Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

for legions to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, and into the world with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, Michael. Okay, 4.1, public comment. We have Mr. Ray Towne. Hi, thank you for being here.

good evening chair and planners, I mean commissioners. I wish to commend staff for their good negotiating skills to take this project from over 400 units to 142 single family units. Gold stars go to all of those. Also for bringing in a nationwide builder with significant financial resources and local presence. A real estate developer with over $40 billion of financial resources and local presence. I'm sorry. They have to answer not only to their homeowners, but also to their shareholders. And I just made one observation in this project that you might wanna address, that staff might wanna address during the development review process. Cities use boilerplates or conditions of approval, and then they usually tweak them for a specific project. And this next observation I'm going to make is not intended to be derogatory in any way. And it's what I used to term or we used to term lessons learned. But I would... avoid, to avoid angst and maybe stress for all involved, I would suggest to revisit the condition of approval, anything that's related to open space to make sure that how that allowable usage and how any variants would be processed in the future and that the vetting procedure, that it involves everyone. and it's a transparent public format. I just think there's some things going on now that would help in the future to subside the open space issues. That's all I have, thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Towne. And now it's open public meeting. Does anybody else have any public comment? Does anybody else have any public comment? Okay, seeing no public, further public comment, let's go to 5.1, the agenda. Can I have an approval motion to approve the agenda, please? I know, I was like, maybe not.

I'll just go ahead and move to.

Here it goes. Oh, I got it.

I moved to approve the agenda as submitted. I second.

Okay, we have a motion by Commissioner Priestos and a second by Commissioner Cramer. Please mark your vote. Okay, and the motion passes. 6.1, approval of the minutes. Consideration, discussion, and possible action to approve the minutes. Okay, we have a motion by Commissioner Sperber and a second by Commissioner Pristos. Please mark your vote.

He has to read it out loud.

Oh, sorry, my bad.

Second.

Thank you. Trying to be efficient. Please mark your vote. Mike, can you get in? Okay. You want to do a voice vote, please?

So Mike needs to do.

Oh, that's true.

Yeah. So since I wasn't there, I have stayed.

Thank you. Okay, so we have one abstention and the motion passes. It was just, yeah, it was just him that, yeah. 6.2, consideration, discussion, possible action to approve the minutes of the planning commission study session held on July 14th, 2026 and the planning commission meeting. It just flipped. Hold on, it should have been the 16th.

And we have a motion by- Now, Chair, I move to approve the minutes of the Planning Commission study session held on Tuesday, July 14th, 2026, and the Planning Commission meeting held on Thursday, July 16th, 2026. Second.

Okay, we have a motion by Commissioner Cramer and a second by Commissioner Priestos. Please mark your vote. Maybe. And I won't go. Okay, and motion passes. 7.1, general business, PCN17-0053BE26-0002. Hi, Kim. There it goes.

Hey, good evening, Chair and members of the Planning Commission. For the record, Kim Mock, Planning Technician. The presentation is a review of architectural elevations for a commercial building. The vicinity map shown here illustrates the blue boundary of the Stonebrook development and is generally located east of Pyramid Highway. There is the Wendy's, the Jiffy Lube, the Les Schwab, and the Northern Nevada Urgent Care. This is a request to review and approve architectural building elevations at 7943 Tierra del Sol Parkway for an 11,214 square foot proposed commercial building located in the general commercial area of the Stonebrook plan development shown outlined here in red. the Stonebrook final design standards and regulations handbook regulates development and architectural standards for this site. As such, the planning commission reviews the proposed architecture for conformance with the handbook's architectural standards. The applicant plans to submit a request for an administrative review for the commercial building soon. The site plan shown here indicates that the primary access is from a private street identified as Turtle Dove Court. There will be 25 onsite parking stalls, including two required ADA accessible stalls and a fully enclosed trash area. As required by the Stonebrook Plan Development Handbook, the proposed design has incorporated an outdoor patio as well as planners with trellis and lattice features into the design to create a pedestrian scale relationship. These images are of the elevations of the proposed commercial space. The east elevation will be visible from the Les Schwab and other existing commercial buildings along Pyramid. The north elevation will be visible from the Wendy's and the Jiffy Lube. The west elevation will be visible from the adjacent future office development along Tierra del Sol Parkway. And the south elevation will be visible to future commercial development. As required by the Stonebrook handbook, the proposed design is incorporated a mix of approved colors and materials throughout all sides of the building. The applicant proposes a light brown Texas leather for the stucco, a deep sea green for the metal projections with a darker cascade green at the roofline, as well as Eldorado San Marino limestone for the stone veneer. Staff believes the proposed commercial building elevations comply with the standards in the Stonebrook final design standards and regulations handbook and recommends approval by the planning commission. This concludes my presentation and I am happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Does anybody have any questions for Kim? I see no questions for the planner. Is the applicant here?

