South Carson residents oppose subdivision

A planned 500-home subdivision in South Carson City has surrounding property owners ready to fight to keep their neighborhood just the way it is.

Sacramento development company Reynen and Bardis and Barker Coleman Communities of Sparks are proposing a change to land use on 150 acres surrounding Racetrack Road - including Champion Speedway - that would limit development to single-family subdivisions on 6,000 square-foot parcels.

Approximately 40 homeowners were on hand at an information-gathering workshop Tuesday night at Fremont Elementary School to present Carson City Principal Planner Lee Plemel and developers with their questions and criticisms of the project.

Land in the area is now zoned for one-acre parcels, and homeowners asserted they will fight to retain current one-acre zoning and discourage developers from moving forward with their plans.

Homeowners fear the subdivision will bring overcrowding, traffic and crime to their sparsely populated ranch-style neighborhood.

Several homeowners own horses and livestock, and predict increased traffic from the proposed high-density housing will eradicate the wide-open spaces they need for horseback riding north of the proposed subdivision.

"Where am I going to ride my horses?" asked Saddlehorn Road resident Juli McKean, who lives near Topsy Lane at the entrance to the proposed subdivisions, where Reynen and Bardis would like to build a five-lane road.

Reynen and Bardis representative Melissa Lindell said the planned two-story, "high-quality" homes have an estimated value of up to $300,000 each and would be connected to the city's water and sewer system.

The project proposal has not yet been reviewed by the Carson City Planning Commission or the Carson City Board of Supervisors.

The development would eliminate the Champion Speedway racetrack, recently bought by Barker Coleman Communities.

Though the city has received numerous noise complaints about the racetrack in past years, residents at Tuesday's night's meeting said they preferred the racetrack over high-density housing.

"We've gotta stop this right now," said Schulz Road resident Rich Wontorski. "We don't want this to become a mini-Las Vegas."

Another resident said the 500 homes would crowd local schools, while another resident said the group should retain an attorney in their fight against the project.

"One acre per person is how it is and how it should be," said one elderly man, hardly audible through the emotionally charged mutterings throughout the room.

Plemel said the project is a purely developer-driven project, and the planning division has no part in the approval process. It is ultimately up to the Carson City Board of Supervisors to either approve or shoot down the proposed zoning change and high-density subdivisions.

"It is obvious there are some serious issues that need to be addressed," Plemel said.

Public comments will be forwarded to the Carson City Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors, and the city board will hold a series of public hearings where it will review the application.

Contact reporter Robyn Moormeister at rmoormeister @nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.

If you go

What: Public forum

When: 3:30 p.m. Jan. 26

Where: The meeting of the Carson City Planning Commission in the Sierra Room of the Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St.

Call: Questions regarding the proposed zoning change and development, call the Carson City Planning Department at 887-2188.