Andersen Ranch Estates subdivision approved by Carson City Board of Supervisors

The Andersen Ranch Estates project was discussed at length — almost four hours in fact — at Thursday’s Carson City Board of Supervisor’s meeting, before being approved by the board on a 4-1 vote.

The “3 minute rule” was suspended by the Board, said Carson City Mayor Bob Crowell, to make sure that each resident had their chance to fully discuss their feelings on the project.

The Andersen Ranch Estates project is seeking to build a new neighborhood of 203 lots across 48.2 acres located on the property known currently as Andersen Ranch, which is located west of Mountain Street and east of Ormsby Boulevard in west Carson City.

In December, the application was approved by the Planning Commission with a 4-2 cote, with 1 vote absent.

The plan then moved to the Board for final approval.

At the beginning of the evening meeting to discuss the proposed project, Mayor Crowell told those at the meeting that he and the other supervisors had read every email and correspondence regarding thoughts on the project leading up to the meeting.

During the four hours of discussion, several city staff members and local residents spoke on the project.

Hope Sullivan, Planning Manager, began the discussion to make sure everyone in attendance was familiar with the project. She then went on to discuss Title 17 of the Carson City Municipal Codes.

“I’d like to discuss timing and Title 17,” said Sullivan. “Timing: in reading the correspondence I was surprised to read that the conceptual map was reviewed in February. It was submitted on May 31 and that meeting was held on June 18.”

She told the Board that the planning division went out of there way to make sure the public was kept aware of the project, and with the approval of the applicant, even posted the full application online so the public could access it at any time.

“I believe the staff went very aggressively getting the word out about this,” said Sullivan. “We took steps to proactively provide all interested members of the community with complete information as soon as we deemed the application complete.”

As for Title 17, Sullivan said the code indicate how land is subdivided and there are three options developers can choose: a tentative map, a planned unit developments, and common open space.

The developer for the project chose common open space, similarly to the Schulz Ranch project, according to Sullivan.

You can read Title 17 in its entirety here.

Members of the community spoke both for and against the project during the four hour long meeting. Those that were against cited reasonings such a property value losses of existing homes, an impact on traffic, what happens when the HOA refuses to pay their dues, and more.

Those who are for the project are excited to see an increase in housing, as Carson City is currently lacking in housing options. In addition, those residents whose houses line the current Andersen Ranch property have been overrun during the last years with hundreds upon hundreds of tumbleweeds following any windstorm. With the property being developed, those homeowners will no longer be overcome with the Andersen Ranch’s weeds.

The developer also agreed to change things about the project that the public had issues with, such as two-storied houses on the Northern perimeter and mediterranean-styled architecture. The developer removed both of these issues as a way to meet the requests of the public.

Local resident Bepsy Strasburg said that the Board is using code 17:10 as a way to push the project forward.

“Neighbors had no idea of Title 17:10 existed before they bought a house around an infill,” said Strasburg. “Title 17:10 was manipulated to allow this development.  Joe public is not familiar with zoning and the Master Plan as we would expect from our board.  The board was negligent by not equally informing the public of their rights, or lack of them, because of offsetting City ordinances.”

According to Supervisors Stacey Giomi, Title 17:10 was first enacted in 2001, and revisited in 2007 while the master plan was being developed. He said that there is a rule book, which is the municipal codes, and they as the board must abide by them.

You can listen to the full meeting audio from the Board of Supervisor’s here.