They are not, but they are available by phone if we need them.

Okay, does anybody wanna talk to the applicant? No, okay, thank you. And if we could have a motion.

Madam Chair, I move to approve the architectural elevations for the proposed 11,214 square foot commercial building proposed in BE26-0002 in fulfillment of the requirements set forth in the Stonebrook Final Design Standards and Regulations Handbook. Second.

Okay, we have a motion by Commissioner Cramer and a second by Commissioner Niederland. Please cast your vote. Oh, sorry, thank you. Discussion, is there any discussion? Okay, seeing no discussion, please cast your vote. Okay, and the motion passes. 7.2 PCN04051STM26-0001. Hageny?

I've been told my voice can be a little soft, so I'll try to bring this a little closer. Thank you. So, good evening, Madam Chair, members of the Planning Commission. My name is Dani Rae, I'm Senior Planner. I'm here to present this item this evening. So in this slide, you can see the blue boundary of the 831-acre entire Miramonte development, which is generally located northwest of the intersection of Los Altos Parkway and Belmar Drive. Phase 8 is located east of Belmar Drive and south of Iridium Way and is shown outlined in red. The access roadway to the project is located within the desert Highlands plan development, but the parcel is owned by the applicant and there's already an access easement in place for the roadway there's no other development proposed for this parcel. For some quick background, in 2005, the Miramonte plan development standards handbook was adopted by the city council. It established land use designations, permitted uses and development standards for Miramonte and allowed a potential maximum of 1,434 single family residential units at a density of 1.7 dwelling units per acre. An associated tentative map was also approved at that time for a 986 lot single family residential subdivision. In 2017, a 448 unit townhome subdivision was approved for this site. That tentative map has since expired. To date, 758 single family residential units have been constructed and 48 additional single family residential units approved. for a total of 806 units. The addition of the proposed 142 single family residential subdivision as phase eight will bring the total approved units to 900 out of the allowed 1,434, leaving 534 units remaining for the Miramonte land development. So this tentative map request proposes 142 lot detached single family residential subdivision on an approximately 30 acre portion of the 165.5 acre subject site. The remainder is open space and common area in the form of public streets. The Sparks comprehensive plan is LMDR 14 or low medium density residential of up to 14 dwelling units per acre. The proposed gross density for this project is 4.77 dwelling units per acre, which is in the allowed range under the handbook standards. Although the comprehensive plan specifies a minimum density of 10 dwelling units to the acre within the MF14 land use designation, the handbook does not require a minimum density with the LMDR14 land use category for Mirimani. While NRS requires consideration of whether a proposed tentative map is in conformance with zoning ordinances and the comprehensive plan, if the two documents are inconsistent, the zoning ordinance takes precedence. The roadway network accessing Miramonte is established and the number of travel lanes is not anticipated to change. Primary access to the proposed subdivision will be from Belmar Drive via Drywine Drive. That's really hard to say, Drywine Drive. Secondary gated access is proposed from Iridium Drive to the proposed subdivision. Pedestrian access will be provided via sidewalks along Redwine Drive, which will connect to the existing pedestrian network along Belmar. As designed, the project includes four foot wide sidewalks along both sides of the street, creating a pedestrian route throughout the project in compliance with the comprehensive plan. This slide shows the proposed site plan. I think I'm in the wrong place, hold on. The entire Miramonte plan development was evaluated for compliance with the city's standards for development on slopes, hilltops, and ridges when the handbook was adopted in 2005. Land disturbance to accommodate development of the eight phases was found to comply with the maximum amount of disturbed area based on slope gradient, and the handbook includes various standards that govern grading and revegetation, including but not limited to use of slopes with a gradient of two to one to limit the length of cut and fill slopes, slope matting and natural seed mixture requirements, and hillside adaptive techniques to limit the visual impacts of grading. The proposed primary road to the side will cross a sizable drainage way that runs along the west side of the site. To facilitate construction of the primary access road, Redwine Drive, earthen fill up to 50 feet in depth will be constructed with culverts to convey stormwater. The hydrology analysis demonstrates this road embankment does not meet the definition of a dam under state regulations, as was potentially the case with the 2017 townhome dam. The road section allows stormwater to drain freely, retains water for less than 24 hours, and can safely pass the volume of runoff produced by a 100-year, 24-hour storm without overtopping. As proposed, the Tend of Map for Miramonte Phase 8 complies with the maximum allowable disturbed area set forth in the handbook, as well as handbook requirements related to slope gradients and revegetation. This slide here shows the proposed site plan. Although the site is designated as LMDR 14, the subdivision is proposed to be developed with single family or SF6 design standards provided in the handbook. As designed, the project conforms to the handbook's LMDR 14 design standards. So this slide shows the proposed landscape plan. Preliminary landscape plan submitted with this request shows formal landscaped areas and revegetated slopes. The handbook defers to the SPARCS municipal code for landscaping standards for residential development. And each residential lot will have front and rear yards with one tree per standard lot as a minimum and four trees per corner lot as a minimum. Landscaping strips a minimum of five feet in width are located on the exterior of corner lots and residential sidewalks and responsibility for maintenance shall be assigned with a final map. So there's an updated traffic impact analysis provided with this application that estimates 142 detached single-family homes will generate 1,291 average daily trips, with 99 of these trips in the a.m. peak