If you’re worried about the pace of development and the effect on our daily lives, you have good company. The TMRPA board met yesterday at a restaurant and candidly discussed issues of concern. The purpose was to inform a consulting company that will work on a plan proposal for the region. The issues and situation will mostly seem familiar.
- We are at our limit for sewer capacity. We have neither the pipes nor the treatment facilities to support expansion.
- Our roads are in rough shape. We don’t have the funds to pay for infrastructure improvements. Developer’s “impact fees” only cover a fraction of the cost.
- Growth proponents want to see a major expansion in the North Valleys, but persistent flooding and road conditions must be addressed first.
- Growth proponents accept that development will impact the lives of residents in the unincorporated county negatively.
It was pointed out that there are already plans for 70,000 dwelling units approved (but not built) when only 42,000 are needed by 2038. We have approved the building of more new homes than will be needed for the next 20 years!
The “elephant in the room” which was referred to, but not discussed is the giant Stonegate development recently approved by the City of Reno. It is a small city of 5,000 homes north of Peavine Mountain and south of Cold Springs. The likely problems associated with this are staggering.
Washoe Residents for Appropriate Planning 
Steve: the comments by the so called leaders of the area are absolutely unconscionable.
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First lets not plan for the future that might not happen.We might very well run out of water before we need the housing. Moreover will growth keep going? Will the county be able to keep giving away tax base income and remain solvent. Be real and plan for the future in real way.
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The elephant in the room is population growth and an economic system that requires growth in a world of limited space and resources. Communities everywhere are running into this problem but no one is awake enough to understand it. They just keep having more children and moving from places that are too crowded to places that are better and then turning those places into degraded lands.
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And just where will all the new discharges from the new developments in Lemmon Valley go to, Swan Lake? What is the plan for that? Are the developers going to build and run?
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The real purpose of the meeting was to discuss updating our Regional Plan. By NRS we are required to update the Regional Master Plan every 5 years. This community simply rubber-stamped the 2007 plan when the least update was done resulting in no plans to accommodate growth in the greater Truckee Meadows area. Obviously this is a vastly different market than it was in 2007 and it is time for local governments to step up to the plate and address what and how we will accommodate this growth. It is not the intention or plan for the TMRPA to ignore growth or move back to a no-growth scenario. We must move on as a community and the growth being driven by new business growth and people who want a better lifestyle than can be accommodated in California needs to be accounted for not ignored with the hope that these people will simply go away. As the chair of the TMRPA and the County Commission and a 50+ year resident of the Truckee Meadows I’m looking for all positive input I can get. We have water to accommodate growth into the 600,000++ residential numbers so water isn’t our biggest concern. If you want to help come help don’t sit on the sidelines and complain about what your government is or isn’t doing.
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Marsha: You are so far off target you will never understand. Those of us that moved to Truckee Meadows years ago to rid ourselves of the California plague, did not move here to replicate California but to become Nevadans and enjoy the Nevada lifestyle. Your background as a lobbyist explains your position. However you need to be aware of the needs and wants of the people that elected you not the people that paid for your election. You ask for positive input well here you have it.
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