Things were quiet at the Painted Rock Mine just before lunch on Monday.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
A trio of controversies from Johnson Lane to the Gardnerville Ranchos are on the menu in different venues on Thursday.
Johnson Lane residents are conducting a community meeting to explore their options for preventing gravel trucks from driving through the community.
The group is meeting 6-8 p.m. Thursday at Lifepoint Church Building B.
The Painted Rock Mine has been the subject of four years of protests from neighbors against Knox Excavation’s proposal to mine the site on tribal allotment land. Under the agreement approved Oct. 3, Knox would pay the county a half-percent of its gross sales during the first five years and then 0.3 percent after that.
Residents protesting the deal argued that county commissioners could prevent Knox trucks from using Johnson Lane, forcing the company to find another route.
Further south, Park Ranch Holdings’ David Park is seeking an injunction to prevent the county from working on Muller Lane Parkway.
Park appeared before the Douglas County Water Conveyance Advisory Committee last week to prevent approval of a plan to begin work on the parkway.
A hearing for the injunction is scheduled for Thursday in Douglas County District Court.
Park argued that the county didn’t provide for sufficient drainage for the road and that work would encroach on his property.
“They screwed up big time trying to come in here and convince you guys everything is OK and it’s not,” he told the conveyance committee members.
The county approved transferring development rights from Sleeping Elephant Ranch across from Topaz Ranch Estates to Park land located north of Minden and Gardnerville.
In exchange the county received the right of way for Muller Lane Parkway.
However, the county and the developers of Ashland Park north of Toler have been engaged in litigation over cost sharing for the segment of the parkway next door.
The delay in construction prompted Ashland Park developers to seek a change in their phasing plan that could send additional traffic through Chichester Estates.
Gardnerville Town Board members voted not to recommend the change, but acknowledged they had very little control over what would eventually happen.
A trial in the lawsuit is scheduled to take place in April 2025, just eight months before the county’s deadline to build the road.
Also on Thursday, Douglas County commissioners are scheduled to discuss a potential settlement with the developer of what is now an 85-unit subdivision 32.2 acres off Long Valley and Dresslerville.
Commissioners denied a previous development 3-2 at the site in March after residents turned out against it. Developer Keith Serpa’s Ranchos LLC then filed two lawsuits against the county that are presently pending in district court.
As part of the settlement, the developer would pay $60,000 for safety enhancements on Riverview Drive and drop the legal action.
In exchange, county commissioners would approve a zone change from 8,000 square foot lots to 12,000 square foot lots with a planned development overlay.
Commissioners are scheduled to meet 10 a.m. Thursday at the Carson Valley Inn in Minden.