hour and 132 of these trips in the p.m. peak hour. based on ITE trip generation manual, the 12th edition. Compared to the 448 unit townhome subdivision approved for this site back in 2017, this level of trip generation represents 1,080 fewer average daily trips, 72 fewer a.m. peak hour trips, and 74 fewer p.m. peak hour trips. The updated traffic impact analysis did not recommend any changes to the established road network and city staff concur with its findings. So with the background and analysis done, we can move on to the findings that the planning commission must consider this evening. The tentative map request is for 142 lot single family detached. The proposed subdivision will provide additional residential units in Sparks consistent with the Sparks Comprehensive Plan, advancing goals MG6, H2, H3, and policies MG11 and H2. This tentative map plans show sidewalks will be provided on both sides of the local and collector streets, providing access to the lots, complying with policy C4. and plans for the provision of water, sewer, streets, and stormwater infrastructure were contemplated with the approval of the previous 2017 and with this one as well. Subject to these improvements, the city services can be provided at acceptable levels to serve the 142 lots proposed with this tentative map complying with policy CF1. So for conformance with the city street master plan per finding T2 project access is provided from Belmar Drive. No additional street improvements are required to implement this project. Trip generation for this tentative map request is estimated at 1,291 average daily trips with 132 PM peak hour trips. These trips were analyzed in comparison to previous 2017 trip generation analysis and found to be less than those estimated at that time, supporting finding T7. So moving on to finding T3, NDOW, the Nevada Department of Wildlife provided a comment letter, but did not request any conditions of approval. That comment letter is provided in your packets. The Washoe County School District also provided a comment letter indicating that existing schools can accommodate the student demand potentially generated by this project. The developer still must meet local county and state requirements regarding environmental impacts per condition six. Finding T4 focuses on the availability of water to serve the site. Here the domestic water requirement for 142 single family residential units is estimated at 127.67 acre feet per year. Municipal water service will be provided by existing infrastructure by Truckee Meadows Water Authority or TUMWA and water rights must be in place or dedicated with final maps, condition number seven. Finding T5 looks at the availability of utilities to serve the site. including sewer and storm drain capacity. 142 single family residential units are estimated to generate 149,100 gallons of sewage per day. The applicant is required to demonstrate there is adequate sewer capacity to serve the project prior to submittal of a final map. The final grading and drainage plan for the development must be reviewed and approved prior to submittal of a final map for the project, condition eight. And NV Energy will provide electricity and natural gas services. Electric, telephone and cable services will be extended underground within the roadway right of way to serve this development. And a final stormwater and drainage plan for the development must also be approved prior to, approving a final map. So finding T6 looks at the availability of schools, police, pardon me, transportation and parks. For schools, the project site is zoned for Moss Elementary School, Mendive Middle School and Reed High School. Sparks Police Department will provide services to the site and they express no concern with the current proposal. As previously discussed, no roadway network improvements are needed to accommodate the proposed subdivision. The Regional Transportation Commission, RTC, did not provide a comment letter in response to this tentative map request. Two developed parks are located within a half mile of the proposed subdivision. Canyon Hills Park is located at the intersection of Los Altos Parkway and Belmar Drive, southwest of the proposed subdivision. Sage Canyon Park is located at the intersection of Vista Heights Drive and Earthstone Drive, northwest of the proposed subdivision. Finding T8 addresses floodplain slopes and soil. The lots proposed with this subdivision do not fall within the 100-year floodplain. As I discussed earlier in this presentation, the tentative map for Miramonte phase eight complies with the maximum allowable disturbed areas set forth in the handbook, as well as the handbook requirements related to slope gradients and revegetation. An operations and maintenance manual that identifies ongoing and long-term maintenance of created slopes in common areas for use by the Landscape Maintenance Association, LMA, or Homeowners Association, HOA, must be submitted for review and approval by the administrator prior to the approval of a final map, condition 15. For soils, a final geotechnical report is required at time of the final map, and that's condition 11. In regard to outside agency responses per finding T9, city staff received comments from NDOW and the Washoe County School District, which are addressed in T6. No comments were provided by other outside agencies regarding this application. And finding T10 asks you to consider the availability of fire protection services. Fire protection service will be provided by the Sparks Fire Department. Municipal water service for the containment of fires will be provided by TUMWA as described in finding T4. And finding T11 looks to other impacts identified in staff's analysis of the proposal. Here we've identified landscaping and architecture for the residences. And condition 17 requires final architectural elevations be approved prior to approving a final map. Conditions 13 and 18 require landscaping plans be submitted prior to the approval of a final map that will include landscaping strips, a minimum of five feet in width that are located on the exterior side yard of corner lots between residential fences and sidewalks. And finally, finding T-12 requires the public be notified of this item. The posting of the agenda for this meeting and city council serve to provide noticing to the public. The staff does recommend the planning commission forward a recommendation of approval of this tentative map request to the city council. And the recommended motion is on the screen for your convenience. With that, I am here for any question as is the applicant and their team. Thank you, Danny.

