On June 25, 2018, the City Council entered into a development agreement (the “Agreement”) for a 386.87-acre property located at 555 Highland Ranch Parkway.  In conjunction with the Agreement, the City Council approved annexation, Comprehensive Plan land use amendment, and rezoning requests for the site. As the subject property was formerly the site of an aggregate mining operation, the 2018 development proposal referred to it as the Quarry.

On February 24, 2020, the City Council approved Amendment Number 1 to the Agreement. Modifications to the Agreement resulted from the Master Developer’s further analysis of the site and the land and infrastructure plans. Substantive changes approved in Amendment Number 1 addressed property ownership changes, clarified permitted residential uses, provided an explicit exclusion of previously disturbed slopes from the calculation of maximum disturbed area pursuant to SMC 20.04.011, and altered the timing and scope of required infrastructure improvements. The name of the project changed to 5 Ridges.

Pursuant to the approved the Agreement, a minimum of 1,200 and a maximum of 1,800 residential units are permitted. Single family, duplex and townhome uses are identified as permitted residential uses.  Commercial or multi-family development were permitted in the C2 (General Commercial) zoning district previously located adjacent to Highland Ranch Parkway. However, on September 14, 2020, City Council approved a rezoning request changing the zoning district adjacent to Highland Ranch Parkway from C2 to MF-2 (Multi-Family Residential). At least 100 acres of open space must also be reserved.

Tentative map and Conditional Use Permit (CUP) permit requests within the Five Ridges project site were considered by the Planning Commission and City Council in April and May of 2020, respectively. On May 26, 2020, the City Council upheld the Planning Commission’s decision to approve a CUP for development on slopes, hilltops, and ridges applicable to a 138.13-acre portion of the Five Ridges project site. In conjunction with the CUP, the City Council also approved a tentative map for a 460-lot single-family subdivision on an 88.83-acre portion of the site.

On July 2, 2020, the Sparks Planning Commission voted to forward recommendations of approval to the City Council for the rezoning, annexation and development agreement requests and approved the Comprehensive Plan amendment. The Planning Commission also forwarded a recommendation of support to City Council for sponsorship of a Regional Plan amendment to re-designate the site from Rural Area to Tier 2 Land and amend the boundaries of the Truckee Meadows Service Area (TMSA) and City of Sparks Sphere of Influence (SOI) to include the site (Exhibit 4 - Planning Commission Report of Action).

On July 27, 2020, the City Council sponsored the Regional Plan amendment to re-designate the 34.71-site from Rural Area to Tier 2 Land and amend the boundaries of the TMSA and City of Sparks SOI to include the site.

On September 24, 2020, the Regional Planning Commission (RPC) held public hearings to review the Regional Plan Amendment sponsored by City Council and the Comprehensive Plan amendment requested by the applicant. The RPC voted to forward a recommendation of approval to the Regional Planning Governing Board for the Regional Plan Amendment and determined that the Comprehensive Plan amendment conforms with the Truckee Meadows Regional Plan. On October 8, 2020, the Regional Planning Governing Board (RPGB) held a public hearing and adopted the Regional Plan Amendment.

With the Regional Plan amendment and conformance review processes complete, the applicant is now seeking City Council action on the development agreement amendment, annexation, Comprehensive Plan land use amendment, and rezoning requests.

In addition, the applicant is also seeking modifications to Amendment Number 2 to the Agreement that were not considered by the Sparks Planning Commission. These modifications change the amount of land area that may be disturbed pursuant to Section 3.3 of the Agreement based on an updated slope analysis (Exhibit F to the Agreement) that identifies areas of the property previously disturbed due to the construction of Highland Ranch Parkway.

Amendment Number 2 to the Agreement must be approved by the Sparks City Council to take effect. It is attached in both “clean” (i.e., with changes accepted) and “track changes” formats (Exhibits 2 and 3, respectively). The “track changes” document identifies all proposed text changes. The modification to Section 3.3 of the Agreement requested by the applicant subsequent to consideration of Amendment Number 2 by the Sparks Planning Commission is included in both document formats and described below.

