Special meeting in Mound House on master plan

MOUND HOUSE -- A special meeting of the Mound House Advisory Council is scheduled for Wednesday for residents to review and comment on a proposed land-use map and master plan goals.

"This will present a little less formal format for the public to comment, plus many residents felt this should have been presented at an advisory council meeting before the public hearings were held," said Mound House Advisory Council Chairman Chuck Roberts. "It is unfortunate the entire plan is not finished, but they can comment on what has been completed to this point."

Last week, at the second of four scheduled public hearings on the land-use plan, more than 70 residents discussed issues with committee members for more than three hours.

When some complained they hadn't had enough time to talk about the plan, Roberts scheduled Wednesday's meeting for 7 p.m. at the Fire Station, 56 Red Rock Road. Call 246-5060.

The next master plan committee hearing will be 7 p.m. March 27 at the Silver City Community Center.

Consultant Greg Evangelatos and committee Chairman Bill Miles said the rights of large property owners had to be taken into consideration when planning land uses.

"Yes, this map is developer driven. One of the big issues people need to understand is the rights of the property owners and the precedence of development allowed to ranch owners abutting their land," Miles told the crowd.

However, Evangelatos stressed the master plan is a guide, and the mechanism for effective development is with the land use controls inherent in county zoning.

He said the plan shows less intense population growth numbers than the previously estimated 50-year build-out population of 70,000.

In the Dayton area, he estimated approximately 12,000 more housing units, increasing the population by another 35,000 to 45,000. Another 9,000 people were projected for the Mound House area.

As at the first hearing two weeks ago in Dayton, residents expressed uneasiness with the large areas designated for medium- and high-density residential lots ranging from two homes per acre to 6,000-square-foot lots in contrast to a lack of area considered for commercial and industrial purposes.

P.D. Kaiser, Mound House resident and former traffic engineer with the Nevada Department of Transportation, expressed concern with increased traffic the residential growth will bring to the Highway 50 corridor. He wondered who would bear the burden of paying for improvements.

"Economics drives everything. Things will change. It is all relevant to what you want," he said. "We will need the infrastructure to take care of it. Lyon County needs some guidelines on how this will get paid for. It should not all be put on property taxes."

Other concerns included the impact the new residential growth would put on the water table, a lack of proposed school locations and no designated responsibility for providing open space.

Evangelatos said the coordination of infrastructure with growth is important and the committee has tried to be as comprehensive as possible with the plan, pointing to buffers around industrial areas and efforts to protect the river corridor.

"It is important to protect property values. We have also tried to not make the same mistakes other communities have made regarding open space. We are working with the BLM."

IF YOU GO:

What: Mound House Advisory Council

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Fire Station, 56 Red Rock Road