2012 2:00:00 PM

Monday, July 23, 2012 2:00 PM
City Council Chambers, Legislative Building, 745 Fourth St, Sparks, NV

Planning and Zoning Public Hearings and Action Items: 8.1

Title: Consideration and possible action by the City Council to sponsor an amendment to the 2007 Truckee Meadows Regional Plan to amend policy 1.2.10 and any other policies related thereto.

Petitioner/Presenter: City of Sparks/Jim Rundle

Recommendation: Staff recommends the Sparks City Council sponsor a Regional Plan amendment to amend Policy 1.2.10 to enable the changes to the boundaries of the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) corridors.

Financial Impact: N/A

Business Impact (Per NRS 237):
A Business Impact Statement is not required because this is not a rule.

Agenda Item Brief: The Sparks City Council recently proposed removal of the Employment District from the Sparks TOD corridor. This requires a Regional Plan amendment. Staff has analyzed and will be proposing amendments to the TOD corridor to the Sparks Planning Commission and City Council.

Background: The 2002 Truckee Meadows Regional Plan incorporated and generally depicted where Transit Oriented Development (TOD) corridors should occur in Reno and Sparks. The 2007 Regional Plan refined the corridors and more specifically defined their boundaries. In 2009 the City of Sparks City Council approved a new master plan, zoning, and accompanying TOD development standards to implement the Regional Plan policies for TOD type development. The TOD corridor extended into the “Industrial” area of Sparks generally located east of Sparks Boulevard, north of I-80, west of Vista Boulevard, and south of Prater Way. The area was rezoned to TOD-Employment. This is the area that would potentially be removed from the TOD corridor.

Analysis: Policy 1.2.10 (4) states, “East Fourth Street/Prater Way to the Downtown Sparks Center, east to Vista Boulevard, and including a proposed loop from Prater Way, south on Sparks Boulevard to Lincoln Avenue, west, past the Sparks Marina to F Street, rejoining Prater Way. Regional Planning’s legal counsel has opined that a change of the TOD corridor (such as removing the Employment District) would require a Regional Plan amendment. The Council has recently proposed removing the Employment District from the TOD, which would require a master plan amendment, rezoning, and subsequent code amendments to implement. Should the Council ultimately decide to remove the area from the TOD, the Regional Plan Amendment would be in place to support the change. The Governing Board has recently directed Regional staff to consider amendments to the sections of the Regional Plan regarding TOD. As such, there will be no fee imposed upon the City of Sparks for sponsoring the Regional Plan Amendment.

Alternatives: The Council may decide this is not appropriate, and provide direction to staff regarding the Sparks TOD Corridor.

Recommended Motion: I move that the City of Sparks sponsor a Regional Plan amendment to remove the specific reference to the Sparks TOD corridor in Policy 1.2.10 of the Regional Plan.

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