Carson City boards discuss development standards

Thursday will be a formative day in Carson City as the Board of Supervisors have two meetings scheduled and more than one item dealing with the future of development in the city.

A joint meeting of the Carson City Board of Supervisors and Carson City Planning Commission is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the community center and will focus on revising the city’s development standards in Carson City Municipal Code Title 18.

Supervisors and planning commissioners have been working with the Community Development Department and the District Attorney’s Office to update Title 18. A joint meeting in March focused on zoning code.

“The board has adopted ‘Development Standards’ which provide for minimum design specifications for the development of such items as, but not limited to, subdivisions, streets, drainage, utilities, erosion control, fire protection, lighting, landscaping, parking, etc.” reads CCMC 18.16.005. “These development standards must be utilized in the design and improvements for all divisions of land, and the city engineer and the director shall insure that the applicant or developer is in compliance with the development standards.”

According to a staff report, the joint meeting will give commissioners and supervisors the opportunity to review a “working draft” of the update that includes amendments proposed by city staff. The draft is currently over 500 pages. Supervisors and commissioners are expected to direct staff on revisions “for the purpose of preparing an ordinance for future consideration.”

This future ordinance would include previous updates of Title 18 zoning code as well, according to Community Development. However, one part of the current development standards will be reviewed separately in the future.

“Because the development standards governing the use of signs in the city, as codified in CCMC Title 18 Appendix Division 4, are complex and may require extensive legal analyses relating to the regulation of commercial speech, those provisions are not included for this discussion and will instead be brought forward at a later date for separate consideration,” reads the staff report.

The current proposed revisions can be found online: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/2228068/Carson_City_Development_Standards_2023_Draft_Revisions_PDF.pdf.

Beside development details, supervisors will be asked to begin the update of the city’s Master Plan. At their regular meeting, which starts at 8:30 a.m. Thursday in the community center, supervisors will consider hiring an outside firm to update the Carson City Master Plan as called for in the city’s strategic plan.

Supervisors will review a contract with Clarion and Associates for a total not-to-exceed amount of $199,871.

According to a staff report, three proposals were received over the summer, and Clarion was selected based on “qualifications, project experience, technical capacity and project approach.”

“Carson City’s Master Plan was adopted on April 6, 2006,” reads the report. “In the intervening 17 years, the Master Plan has served as the guide for land development in Carson City. During these 17 years, the freeway has been built and opened, significant infrastructure improvements have occurred in the downtown area and on South Carson Street, the Schulz Ranch Specific Plan area has been built out and building has begun in the Lompa Ranch Specific Plan area.

“The Master Plan update will be an opportunity to engage the community, including major employers and property owners, confirm or refine the city’s overarching vision and goals for the future, update background data, review build out assumptions, identify policy weaknesses or gaps and bring the Master Plan into alignment with recent and ongoing efforts. At the conclusion of the 18-month process, the city will have an updated Master Plan that will serve as the guiding document for future land development in the city.”

In other action:

• Supervisors will consider authorizing a grant application by the Carson City Fire Department asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Forest Service) for a roughly $4.5 million Community Wildfire Defense Grant.

According to a staff report, the grant would be used for wildfire prevention in southeast Carson including the Prison Hill Recreation Area. If the grant is awarded, “CCFD would be able to staff a new wildland hand crew (three full-time and 10 part-time seasonal employees) and a full-time grant analyst,” reads the report.

A 25 percent match may be required, though CCFD is seeking a cost-share waiver.

“As a result of the catastrophic July 2004 Waterfall fire, CCFD has primarily focused on hazardous fuels mitigation projects located on the western side of Carson City’s wildland urban interface,” reads the report.

The updated Carson City Community Wildfire Protection Plan, approved by supervisors in September, enables the city to seek such grant funding.

“To ensure that CCFD can manage the risk and threat of wildfires in and around all of Carson City, CCFD has identified various grant funding sources available and will begin seeking out increased funding by applying for this grant,” reads the report.

• Supervisors will consider the first reading of a new ordinance amending Carson City Municipal Code 12.09 related to flood damage prevention.

The changes would be minor, according to a staff report, but would ensure the city maintains its Community Rating System (CRS) Class 6 rating.

“Carson City is a participant in both the NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program) and the CRS,” reads the report. “Participation in the NFIP requires Carson City to adopt and enforce minimum floodplain management regulations to provide opportunities for property owners, renters and businesses to obtain flood insurance and receive federal disaster assistance. The CRS is a program that supports the NFIP by providing incentives to communities that adopt and enforce floodplain management regulations that exceed the minimum requirements of the NFIP.

“The CRS program provides a discount to flood insurance policyholders, in the form of a premium reduction, depending on their community’s rating.”

For example, the city’s current Class 6 rating provides a 20 percent reduction in insurance premiums for those in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) as well as a 10 percent reduction for properties in other flood zones, according to city staff.

Proposed revisions to the code can be found online: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/2220604/Draft_Ord_re_Revised_Flood_Mgmt_Ord__First_Read__Clean.pdf.

• Supervisors will be asked to review a number of grants awarded to Carson City Health and Human Services.

The city is asking that a $749,634 grant from Nevada Department of Health and Human Services be used to add five full-time and one part-time grant-funded positions. The positions range from a data analyst to a part-time vector control technician. The funding would also be used for existing positions including nurses.

“The purpose of the grant is to support CCHHS in recruiting, hiring and retaining public health workers to address growing community health needs in the quad-county region,” reads a staff report.

Supervisors will also consider accepting a roughly $1.3 million state grant for reproductive health services. The grant funding is effective through 2026.

“This funding will allow each organization to continue providing essential family planning; reproductive health services; breast and cervical cancer screenings; preventive health care; and sexually transmitted Infection control, prevention and treatment,” reads a notice from Nevada DHHS. “There are no restrictions on individuals accessing care. The funding will support a portion of nurse and support staff salaries across the rural counties.”

No local matches are required for either grant, according CCHHS.

• Supervisors will weigh issuing a business license to Five Star Motel LLC, doing business as Royal Inn Motel, for the former Frontier Motel at 1718 N. Carson St.

“At its meeting of May 20, 2021, the Board of Supervisors revoked business license BL-001033-2020 for Five Star Motel LLC, doing business as Royal Inn Motel, finding that there were acts ‘in the operation of the business [that are] made unlawful or [are] prohibited by any ordinance, law or rule of Carson City’ as well as ‘the existence of unsanitary conditions ... at, near or in the premises which cause or tend to create a public nuisance or which injuriously affect the public health, safety or welfare,’” reads a staff report.

According to the report, at the time of revocation, the property was rife with criminal activity, mice and bedbugs and had several rooms without flushing toilets or hot water. In February 2022, a building permit was issued for repairs at the site. In August 2022, the applicant applied for a business license to reestablish the motel.

At the time of revocation, the board set conditions for issuing a business license in the future. The operators of the motel must correct code violations and establish a plan with Carson City Sheriff’s Office to avoid criminal activity at the site, among other measures.