Supervisors to consider Lompa Ranch homes Thursday

After getting thumbs up from the Carson City Planning Commission in July, developers of a housing project in central Carson are heading to the Board of Supervisors.

Supervisors meet 8:30 a.m. Thursday in the community center and will consider a tentative subdivision map known as Blackstone Ranch Phase 2 for the Lompa Ranch North Specific Plan Area. The subdivision map would create 204 single-family lots between East Robinson Street and East Fifth Street, southeast of Carson High and west of I-580. The approximately 58.52-acre property is zoned single-family 6,000 and multifamily duplex, and the minimum lot size for the project would be 6,000 square feet. A new road, Matterhorn Drive, would connect Robinson and Fifth streets.

Planning commissioners approved the project in July on a 5-0 vote with two commissioners absent. Planning also recommended the zoning for a 10-acre parcel and 3-acre parcel be changed to public neighborhood to support public park sites, something supervisors will also consider.

Founded in 1936, the Lompa Ranch bears the name of Simone “Sam” and Eva Lompa, who had Swiss-Italian roots. They raised dairy cows and sheep on more than 800 acres, which eventually became about 400 acres as the city grew around the property. The couple farmed through the Great Depression and World War II while raising three children. Sam died in 1969, and Eva died in 2003.

In 2006, the property was included in the Carson City Master Plan as an area to be developed with mixed residential and commercial use. In 2016, supervisors adopted the Lompa Ranch North Specific Plan outlining development for approximately 251 acres on both sides of I-580 north of East Fifth Street.

At July’s planning commission meeting, Ryder Homes Vice President Steve Thomsen, the applicant representing the Blackstone project, said phase 2 would itself be phased and could take up to seven years to build out.

In other action:

• Supervisors will consider an interlocal agreement with Storey County in which the county would use Carson City’s office of public defender, which was created in June following a staffing shortage of public defenders at the state level.

According to the contract, CCPD would provide primary indigent defense services and representation of indigent juveniles in Storey County from Aug. 18, 2023, to June 30, 2025, with automatic one-year renewals until June 30, 2035. For this year, Storey County would pay Carson a flat fee of $196,648.17, and $216,243.57 for the following year.

“Storey County is now experiencing similar issues with the SPD (Nevada State Public Defender’s Office) and has determined that Storey County’s current Indigent Defense Services Plan requiring the SPD to provide primary indigent defense representation is no longer feasible for several reasons, including a critical staffing shortage, budget constraints and the inability to provide the level of representation required by the Sixth Amendment,” reads the staff report.

CCPD could handle the interlocal agreement, according to the city manager’s office.

“The CCPD has indicated that they would have the capacity to provide primary indigent defense services to Storey County with the addition of one Supervising Deputy Public Defender position allocated approximately 75 percent to Storey County and a part-time office specialist position allocated 100 percent to Storey County,” reads the report. “In addition, Storey County will fund approximately 30 percent of a current CCPD investigator position and a portion of other operating expenses needed to provide these services.”

• Carson City Human Resources will provide an annual report on employment to help foster goals of the city’s strategic plan.

According to the annual report, the city has 649 full-time employees, 275 part-time employees and 12 elected officials. Public Works and the Carson City Sheriff’s Office have the most full-time employees at 157 and 149, respectively. Many employees, 55.9 percent, have been with the city for five years or less. Approximately 49.3 percent of the city’s workforce lives in the city.

The full-time employee turnover rate for fiscal year 2023 was 18.5 percent, according to the report.

• Supervisors will consider a new policy for public electric vehicle charging stations on city-owned property or right of way.

A new fee schedule would include rates of $1 per hour for the first four hours on a 240-volt, level 2 charger and $5 an hour after that as a loitering fee. For DC fast chargers, level 3, the fee would be $4 an hour for the first two hours and $10 an hour after that as a loitering fee.

“Electric vehicles charging on stations on city-owned property or right of way are currently not charged a fee to charge their vehicle,” reads a business impact statement. “Electric vehicles are also not contributing to the maintenance of the city’s roads as they do not pay a gasoline or diesel tax.”