Extended-stay permit for RV park near Carson City Airport withdrawn

The Carson City Board of Supervisors on Thursday didn’t hear as planned an appeal of a special use permit (SUP) for an extended stay RV park after the permit applicant withdrew the application.

The SUP, approved by the Planning Commission in December, would have allowed stays of up to 180 days at an RV park under development on land west of the Carson City Airport.

The SUP was appealed by a nearby homeowner and the airport, which joined the appeal at the request of the appellant.

The parcel on Old Hot Springs Road is zoned Tourist Commercial, which allows for 30-day stay RV parks. The SUP was only required because the applicant, Roger Shaheen, wanted to offer 180-day stays.

Presumably, the developer plans to move forward with the park by adhering to the 30-day stay permissible without a special permit.

The proposed park will include 215 RV spaces, a clubhouse, pool, fitness center, store, manager’s residence and other amenities that may include a casino and restaurant.

The appeal was pulled from the board’s agenda, but during public comment at the start of the meeting three neighbors to the park site spoke in opposition to it as it’s currently planned.

“I think an RV park at the west end of the airport is a hazard,” said John Lubich. “It’s a hazard to the people in the park and it’s a hazard to people who live near the park.”

Lubich and others suggested if the park is developed it should include a high sound wall to protect neighbors.

Board takes up liquor licenses

The board introduced on first reading an ordinance making significant changes to the city’s liquor licensing code which have been in the works for two years, said Susan Pansky, special projects planner.

Pansky said the bulk of the changes involve liquor license approvals.

Now, all licenses are approved by the supervisors convened as the Liquor and Entertainment Board.

Amendments would allow routine licenses to be approved by staff with some exceptions coming to the board, including new applications for applicants whose licenses had been revoked previously.

Other changes would exempt liquor wholesalers from background checks and increase the timeframe for penalties from six months to 12 months.

Most of the board discussion revolved around allowing restaurants with liquor licenses and an encroachment permit to serve alcohol to patrons seated outside.

The issue has come up primarily because of downtown construction, which added wider sidewalks and McFadden Plaza.

The city has been drafting an encroachment permit that would allow businesses to take up some of the city right of way for outdoor seating or displays.

Supervisor Lori Bagwell was concerned restaurants with an encroachment permit could serve liquor without an additional fee while similar businesses catering an event, for example, had to pay a special events fee.

“I just want to be fair to all businesses,” said Bagwell.

A hearing of the encroachment ordinance is planned for the next board meeting so Nick Marano, city manager, agreed to place it on the agenda before the second reading of the liquor code changes in order to work out the details where they overlap.

Northgate Complex lease

The board directed staff to work with tenants of Northgate Complex and bring back information on their current leases before the supervisors decide what to do with the complex.

The Northgate Lane property is owned by the city and leased by Capital City Circles Initiative, Retired & Senior Volunteer Program, and Ron Wood Family Resource Center, each for $1 annually.

University of Nevada, Reno Cooperative Extension also is there and its $21,363 lease is paid for paid from the City Cooperative Extension Fund to the General Fund.

But maintenance on the complex costs the city about $25,000 annually.

“If a nonprofit is providing a service less expensively than the city could then it benefits us to provide subsidized space,” said Supervisors Brad Bonkowski. “At the same time, we need to recover some of those maintenance costs.”

The options are to try to sell the complex if the current leases can be terminated, deeding it to one of the non-profits or renegotiating the leases so the tenants take over the cost of maintenance.

In other action

The supervisors also heard an update on the city’s asset management program, under which the city’s 92 buildings have received initial assessments.

The program’s goal is to better plan out maintenance and how to fund it, including how much money to allocate to reserves.

David Bruketta, utility manager, gave an update on the $30 million Water Resource Recover Facility project, which is a year ahead of schedule and should be completed by year end.

The next phase, costing about $9.7 million, will be brought to the board next month for approval to issue a request for proposal.

In other actions, the board awarded Sierra Nevada Construction, Inc. a $259,607 contract for the West William Street Sewer Replacement Project; accepted the cost allocation plan for the fiscal year 2016 for use in preparing the 2018 city budget; and reappointed Donna Inversin and Jeremy Hall and appointed Joanne Michael to the Open Space Advisory Committee.

All the board votes were 4-0 with Mayor Bob Crowell absent.