside Drive). But first, I want to draw your attention to a few recent presentations sure to interest and inform.

Grand Sierra Resort Expansion

As I and others have mentioned before, the Grand Sierra Resort has submitted a Conditional Use Permit application to begin phase one of a major expansion. The first public meeting related to this application took place on October 1 at the Ward 3 NAB meeting, where GSR Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Andrew Diss presented the property’s plans for this and future phases. You can view his presentation on YouTube here and review the accompanying slides in the PDF here.

On a related note, Downtown Makeover recently reported on Item B.2 on Wednesday’s Reno City Council agenda, a permit for the Grand Sierra Resort to operate a new cabaret in its old movie theater space. You can read what he’s learned in “White Rabbit Theater and Lounge coming to GSR” (Downtown Makeover, 10/7/24).

Reno-Sparks Indian Colony planning presentation

While we’re on that side of town, the Planning & Community Development Department of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony (RSIC) was invited by the Reno Planning Commission to deliver a presentation on October 2 about who they are and what they do, and to share some of their current projects, challenges, and concerns.

Delivered by RSIC Planning Department Director Candace Stowell, the presentation is just over 20 minutes long, and I highly encourage everyone to view it here.

The RSIC, which was established in 1917 with just under 20 acres, is in the process of adopting a 2040 Comprehensive Plan. They own trust lands as well as fee lands, and the parcels within Reno city limits that they have purchased outright are subject to the City of Reno’s regulatory authority. The RSIC also has land in other portions of Reno, as well as in Sparks, Verdi, Spanish Springs, and of course, thousands of acres of tribal lands in Hungry Valley. Here’s a draft map of their intended future land uses for the properties on and around the original site.

The RSIC was deeply involved in the creation of the City of Reno’s Truckee River Vision Plan and I’m excited to see the next stages of their plans come to fruition, including improvements to their riverfront properties for enhanced use by RSIC members and the general public.

It would benefit everyone in Reno to learn more about the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, beginning with a visit to their website. Thanks so much to Reno Planning Commissioner Manny Becerra for recommending and helping to coordinate this presentation with the City’s Planning staff, and for drawing my attention to it. The two entities plan to make these presentations annual and to keep the lines of communication open year-round.

Now on to Wednesday’s Reno City Council meeting.

Use of ARPA Funds for Landscaping and Security at the Lear Theater property (501 Riverside Drive)

Item D.4 on the October 9 Reno City Council Agenda pertains to the City’s previously-approved plan to dedicate $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds toward various projects related to the historic First Church of Christ, Scientist building, commonly known as the Lear Theater, and the parcel on which it sits. That amount was intended to fund the commissioning of a Historic Structures Report (in progress now) and several landscaping, maintenance, security, and fencing projects.

I’ve been trying to get an official update on this all day, since the reason this is on the agenda is that it did not appear that the City would be allowed to install their proposed new fence around the property—but that appears to have changed.

Read the rest at the Barber Brief.

The Barber Brief is an independent e-newsletter and blog written by Dr. Alicia Barber on the Substack platform. It is reposted by This Is Reno with her permission.