Do any of the commissioners have questions for Danny? You do? Go ahead.

Yeah, go ahead. It talks about landscaping and open space. Let's talk briefly about what that administrative review looks like once the applicant gets to that point.

It wouldn't be an administ... Could you ask the, I'm sorry.

Yeah, no worries. So on there, it says that... like vegetative areas, typical front yards for review and approval by the administrator prior to the approval of the final map. Could you just shed some light? Because we had a question earlier from the public about what that would look like. the administrative review. I guess this is staff's review of the final plan.

Right. Yeah. Thank you very much for the question. If I may. When a final map and the associated final improvement plans are submitted, we look to see that the proposed landscaping for these laws is in compliance with the handbook. In this case, this handbook directs staff to the Sparks Municipal Code, the landscaping section. So we will be looking to make sure that whatever is being provided there is in compliance with the landscaping code in this function. That answers my question.

Okay, thank you. Anyone else? Question for Danny? Okay, and you said the applicant was here? Is the applicant here? There we go.

Good evening, Madam Chair, Commissioners, John Kropotik, I'm with KLS Planning representing D.R. Horton, the applicant. As I shared with you at the study session, You know, we're completely happy with the staff report, working with staff with the conditions as proposed. I did send in a PowerPoint if you wanted me to go through it. I don't need to go through it. And certainly we're here for any questions. We have leadership from D.R. Horton with us and our civil engineer, Ken Anderson, I think has done a phenomenal job on this. And so we're very pleased with where it's at, unless you want me to go through the PowerPoint.

How long is the presentation? Okay, would you all like to see the presentation?

Okay, we're fine.

Thank you very much. Are there any questions for him? Okay, very good. Thank you. Appreciate it. Okay, and this is a public hearing? No, no.

Here I'd like to make a motion to forward a recommendation of approval to the City Council for the tentative map request STM 26-0001 associated with PCN 04051 adopting findings T1 through T12 and the fact supporting these findings as set forth in the staff report and subject to conditions of approval one through 18.

We have a motion by Commissioner Reed and a second by Commissioner Newberlin. Is there any discussion? Seeing no discussion, please cast your vote. Okay, and the motion's approved. Thanks for being here. So we're at 7.3 PCN05100, BE26-0004. Hey, Kim. I'm back. You're back.

