Buckeye Farms first phase wins conditional OK

A disagreement over whether conditions related to a specific plan should be applied to a 354-home subdivision proposed by Park Ranch Holdings spilled into Tuesday’s planning commission.

Planning commissioners approved the proposal but said that was contingent on the applicant and Community Development staff working out their differences.

The 89-acre parcel located next to Minden Elementary School is the first phase of the 2,310-unit Buckeye Farms development approved on Park property in 2020. The approval included the 190-unit Ashland Park.

Planning Commissioner Maureen Casey was the first to protest receiving volumes of material just before the meeting.

“I’m very unhappy that the planning commission has not had the opportunity to review this,” she said.

Planner Kate Morales-O’Neal said that staff had hoped the applicant would delay the item after its Nov. 27, 2023, submittal.

“The Buckeye project has been a very difficult review,” she said. “We did attempt in mid-December to continue the item to try and get us all on the same page,” she said.  “We felt things still needed to be submitted with the applications based on the general requirements in the specific plan.”

Community Development Director Tom Dallaire was more succinct.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” he said.

One of the issues, representative Keith Ruben said, was that the specific plan was conceptual.

“The specific plan is a high level document for planning, not engineering,” he said. “It was provided to give the concept the developer is planning. There’s a lot of discretion as to what complies with the plan.”

Park attorney Garrett Gordon argued that the project was ready to move forward until two hours before the hearing.

“We received 30 pages of conditions that include many provisions in the plan that we absolutely disagree with,” he said.

The project will still have to go before Douglas County commissioners.

Planning commissioners voted 6-0 to approve the project if staff and the applicant can agree on conditions.

That might have contributed to an agreement to continue the project at the Minden Town Board on Wednesday.

A long-delayed debate for an 85-unit project located on the east side of the Gardnerville Ranchos saw it win a narrow recommendation on Tuesday.

Planning commissioners debated whether the planned development located on 33.2 acres north of Dresslerville and Main River.

Planning Commissioner Dave Nelson recused himself because he owns property next door to the project and instead advocated against it, so the 3-2 vote with Paul Bruno and Casey in opposition was not a glowing endorsement.

Casey said she felt the project didn’t follow the character of the surrounding neighborhood. Other concerns are the effect of increased traffic in the area.