Rick Gunn/Nevada Appeal Frank Longaberger and his wife, Audrey, look out their back fence to an area where a Sierra Pacific substation will be built approximately 51 feet away. The Longabergers and their neighbors are worried about property devaluation, noise and health concerns if the substation is built.
By the time Rick Riendeau found out, the electric company had already spent two years planning to build a high-voltage distribution center behind his neighborhood.
The land was sold and plans were drawn without a public hearing or notice to neighbors. Following outcry over the situation, city officials are now considering changing the rules that allowed the company to make plans without public comment.
"We would have been fighting this from the beginning," Riendeau said. "You can see it from my front porch. Of all the places in Nevada, why there?"
Neighbor Frank Longaberger was one resident who spoke out against Sierra Pacific Power Co.'s plan near Fairview Drive, grabbing the attention of Supervisor Pete Livermore.
"It doesn't make sense to put something like that right in the center of a neighborhood," Longaberger said. "But we didn't have the manpower and dollar signs to back it up."
City ordinance currently allows electrical substations in limited industrial and general industrial areas, even if the area is next to a residential neighborhood creating "friction zones." The electric company only needs to apply for a building permit, eliminating the public hearing process.
Livermore asked for changes that would require a public hearing and planning commission approval in the future. The commission will consider the ordinance at its meeting tonight and final approval would require a vote by the Carson City Board of Supervisors.
"Right now, all (the electrical company) needed to have was a set of engineering plans," Livermore said. "I want to bring some more checks and balances to that. I want planning commissioners to hear from our residents and allow the public to have some control and input."
If changed, the city could attach conditions to address structure heights, landscaping, design and setbacks before the company could build a new facility.
Substations are currently allowed in all residential zoning districts with a special-use permit and that wouldn't change, said senior planner Lee Plemel. The new ordinance would make almost any city location available for substations if a special-use permit were obtained.
Contact Jill Lufrano at jlufrano@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.
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