Whether Drayton is built out, or turned into something else like a trail or linear park, is working its way through county staff.
A broad boulevard through one of the Gardnerville Ranchos’ neighborhoods ends abruptly with a two-rail fence and a big reflector in the middle.
Beyond the fence the right of way continues, but whether that will ever be built or what it will look like remains up in the air.
Drayton Boulevard was required to be built as part of the Pleasantview project. Under a development agreement approved by the county in 1990, the 199-unit subdivision and three smaller projects all contributed money to finishing the road from Pleasantview to Rubio Way.
Four years ago, though, members of the Regional Transportation Commission questioned spending $3 million to build soundwalls and the road and voted to recommend removing Drayton from the long range plan. At the time the county had $450,000 budgeted to work on the road.
“The RTC removed Drayton from the long range plan because it didn’t have that much volume using it compared to the cost of constructing it,” County Transportation Engineer Jon Erb said Friday.
On Thursday, during a review of the four development agreements that rely in part on the completion of Drayton, Douglas County commissioners learned staff might be working on a new plan for the never built boulevard.
Community Development Deputy Director Andrea Pawling said building out Drayton was the only thing left to close out Pleasantview. There are still a few homes to build out for the rest of the projects.
She said that there have been meetings between the county engineer and public works to develop a plan to build out some version of Drayton but that is still preliminary.
Gardnerville Ranchos General Improvement District trustee James McKalip told commissioners that the board has been working on a plan to create a second access to the neighborhood that Drayton would otherwise provide.
One suggestion for the county right of way south of Pleasantview is to turn it into some sort of linear Park.
Developer Suzanne Towse told commissioners there was only $6,035 in the account to build Drayton but confirmed the 10-year timeline.
“It says you can build it and put up sound walls whenever you feel like it,” she said.
The agreement requires that the county refund the money it doesn’t build the road 10 years from the date of recording the final map, which occurred in 2019.
“I don’t think that should drive you to build a multi-million road and sound wall,” Towse said.
Commissioners approved the review of the three development agreements.
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