This site is located directly east of and adjacent to Golden Eagle Regional Park (GERP) (Exhibit 1 – Vicinity Map). The site is 65 acres in size and is comprised of one parcel that is approximately 60 acres in size and two parcels that are each approximately 2.5 acres in size.  There is an agricultural building on the 60-acre parcel and an uninhabited single-family home and several accessory buildings on the smaller parcels. All existing buildings will be removed with the future development of this site.

Access to the site is via a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) access easement that starts at the intersection of Homerun Drive and Vista Boulevard on the GERP site. The existing easement then follows Homerun Drive to Touchdown Drive and turns east onto an unnamed maintenance yard access road (Exhibit 2 – Existing Easement). Homerun Drive, Touchdown Drive, and the unnamed maintenance yard access road are maintained by the City of Sparks but are not City streets because the City does not own the right-of-way or the roads. Rather, the roads are part of the City’s lease agreement with BLM for GERP.  The proposed realignment of the existing access easement and approval of said alignment by BLM are addressed in the Analysis section of this staff report.

The site has a variety of Comprehensive Plan land use designations: Open Space (OS), Commercial (C), Multi-Family (MF24), High Density Residential (HDR), Large Lot Residential (LLR), and Mixed Use (MU). These designations were adopted in 2007 (PCN07075). After approval of these land uses, a planned development handbook for development of the site was initiated but was never processed or adopted. The zoning for this site is A-5 (Agriculture), which would only allow this property to be subdivided into parcels at least 5 acres in size.  The applicant no longer believes that the existing land use designations and configuration are a viable development scenario and has submitted applications to amend the Comprehensive Plan and rezone the property.

The two 2.5-acre parcels in the southwest corner of the site were annexed in 2015 (PCN15036) and the City zoning of A-5 was assigned to the parcels at that time.

The applicant has requested to amend the Comprehensive Plan Land Use designations to Intermediate Density Residential (IDR) and change the zoning to Single Family Residential (SF6).  Because of the need for conditions and requirements to address access and sewer capacity issues to meet the requirements for concurrency in the Comprehensive and Regional Plans, staff recommended that the applicant enter into a development agreement with the City of Sparks.

On August 2, 2018, the Planning Commission approved the Comprehensive Plan amendment and recommended that the City Council approve the development agreement and rezoning requests. (Please refer to the Planning Commission Report of Action.)

On October 10, 2018, the Regional Planning Commission (RPC) held a public hearing and reviewed the requested Comprehensive Plan amendment. The RPC determined that the Comprehensive Plan amendment conforms with the Truckee Meadows Regional Plan. (Please refer to the Regional Planning Commission Action Letter.)

The subject site consists of three parcels totaling approximately 65 acres in size. The property is designated on the Sparks Comprehensive Plan Land Use Map as approximately 6.26 acres of Commercial (C), 15.57 acres of Multi-Family (MF24), 18.56 acres of High Density Residential (HDR), 8.12 acres of Open Space (OS), 5 acres of Large Lot Residential (LLR), and 11.4 acres of Mixed Use (MU) (Exhibit 3 – Existing Land Use). The applicant is requesting a land use designation of Intermediate Density Residential (IDR) on all 65 acres (Exhibit 4 – Proposed Land Use).

The existing land use designations allow far more intense development than the proposed land use designation. The existing land uses would permit commercial zoning and uses as well as residential development with permitted densities in excess of 24 dwelling unit per acre.  In comparison, the Foothills at Wingfield Springs single-family development to the north of this site has a Comprehensive Plan land use designation of Low Density Residential (LDR), which allows densities of 3 to 6 units per acre.  The proposed land use of Intermediate Density Residential (IDR) allows densities of 6 to 10 units per acre.  The unincorporated large-lot residential (LLR) designated properties to the south of the site have a maximum allowable density of 3 units per acre.

GERP has a land use designation of Community Facilities (CF).  The CF land use designation is generally compatible with the IDR land use as housing and parks are complimentary uses.  As a regional park, GERP is perhaps less complementary as it has later hours, more lights, and produces more noise than a neighborhood or community park would.  For these reasons staff has included a requirement for a landscape buffer in the proposed Development Agreement to mitigate those compatibility issues. Additionally, the Development Agreement requires that the developer construct pedestrian and bicycle connections between the proposed development and GERP in order to offset the more impactful aspects of the park by providing convenient park access to the future residents of the proposed development.  

Approval of the development agreement serves as the basis for several of the findings the City Council must consider for approval of the Comprehensive Plan land use amendment and rezoning requests. Should the City Council not approve the development agreement it should not approve the Comprehensive Plan land use amendment and rezoning requests.

Comprehensive Plan Amendment Findings

Finding CP1: The proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment would be in conformance with the Regional Plan land use/intensity designation.

The Truckee Meadows Regional Plan Goals and Policies relevant to this project are:

Goal 1.1    Between 2007 and 2030, at least 99% of the region’s population growth and 99% of the region’s jobs growth will be located in the Truckee Meadows Service Areas (TMSA).

The subject property is located within the City of Sparks portion of the TMSA.

Goal 3.5    The Regional Plan will coordinate the master plans, facilities plan, and other similar plans of local governments and affected entities to ensure that necessary public facilities and services to support new development are or will be available and adequate at the time the impacts of new development occur (i.e. concurrency).

