Builders look for one more chance for Schulz Ranch project

A proposed housing development in South Carson City that failed to gain approval by planning commissioners last month faces a last-ditch effort in front of city supervisors Thursday.

The plan for 475 to 525 homes on up to 150 acres near Racetrack Road and Schulz Way has faced opposition from nearby residents who live on one-acre lots and don't want the area to lose its rural atmosphere. It has gained support from other Carson City residents and planning officials who say the area is ripe for development with much-needed housing.

According to the city, large commercial and residential building is already planned for neighboring land just over the Douglas County line.

A zoning change sought by developers required a super-majority of five votes from the seven-member planning commission because it would have amended the city's master plan. City staff strongly supported the zoning change, but approval fell one vote short. One commissioner was absent.

While most residents of the South Carson City neighborhood continued their strong opposition to the development at last month's commission meeting, a small number said development company Reynen and Bardis had made enough compromises in its original plan to pass muster.

Some residents even requested the zoning change be extended to their property so they could subdivide if they wished.

Property owner Don Schulz, whose family settled the land in the 1870s, also spoke in support of the development.

Representatives from the Washo Tribe, who had been absent from earlier public hearings on the proposed subdivision, attended the April 27 meeting to raise a slew of environmental issues, including concerns that a development would contribute to the spector of urban sprawl and damage the Clear Creek watershed, and that the property is in a flood plain.

Carson City Principal Planner Lee Plemel said the northeast corner of the vacant land is in a flood plain, but that section isn't being developed. Also, he said, a development that injures the watershed wouldn't be accepted by the city.

"With the more specific development plan, that all has to be addressed," Plemel said.

While the development, which would be build out over three to five years, failed to gain a recommendation from city planning commissioners, the Board of Supervisors could still pass it. They could also vote it down, pass a different version of the original measure, or send the matter back to the Planning Commission.

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

If you go

What: Carson City Board of Supervisors' meeting

When: 1:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: Sierra Room of the Community Center, 851 E. William St.