Gardnerville deadlocks on Walmart

Gardnerville Town Board members deadlocked on their review of Walmart after a heated 90-minute discussion tonight.

Board chairman Paul Lindsay was absent from the hearing that packed the Gardnerville Town meeting room.

After presentations on the new design and public comment, board members voted 2-2 with Tom Cook and Mike Philips voting in favor of the review and Jerry Smith and Robin Bernhard opposing it.

New conceptual designs for The Marketplace at Virginia Ranch show 11 separate commercial buildings clustered around the front and west sides of the store, acting as a buffer between Walmart and Highway 395. Ranging in size from 6,500 square feet to 16,600 square feet, the buildings, along with Walmart, put the total commercial square footage of the 24-acre site around 267,216 square feet.

The results from tonight's meeting will be forwarded to Douglas County Community Development, which has until Dec. 11 to make a final decision regarding the proposed design.