Regionally, Goal 3.5 has been interpreted to mean that necessary public facilities and services must be in place, or that there must be a plan and a funding mechanism to provide them, concurrently with new development. The City of Sparks has generally sought to provide for concurrency when entitlements such as land use and zoning approvals are granted.

The fiscal analysis submitted by the applicant indicates an interest in developing the subject property with 450 single-family lots. To date, no City infrastructure or services have been extended to serve the property.

Section 3.3 of the Development Agreement requires the developer to construct all sanitary sewer conveyance upgrades that are necessary based on the increased flows resulting from this proposed development. Provided the Development Agreement is approved, it is staff’s view that the requested Comprehensive Plan Amendment complies with Goal 3.5 of the Regional Plan.

Finding CP2: The Comprehensive Plan amendment would implement the goals listed within the Sparks Comprehensive Plan as listed in the staff report.

The Comprehensive Plan Goals and Policies that are relevant to this proposal include:

Policy MG5     When reviewing master plan amendments for sites over 5 acres, the City will evaluate or cause to be evaluated: a) the impacts on existing and planned facilities and infrastructure; b) the impacts on existing and planned public services; c) the proposed land use in relationship to existing land uses; and, d) the fiscal implications for public service providers of the proposed land use changes as documented in a fiscal impact analysis.

Policy CF1:       When reviewing new development, the City will not approve an application unless the City services can be provided at acceptable service levels.

Goal H2           Promote a strong, diverse housing market that supports economic growth and vitality while ensuring environmental and fiscal sustainability.

Under Policy MG5, review of a Comprehensive Plan amendment requires a fiscal impact analysis (FIA). The applicant submitted a FIA dated February 2018 and updated June 2018 (Exhibit 5 – Fiscal Impact Analysis). Assuming all roads associated with the project are private as required in the proposed Development Agreement, the development would generate a Road Fund surplus of $1.4 million. Combining the net positive General Fund amount of $1.45 million and the net positive Road Fund amount of $1.4 million produces a projected positive fiscal impact of approximately $2.8 million over the 20-year analysis period for the Wingfield Commons project. The FIA also estimates that if 5,300 linear feet of roads are publicly maintained, the development would have a net positive fiscal impact of $54,039. However, the Development Agreement as proposed provides for all project-associated roads to be privately maintained.

The Development Agreement requires intersection improvements in conformance with the recommendations of the submitted traffic study for the intersection of Vista Boulevard, Homerun Drive, and Scorpio Drive prior to the issuance of any certificate of occupancy.  The intersection improvements include:

• The south approach to said intersection (exiting the park/development) shall be improved to include one exclusive left turn lane, one shared left turn/through lane, and one exclusive right turn lane.

• The existing right turn lane at the west approach to said intersection shall be lengthened to provide a minimum of 465 feet of storage/deceleration length with a 180-foot taper.

Section 3.3 of the Development Agreement requires construction of a second fire apparatus access road prior to combustibles being stored onsite.  The location of the second fire apparatus access road and its construction material shall be to the approval of the Fire Chief and City Engineer.

Provided the Development Agreement is approved, it is staff’s view that the requested Comprehensive Plan land use amendment supports Goal MG5 and complies with Policy CF1. Approval of the Comprehensive Plan land use amendment (and corresponding rezoning request) would also provide additional land for housing development, supporting Goal H2.

Finding CP3: The Comprehensive Plan Amendment would be compatible with surrounding land uses.

The surrounding land uses and zoning are summarized in the following table:

The subject property is located east of GERP and south of Vista Boulevard. The site is bordered on the north and west by GERP, on the south by unincorporated large lot Agricultural properties, and on the east by unincorporated BLM land to the east. GERP is an intensely used park with lighted playfields that are often used until midnight, generating more noise than a neighborhood or community park would typically produce.  Efforts have been made in the Development Agreement to address these issues and the Planning Commission determined that the requested land use of IDR is compatible with the CF land use. The property to the east is BLM-owned open space and there is no compatibility concern there. The LLR properties to the south of the site are potentially the least compatible. However, lack of shared access helps reduce this concern. The primary use of the large-lot residential (LLR) properties is residential, which strengthens the determination that the proposed land use is compatible with all of the existing land uses. 

FINDING CP4: Public notice was given and a public hearing held per the requirements of Nevada Revised Statutes and Sparks Municipal Code.

Public notice was published in the Reno Gazette Journal on July 20, 2018. The Planning Commission and City Council meetings function as public hearings for this matter as required by the Nevada Revised Statutes and Sparks Municipal Code.

The neighborhood meeting required by NRS 278.210(2) for the proposed Comprehensive Plan land use amendment was conducted by the applicant’s representative on April 10, 2018. (Exhibit 6 – Certificate of Verification for Neighborhood Meeting). Four people attended the meeting.

1. The City Council can certify the Comprehensive Plan amendment associated with PCN18-0005.

2. The City Council can remand the Comprehensive Plan amendment associated with PCN18-0005 to the Planning Commission with comments.

I move to certify a Comprehensive Plan amendment to change the land use designations on a site approximately 65 acres in size located east of Golden Eagle Regional Park and south of Vista Boulevard, Sparks, Nevada from 6.26 acres of Commercial (C), 15.57 acres of Multi-family Residential (MF24), 18.56 acres of High Density Residential (HDR), 8.12 acres of Open Space (OS), 5 acres of Large Lot Residential (LLR), and 11.4 acres of Mixed Use (MU) to approximately 65 acres of Intermediate Density (IDR), based on Findings CP1 through CP4 as set forth in the staff report.