Hearing for controversial Vintage project delayed

Vintage at Kings Canyon, the controversial westside development approved in 2016 but stalled since, is delayed again.

The planned unit development was scheduled to go before the Planning Commission on Nov. 28, but the action on the agenda item is to continue the request to a date uncertain.

The project has changed hands and new developer Infobrij Manager LLC is asking for revisions, including making the PUD’s roads public, cutting through two existing cul de sacs on the north and south sides of the property for additional access, and reordering the phases of construction so the assisted living facilities are built last.

The 78-acre project includes 128 assisted-living units and 32 independent-living units in two buildings, and 197 single-family houses, based on lots line adjustments requested by the new developer that reduce the project by 15 lots.

“The PUD ordinance says that the process provides security to the community that they will get what they see. This amendment request violates that principle, as well as containing several specific requests that are inappropriate and unsuitable for the local community,” said Maxine Nietz, a homeowner near the proposed development who led the public charge against the project when it was initially vetted in 2016.

The item to continue the Vintage amendment request will be heard during the evening session of the commission’s Nov. 28 meeting. The packed agenda is divided into two sessions, one starting at 9 a.m., and another beginning at the usual 5 p.m. start time.

In the morning, the commission will hear a request for an extension on the special use permit for Bodines Casino in NorthTowne Plaza. Like Vintage, Bodines North has stalled since being approved in late 2016, and it, too, faced public opposition, but primarily from other casino owners.

The Carson Nugget Casino Hotel, Casino Fandango, Gold Dust West Casino Hotel, Max Casino and SlotWorld Casino hired an attorney, Garrett Gordon with Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP, who said the project didn’t comply with the city’s master plan, which states casino development should be concentrated downtown and in properties that would attract visitors to the city. Mike Pegram, Bodines owner, acquired the former Horseshoe Club unrestricted gaming license, which means Bodines North could be operated without 100 hotel rooms as now required by municipal code.

The commission will also vote whether to recommend the city rezone a 119-acre site neat Deer Run Road and Highway 50 from general industrial to single family 6,000 on 68.3 acres, multifamily apartment on 18 acres, general commercial on 13.9 acres, and public regional on approximately 18.9 acres. In a related item, the commission will vote whether to recommend a tentative subdivision map to create 270 single-family residential lots, nine common area parcels, three remainder parcels, and approximately 13.36 acres of right-of-way within a 119.1 acre project area.

A master plan amendment already changed the property from industrial to mixed-use residential. The land was originally planned for an extension of the V&T Railroad, but the recession hit and the railway’s plans scaled back. Also, 15 acres are the site of a former landfill and the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection has weighed in with a list of remedial actions.

In the evening, the commission will first hear another zoning map amendment for property on Cochise Street, near other commercial development in that growing area off South Carson Street just north of Highway 50 west.

This request is to rezone five parcels — some zoned single-family one acre and others split-zoned retail commercial and residential — to retail commercial. That request is similar to a recent application in the same area, which drew opposition from nearby homeowners.

The applicants, property owners Steve Dontcho and Robert French represented by Places Consulting Services Inc., is proposing building nine buildings for a total of 143 apartments, which are allowed in retail commercial with a special use permit.

Then the commission will vote whether to continue the Vintage application, a request made by the applicant.

The Planning Commission meeting is Nov. 28 at 9 a.m. with eight items, then a break until it reconvenes at 5 p.m. The commission meets in the Sierra Room, Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St.