County has a lot of leeway on permits

A three-member panel of the Nevada Supreme Court confirmed last week that a decision on a special use permit remains firmly in the discretion of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners.

The only apparent standard is that the board hear substantial evidence in the process of making their decision.

There’s a possibility that Carson Valley Meats owner Karin Sinclair will appeal last week’s decision to the entire court, but with three votes already against, it’s unlikely that will change the result.

The hours of testimony and witnesses on both sides of the November 2019 debate on whether to allow Sinclair to establish a meat processing plant at Centerville were sufficient to convince three-sevenths of the high court that commissioners’ decision was neither arbitrary nor capricious.

Certainly, Sinclair has been aggressive in challenging that decision, but with a ruling from the justices, we’re hoping to put that issue to bed.

With an appeal of her permit in Carson City, we know everyone is looking to the Douglas decision to determine their odds of success in court.

We would remind people that if Douglas commissioners had approved Sinclair’s permit, that approval would be just as legally defensible as the denial was, at least according to the Supreme Court.

That confirms to us that a special use permit is just that … special.

The whole system is designed to determine whether a particular use fits its surroundings. When Park Ranch Holdings received its permit for a meat processing plant north of Minden, there was nary a peep of opposition, and the plant was located in the middle of a working ranch.

Planning and county commissioners have a great deal of leeway in deciding their approval, as long as they receive substantial evidence to back up their decision, according to the highest court in the state.