The Steamboat Hills is a feature of hot, unstable rock riven with earthquake faults. It is a hostile place to build; slow progress, expensive, with a lot of noise and dust. Extra care must be taken to locate home sites away from hazards, and construction must adapt to the largely unstable rock formations.
Geological considerations and concerns that apply to Ascente:
- Geothermal activity may indicate instability in the rock structure from the lava mantle below.
- Earthquake faults have been identified in the area which have not been adequately mapped on the Ascente property.
- Geomorphology (topography) that will require re-shaping for the construction of roads and the preparation of home lots.
- Extremely hard Andesite and Rhyolite that comprise the Steamboat Hills. Blasting will be required. It is inherently risky especially with some of the toxic elements on the surface that could become airborne. Blasting may also cause unintended movement in the unstable formations.
There are some roughly level lots at the end of Fawn Lane and on Patti Lane that could likely avoid the problems identified, but these are likely adjacent to the fault system identified along the base of the Steamboat Hills (west side). If construction proceeds up the hillside, the problems of building on this terrain will be ever more critical.
See Kristin’s excellent page describing the geology issues for Ascente in detail.
See Kristin’s letter to the county planning department and county engineer about the apparent problems with the Lumos geo-tech study.
Washoe Residents for Appropriate Planning 
Thank you!!!
Sent from my iPhone
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Steve, your posts keeping us up to date on area concerns are deeply appreciated! As scientists and residents of the Callahan Ranch area (Cherrywood Dr.), we would like to get involved in protesting Ascente. Particularly, we would like to be in contact with Kris. Could I have her email address, please? Caroline Lowman (P.S. Don’t be concerned about my email address. We have a small unadvertised business which administers California wage & labor settlements – nothing local nor related to any NV issues.)
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Hi Caroline! I no longer live in Callahan Ranch but have the same email address. I’ll email you. Cheers, Kris
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Steve, Thank you so much for putting this email together. I have learned so much and still have much to read. I now understand why these villages have not sold: you and others have put so much realistically problematic information for development on the internet that any sane investment/development group would shy away. THANK YOU! Frank Evarts Homeowner adjacent to Donner Village who relishes the rural nature of our neighborhood
On Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 6:16 AM Washoe Residents for Appropriate Planning wrote:
> Steve Wolgast posted: ” The Steamboat Hills is a feature of hot, unstable > rock riven with earthquake faults. It is a hostile place to build; slow > progress, expensive, with a lot of noise and dust. Extra care must be taken > to locate home sites away from hazards, and construction” >
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