COUNTY COMMISSION OPPOSES THE CITY OF RENO’S COLD SPRINGS ANNEXATION PROPOSAL; ENCOURAGES CITIZENS TO ATTEND RENO COUNCIL MEETING


PRESS RELEASE	Contact: Mike Wolterbeek
For: Immediate Release	tel. (775) 328-6145
Website: http://www.co.washoe.nv.us	04-117

COUNTY COMMISSION OPPOSES THE CITY OF RENO’S COLD SPRINGS ANNEXATION PROPOSAL; ENCOURAGES CITIZENS TO ATTEND RENO COUNCIL MEETING

At their meeting today, Washoe County Commissioners unanimously opposed the City of Reno staff’s recommendation to annex 7,561 acres of property located in the eastern half of Cold Springs Valley and the northwestern portion of Lemon Valley, and encouraged Cold Springs residents to make their feelings known during the public comment portion of tomorrow’s Reno City Council meeting.

Commissioner Bonnie Weber, who represents District 5 which includes the north valleys area including Cold Springs, made the motion to direct county staff to forward the Commission’s opposition to the annexation proposal based on county planning staff’s analysis along with all the comments made by the public on this subject. Approximately 40 people spoke or provided written comment in opposition to this proposal. County Commissioners unanimously approved the motion, with many Commissioners saying they plan on personally attending upcoming Reno City Council meetings to register their opposition.

The County was notified of the City of Reno planning staff’s intention to recommend the Reno City Council approve annexation of the 7,561 acre parcel at 4:55 pm on Monday, June 14th. County planning staff provided this information to the County Commission at their meeting the next day (June 15th), and mailed notices to more than 3,000 north valleys residents within two days. A detailed analysis report was prepared by County planning staff and presented to the County Commissioners at their meeting today.

Although the County staff report cites 15 separate reasons to oppose the City of Reno planning staff’s recommendation, the overall reason is that it does not meet the criteria of the Regional Plan or the Regional Plan Settlement Agreement as defined by the Ninth District Court. Specifically, County planning staff finds:

There is no documented substantiated need for the annexation other than the developer’s request for annexation by the City of Reno.
Physical contiguity (a requirement for annexation) between the current municipal boundaries and the area proposed for annexation does not exist. The City’s planning staff is relying on a point of contact between the proposed 7,561 annexed acres and a parcel of land owned by Washoe County to fulfill this requirement. These parcels do not abut each other; they only touch at one corner of the parcel lines.
There is no water available in the Cold Springs area to support the urban/suburban development proposed.
It is likely that the annexation will result in a project being proposed for 13.5 million square feet of new commercial and office uses and 6,860 new residential units in a highly urbanized setting. This level of development intensity is inconsistent with existing development and the citizen-based plan. The land use as it currently exists in the unincorporated area is zoned for one dwelling unit per 40 acres. Urban residential development (typically within cities) is development at gross densities greater than 3 dwelling units per acre.

The City of Reno planning staff has stated that it intends to present the annexation request at the July 7th Reno City Council for first reading. A second reading and approval is scheduled for July 21st.

The Washoe County Commission urges residents—whether they live in the incorporated or unincorporated area of the County—who are concerned with leap-frog annexations such as this make their feelings known to the Reno City Council. The County Commission encourages residents to attend a Reno City Council meeting to voice their concern, or call Reno City Council members.