The Carson City Planning Commission voted to approve the tentative Planned Unit Development map as part of the ongoing Plateau development in east Carson City off of Highway 50 E. near Morgan Mill.

The project will establish 240 single-family townhomes on about 22 acres adjacent to the Plateau subdivision which is currently constructing 57 single family homes approved in late 2024.

See more on the townhomes here:

Carson City Planning Commission to discuss proposed 240 townhome development

By zoning, the area is allowed to develop Multi-Family Apartments with a minimum density of 29 dwellings per acre, while the PUD is proposing a max density of 11.34 units per acre.

Code requires a 30% open space requirement for development, and in this project, that includes 5.41 acres, which is surpassing the open space requirements.

However, it should be noted that the large field of undeveloped land within the development — which is being used as part of the open space calculations — is an old landfill site and cannot be developed.

The EPA approved the development of the area so long as the capsule of the landfill area would not be broken as part of the initial planning for the Plateau Development.

One resident, Denny French, questioned whether or not an old landfill should be considered towards the development’s open space requirement.

“I’d like to know that the dump is not a historical dump in which case it should be evaluated for hazardous materials, and if it is found to [be historical] … then it has some restrictions on its use, so it couldn’t be public open space,” French said.

Commissioner Charles Borders said that he doesn’t believe there is any issue with leaving the property as open space, as it is going to be left as it is currently with its current vegetation.

However, Borders said he does have concerns over the area become “fire trap” and asked for the developers to create a vegetation management plan.

“This whole project is in a WUI [Wildlife Urban Interface], and if we’re going keep that as a natural area with natural habitat … [Associate Planner Heather Manzo] suggested the developer should provide a vegetation management plan for that area,” Borders said.

He said since the old landfill area can’t be developed, he thinks keeping it as open space is fine — or even eventually turning into a “put,” or putting green for golf.

“But I think we need to recognize the fact that if that goes untended over a series of years, it becomes a real tinderbox, and it’s right then going to be in the middle of a housing development.”

The developer said they would be happy to provide a vegetation management plan, as they had in the original development conditions as well.

Commissioner Ellen Dechristopher said she also had been concerned over the environmental impact of the old landfill, and had read studies relating to this specific field as well as studies from other cities dealing with similar sites.

She said that what she’s seen with this developer is “a willingness to do a little more beyond than what the code is asking, what the expectation is.”

“Going from 30 to 39% in open space, being agreeable to a vegetation maintenance plan … and I just hope [the environmental impact] is considered,” she said.

While official selling prices aren’t going to be available until the construction is finished and what the market trends will be are taken into consideration, Ken Hendricks with KDH builders said they are envisioning the townhomes being sold at around the high $300,000s to low $400,000s.

“We’re at least a year away from even setting our first stick in the air, so we’ll have to see where costs go at that time,” he said.

Commissioner Greg Brooks said that he understands the price point seems high compared to historical prices. “Last time I had a mortgage, it was 800 bucks a month, I paid like $145,000 for a house.”

However, he confirmed that the prices noted are under the median home price in Carson City currently, which makes it a “market entry housing product.”

“I get these numbers are shocking, but I also get that in today’s market, it strikes me that this not just a viable alternative to renters renting, but a preferred alternative.”

Commissioner Concerns

Commissioner Borders said he did not believe enough care had gone into the thought process of the plan. He noted concerns in trash pick up, and the ability for Waste Management to be able to get their trucks into the development and effectively pick up trash from each property given the format.

He asked if Waste Management had been consulted, and civil engineer Jillian Wilbrecht of Wood Rogers said they had not, but that they “know their standards well” and that they had incorporated the necessary curb space Waste Management would need to do their pickups.

Wilbrecht said they had designed each specific area as to where trash would go, and that none would block driveways.

Borders then asked how snow removal would be completed.

Wilbrecht said that snow removal hadn’t been a consideration during the planning but the project would be managed by a Home Owners Association, which would have snow removal as part of its rules and regulations.

“I just don’t think there’s a single snow plow company in this town that’s going to drive their pickup truck in there and try to back out all the snow that’s in it — it’s not going to happen,” Borders said.

However, Borders made it clear he wasn’t against the project itself — he said he thinks small unit developments are a good way to go for infill within the community and that he’s been advocating for more of these types of projects all along. “It just seems awful tight,” he added.

Commissioner Teri Preston said she also had concerns over garbage and snow, but moreso she had questions about the map that showed only one entrance and exit for the subdivision, which she believed would be a problem with the fire department.

Manzo said the second access point is located near the open space area parcel, which meets fire management requirements. However, due to the grade of the surrounding single-family subdivision, it wouldn’t be possible to add in an additional access point.

Commissioner Vern Krahn clarified that the townhomes would be offered individually for private ownership, which was confirmed.

He said, that had also been the intention for the Silver Oak development which “did not end up that way.”

“I think at least within the community that, and I know we can’t condition it because I’ve already asked, it’s the whole idea of a community providing opportunities for ownership and first-time homeownership is really an important aspect, and it’s a big part of the Master Plan,” Krahn said. “We want to provide a diversity of housing options, we want to provide opportunities for first-time home buyers. I would just hate to see someone sweep in and take eight or 20 or 30 units and buy … to rent them out.”

Stacie Huggins of Wood Rogers said the smaller development provides an opportunity for first-time homebuyers to start small and then eventually “buy up” into the surrounding single-family detached neighborhood of the surrounding Plateau Development.

“So that’s been part of the thought process as opposed to just building apartments which is what it was originally zoned for,” she said.

Krahn said building smaller developments also gives people the opportunity to downsize, which would then open up some of the single-family homes in the city for larger families.

Some residents during public comment voiced concerns over traffic impacts. One resident, Jacqueline Sandage, said she lives a mile away from the Plateau development, and argued that the roads are already dangerous: “We have more traffic now than we’ve ever had in 33 years, and they’re at a high rate of speed — it’s not 25, it’s 50 [mph].”

Commissioners acknowledged traffic concerns, but noted that a traffic impact study had been completed and a new traffic signal will be required as the phases progress.

Commissioners voted unanimously to approve, which will send it before the Board of Supervisors for final approval.