Lawsuit settlement guaranteed commercial zoning for Walmart

Commercial zoning that paved the way for a Walmart south of Gardnerville was the result of the settlement of a lawsuit between developers and the county..

Signed Feb. 19, 2009, the settlement allows the owners of the Virginia Ranch property to have up to 100 acres of any sort of commercial property they desire.

Sierra Nevada SW Enterprises sued the county in district court on June 27, 2006, challenging conditions that they build Muller Parkway up to state standards and provide access to a neighboring landowner.

Settlement of that lawsuit and one filed by Scottsman and Nevada Northwest in federal court challenging the floodplain ordinance resulted in a single settlement that guaranteed zoning and a variety of other conditions.

"Douglas County agrees that, at the option of SNSW, the Virginia Ranch specific plan may include up to 100 acres of commercially zoned property, in any combination of general commercial, office commercial, neighborhood commercial, mixed-use commercial or tourist commercial."

Approved by county commissioners on Dec. 2, 2004, the original Virginia Ranch consisted of 226 acres with 715 single family homes on 134 acres, 305 multi-family townhomes on 54 acres, a 22-acre commercial area and five acres for industrial use. In order to build on the land, the developer had to transfer development rights.

At the time, representatives of the developers told county commissioners the commercial property would be developed with a Main Street theme, including shared plazas, pedestrian connections and open space.

According to the settlement, Sierra Nevada SW can built all 1,020 units on the 126 acres remaining in the project.

"Notwithstanding the commercial uses set forth in this section, 1,020 dwelling units shall be permitted on land subject to the Virginia Ranch Specific Plan, including additional multi-family units as necessary to maintain the said number of dwelling units," according to court documents. Commissioners approved the settlement agreement, which also added 10 years to the deadline for the developer to fulfill its obligations on Muller Parkway, extended the life of the project approval 30 years, and required county staff to support passage of revisions to the county code to allow for large assisted living facilities on commercially zoned property.

After signing the settlement, a general commercial overlay for Virginia Ranch was approved by the planning commission on April 14 and by county commissioners on May 7.

In its lawsuit, Virginia Ranch's developer said the county tried to impose state standards on the construction of Muller Parkway, even though other portions of the parkway were not required to meet the same standards, which had not been adopted by the county.