County approves 20-year update to master plan

The 20-year update to the Douglas County Master Plan was approved by Douglas County commissioners 4-1 on Wednesday afternoon.

Commissioners were expected to spend three days working on the plan, but with Wednesday afternoon's action, those other meetings have been cancelled.

Commissioner Dave Nelson was the sole vote against, saying his constituents in the Gardnerville Ranchos didn’t feel they’d received their due in the plan.

Ranchos residents prepared a community element for the plan that included a pedestrian trail between the Ranchos and Gardnerville, most of which would be outside of its boundaries.

Among policies suggested by the Ranchos are those that would implement rules for signs to reduce visual blight through regulations on size, style and location. Other suggestions included implementing county code to limit the number of vehicles allowed at a home and regulating storage of nonoperational vehicles.

Planning Commission Chairman Kirk Walder said that some of the suggestions from the Ranchos exceeded the district’s purview.

“All the general improvement districts have specific mandates and in some cases it included information outside of that,” Walder said. “We didn’t feel it was appropriate to include it in the documents because the board of commissioners has not had an opportunity to review it.”

First approved in 1997, the plan was updated three times, including 2011, before the county balked at approving a 20-year update in early 2018.