Silver City residents object to Comstock Mining proposals

Silver City’s Town Advisory Board has spurned zoning changes proposed by Comstock Mining, urging the Lyon County Planning Commission to do the same.

The board voted without dissent to recommend the county planning unit reject applications from the mining company for a county master plan amendment and a reversion-to-acreage bid, according to a news release from the Comstock Residents Association, which said Silver City was drawing a line in the sand.

The situation also sparked petition signatures, which a residents association representative presented to the town board. The release said it was signed by three-quarters of Silver City’s registered voters and reflected opposition to the miner’s applications.

The petition, according to the residents association, said Silver City residents “fully agree with the Lyon County Master Plan” because it promotes “a balance of residential and commercial land uses appropriate for the preservation of the character of Silver City.”

Opponents charge the mining firm seeks to change more than four decades of consistent suburban residential use to allow for industrial uses, including open-pit mining in Lyon County neighborhoods.

Erich Obermayer, town board chair, issued a prepared statement saying the mining company’s applications were disingenuous and neither straightforward nor persuasive, according to the release, claiming they “glossed over the end game of the open pit mine in a residential area.” The release said the issue moves to the county planning unit next Tuesday.