Changes proposed in Amendment Number 2 primarily relate to the expansion of the 5 Ridges project site to include the 34.71-acre parcel proposed for annexation to the City of Sparks. However, additional changes also clarify roadway improvement requirements based on comments received from the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT), remove references to specific zoning districts in Section 3.1 (Permitted Uses and Density), and update the allowed disturbance area based on a new slope analysis (Exhibit F to the Agreement) that excludes from the calculation a portion of the property that was previously disturbed during construction of Highland Ranch Parkway. These changes are as follows (page numbers reference the “track changes” document):

• Project acreage is increased by 34.71 acres to reflect the request to annex APN 508-020-01, resulting in a total site area of 421.58 acres (p.1).
• An “annexation property” definition is added to identify the real property proposed for annexation and inclusion in the project boundary (p.4).
• Section 3.1 (Permitted Uses and Density) includes changes that:
  • Remove references to specific zoning districts associated with permitted uses;
  • Modify gross density requirements due to the expanded site area based on a minimum of 1,200 and a maximum of 1,800 residential units; and
  • Increase the minimum amount of reserved open space by 20 acres to a total of 120 acres (p. 8).
• Section 3.2 (Required Infrastructure Improvements) is modified to specify that improvements to the intersection of Highland Ranch Parkway and Pyramid Highway shall occur concurrently with the widening of Highland Ranch Parkway (pp. 9-10).
• Section 3.2 (Required Infrastructure Improvements) is updated to reflect approval by the Washoe County Board of Adjustment of a special use permit to construct a paved and gated emergency access road (p. 10).
• The amount of area that may be cleared, graded or otherwise disturbed is increased from 267 to 298 acres based on an updated slope analysis (Exhibit F) for the expanded site area (p. 12). The slope analysis considered by the Planning Commission allowed for 293 acres of disturbed area as areas previously disturbed due to the construction of Highland Ranch Parkway had not been removed from that slope analysis.
• Section 3.5 (Entitlement Requests) is updated to identify entitlement requests associated with the annexation property and specify concurrent processing of those requests (pp. 13-14).
• Section 3.12 (Sun Valley General Improvement District) is updated to reflect City Council approval of an agreement with the Sun Valley General Improvement District granting use of the City’s streets and roads for water transmission facilities (p. 15).

Consistency with Comprehensive Plan

In 2018, the Agreement was bundled with annexation, Comprehensive Plan amendment, and rezoning requests for the original 386.87-acre site to provide the public, third-party reviewing agencies, the Planning Commission, and City Council with an understanding of the development proposed for the subject property at the time these requests were considered.  The Agreement also specified how infrastructure and public services would be adequately provided to support the initial entitlement requests. In February of 2020, the City Council approved Amendment Number 1 to the Agreement. Substantive changes addressed property ownership, permitted additional residential uses, explicitly excluded previously disturbed slopes from the calculation of maximum disturbed area pursuant to SMC 20.04.011, and updated the timing and scope of required infrastructure improvements.

Amendment Number 2 would expand the area of the subject property by 34.71 acres, to 421.58 acres. However, neither the permitted number of residential units or infrastructure and public service requirements necessary to serve those units are proposed to change.

The Planning Commission viewed Amendment Number 2 as consistent with the Comprehensive Plan in part because it continues to serve as the petition for the subject property to be brought into Impact Fee Service Area Number 1 (IFSA#1). Inclusion of the subject property in IFSA#1 provides a plan and funding mechanism for the provision of sanitary sewer and storm drain improvements, a fire station, and regional trails to serve development on this site. In Section 3.2, the revised Agreement also obligates the developer to increase the capacity of Highland Ranch Parkway between Pyramid Way and the entrance to the project and to construct improvements to the intersection of Pyramid Way and Highland Ranch Parkway necessary to maintain a Level of Service D and E, respectively. 

The Agreement thus supports and is consistent with the following Comprehensive Plan goals and policies:

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.

The Planning Commission also determined Amendment Number 2 supports the finding that the City can provide adequate municipal services to the subject property concurrently with its development, in support of Policy CF1. This analysis previously enabled the Planning Commission and City Council to make certain findings, including those regarding concurrency and fiscal impacts, when the Agreement was first adopted in July of 2018 and subsequently amended in February of 2020.

On July 2, 2020, the Planning Commission reviewed Amendment Number 2 and determined that it continues to adequately protect the City’s interests in the concurrency of development while not adversely impacting the consistency of the Agreement with the Comprehensive Plan. The Planning Commission therefore recommended that the City Council approve the Development Agreement, Amendment Number 2.

This is the first reading of the bill to approve the Development Agreement, Amendment Number 2.

This is a first reading. No motion is required.