Planning Commission OK’s Lompa Ranch East Side plan

The Planning Commission on Tuesday approved a plan for a large residential development on the east side of Lompa Ranch.

The tentative planned unit development is on 41.6 acres east of Interstate 580 and includes 137 single-family houses, a 3-acre dog park, and 10 acres set aside for a future school. Part of the property is zoned multifamily apartment and the developer is planning a complex of apartments as well, but those weren’t included in the TPUD approval because there was insufficient detail about them, said Hope Sullivan, planning manager. If the project is developed, the apartments would be considered later as part of a major project review by Carson City staff.

The plan — submitted by Rubicon Design Group for The Red Ltd. — was supposed to go before the commission in August, but several issues delayed it.

“There were three things we struggled with at every meeting,” said Sullivan, referring to staff meetings to review the project. “The dog park, stormwater, and traffic.”

Based on a traffic analysis report, staff is recommending roundabouts be installed at three Airport Road intersections — Desatoya Drive, Butti Way, and 5th Street.

The dog park is now planned across Airport Road from the Carson City Animal Shelter, providing public access and parking, but will not be used for stormwater detention.

The developer will have to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to remove it from the floodplain and provide a storm drainage system that will be maintained by a landscape maintenance association or home owners association.

Each housing unit developed will be assessed a $1,000 fee earmarked for the Carson City School District and another $1,000 fee for emergency services, both as a way to help offset the costs of population growth.

In all, there are 81 conditions for approval of the TPUD, many concerning storm drainage.

The vote to approve was 4-2 with Commissioners Paul Esswein and Hope Tingle voting no and Commissioner Charles Borders absent.

It was the last meeting for Esswein and Commissioner Elyse Monroy, whose terms are expiring, and both used the occasion to have a final word.

Monroy said she hoped to see more consideration given to and by the school district for the effect development like Lompa Ranch has on school capacity. And Esswein focused on land.

“Engineers can do a lot of things. I am opposed to the idea that just because you can fill a wetlands or get rid of a floodplain that you should do it,” he said. “I don’t think it’s good public policy in the long run to eliminate a floodplain because you can move that water somewhere else.”

The commission also approved a two-year extension on a special use permit for a proposed apartment project on G.S. Richards Boulevard, and an SUP for the Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center expansion project, and recommended to the Board of Supervisors the abandonment of 170 square feet of right-of-way adjacent to the former Jack’s Bar at Carson and 5th streets, and a zoning map amendment for commercial property on Carson Street at Hot Springs Road.