Public comment sought on city's master plan

Molding concepts with public comments and new ideas, Carson City planners and consultants have come up with three general ways city leaders might steer this town.

Now they're looking to get a little more specific.

Planning officials are set to hold a city-wide public workshop Monday, the third held this year to discuss the city's master plan update.

The three long-range strategies planners have come up with so far include: Compact urban growth, creating urban centers throughout the city and pushing growth outward to undeveloped land around Carson City's urban fringes.

All the scenarios are very general, but Principal Planner Lee Plemel said that will change with Monday's hearing.

"People will have an opportunity to look almost at the property level to see how the land uses might be (under different scenarios)," Plemel said.

The first general idea, compact urban growth, consists of encouraging growth in vacant or underutilized areas within the city's existing urban area. A diverse range of housing types and housing densities would be a major feature of the strategy.

The second alternative would be to build "activity centers" in 10 or so spots throughout Carson City, where businesses and some diverse housing gets built into neighborhoods while the area surrounding the centers would remain much the same.

The third scenario consists of directing new development to vacant land around Carson City's fringes, and could lead to a grab for federal public lands and some hillside development.

Which alternative the city uses to guide the future of Carson City will affect not just land uses but parks, transportation and the city's economics, in different ways, said planning consultant Ben Herman.

City leaders would implement the master plan with new zoning designations, and by letting developers know what kind of building is now welcome in various areas.

So far, the public comments on how Carson City should move into the future have been widely varied, from suggestions to restrict growth to pleas for more apartments and condominiums.

Herman said it has been hard to get a handle on the overall sentiment of the community because the comments have been so wide ranging.

After Monday's 6:30 p.m. meeting at the Carson City Community Center Gym, planners will take two or three weeks to incorporate the comments into the conceptual plans. The plans will then go to elected city officials for votes on which plan to pursue.

n Contact reporter Cory McConnell at cmcconnell@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.

Voice your opinion

What: Envision Carson City community workshop

When: 6:30 p.m. Monday

Where: Carson City Community Center Gym, 851 E. William St.