Old speedway could cost developer

Carson City supervisors could decide Thursday to bill a developer for the cleanup of an abandoned raceway.

Sacramento-based Reynen & Bardis, one of the developers of the Schulz Ranch in south Carson City, owns the property where the remains of the Champion

Speedway are, and received a nuisance notice in early May saying it had to clean up the old stands, boards and dilapidated buildings.

Supervisors could decide at their meeting Thursday to clean up the property then bill the developer for it.

They will also decide whether to extend the deadline for the subdivision's final plans another year, which are due this August.

The city approved the Schulz Ranch project in 2005, the same year the raceway closed after opening 42 years earlier. It is the largest approved but undeveloped subdivision in the city.

According to city staff, by June 26 Reynen & Bardis was supposed to tell the city how it would clean up the property, but the business told them it needed more time to get money from its bank.

One of the other developers of the project, Lennar Communities in Reno, defaulted on a $26 million loan in March that it had taken out for the subdivision.

Supervisors warned a representative for the developer earlier this month that work on the raceway needed to start soon.

"Our decision to deem this property as a (nuisance) includes abandoned structure(s), attractive nuisance, blight, debris, dangerous structure(s) ... garbage, hazardous waste, imminent danger, litter, rubble, unsafe building and unsecured building," Senior Code Enforcement Officer Kevin McCoy said in a May 5 letter to Reynen & Bardis.

Chief Building Official Kevin Gattis said he isn't sure how much it would cost to clean up the raceway, but the city would probably spend less than the developer because it would only remove dangerous parts such as steel bars.

What's clear is that someone needs to clean it up, Supervisor Pete Livermore said, and the city is tired of waiting.

"I want some assurance it's going to be mitigated in a timely fashion," he said. "If not, I'm supporting the city to move forward with the process on its own and bill the property owner."

City staff say delays with the cleanup, however, should not affect whether supervisors give the developer more time to turn in its final plans.

If supervisors don't give Reynen & Bardis an extension, said Planning Director Lee Plemel, it would have to start the expensive and lengthy planning process all over.

Delaying the construction, he said, is "not going to help abate the nuisance."

Representatives for Reynen & Bardis could not be reached for comment.

- Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.