Good evening, Chair and members of the Planning Commission. Kim Mok, Planning Technician, subbing for Scott Carey. This is a building elevation review for a new 11,170 square foot childcare facility located at 5020 Ion Court. The subject site is part of the Kiley-Rent South Plan Development Handbook. It's located in the Spanish Springs Medical Center and is located across Ion Court from Miguel Sepulveda Elementary School. The Kiley Ranch South Plan Development Handbook designates the subject site as office park and identifies the site as parcel 4EC and is subject to the office park development and design standards of the handbook. The handbook was originally approved in 1993 and was most recently amended in November of 2022 to modify the design standards for the subject site and others in the Kiley Ranch office park. Similar to the Stonebrook plan development and legends of Sparks Marina handbooks, the amendment added the requirement for a building elevation review. The handbook allows for staff level review and approval of new construction projects through the city's administrative review process. Concurrent with this request, staff is reviewing an AR for the project itself. The handbook's office park development and design standards require buildings to be aesthetically pleasing and compatible with materials and colors used in adjacent buildings. The front of the proposed building will be oriented to the east and will face away from Ion Drive. The applicant proposes a modern gray stucco building facade with iron ore trim, a paved stone stucco accent, and an Eldorado stone, cliff stone masonry veneer. Staff has reviewed the color and material palette and find that it is compatible with the established architectural character of the surrounding office park. Section 4A.C.1 of the handbook requires that the proposed building be reviewed for conformance with the design standards of the handbook by the property owner, which is Spanish Springs Medical LLC. Exhibit five in your packet is a copy of this approval letter. Overall, city staff recommends approval of this building elevation request. Staff finds the proposed building elevations comply with the office park development and design standards of the Kiley Ranch South Plan Development Handbook. Additionally, staff finds that the proposed building design is aesthetically pleasing and is compatible with materials and colors used in adjacent buildings of the Kiley Ranch Office Park. That concludes my presentation and the applicant Justin Rowe is available if the commission has any questions.

Okay, very good. Does anybody have questions for Kim? Okay, and is the applicant here? Would you like to speak? Would you like to speak? Okay, does anybody have questions for the applicant? Okay, seeing no questions, we can have a motion.

Madam Chair, I move to approve the architectural elevations for the proposed 11,170 square foot childcare building as proposed in BE26-0004 in fulfillment of the requirements at 4th in the Kiley Ranch South Plan Development Handbook. And I second.

Okay, we have a motion by Commissioner Priestess and a second by Commissioner Rawson. Is there any discussion? Okay, seeing no discussion, please cast your vote. Very good, and the motion passes. Thank you for being here. We always need more daycares. Or preschool, preschool or daycare?

It's a daycare facility, but it's wonderful.

Very good, thank you. Okay, public hearing items. 8.1, public hearing, PCN26-0009, CU26-0010.

Sorry, just one second.

But your slides show up again. I know. There we go.

There we go. Good evening, Chair, members of the Planning Commission. For the record, Kobe Guano, Planner with the City of Sparks. This item is a request for a conditional use permit to allow for the operation of a billiards parlor or a pool hall in the MUD, MUC zoning district or mixed use district dash mixed use commercial on an 11.5 acre site located on the corner of North McCarran Boulevard and Prater Way. The proposed billiards parlor falls under the minor recreational facility uses defined in sparks municipal code, which is contingent upon approval of a conditional use permit by the planning commission. The project site is currently developed with six commercial buildings totaling approximately 86,030 square feet, which contain a wide variety of commercial uses. The applicant is proposing to occupy a 4,542 square foot tenant space within the Northwestern Commercial Building. The previous use of the tenant space was Pure Country, which operated both as a bar and a dance hall. As proposed, Shark Den is a billiards parlor facility providing pool tables for open play, league play, and tournaments in conjunction with a bar or lounge use. Here's some photos showing the existing building on the screen. Staff analyzed three main components with this request, access and parking, traffic, and compatibility. Primary access to the project site is provided from existing driveways on East Prater Way and East I Street. Sparks Peninsula Code requires one parking space for every 200 square feet of gross building floor area for a minor recreational facility use. Based on the 4,542 square foot tenant space, the proposed use requires 23 parking spaces. And in total, Sparks Peninsula Code requires 282 parking spaces for all existing and proposed uses within the commercial center. The site currently provides 485 shared parking spaces serving all of the existing tenants. According to the trip generation letter provided with the application, the minor recreational facility use is estimated to generate a total of 183 daily weekday trips and 362 weekend daily trips with 29 of those trips in the PM peak hour. This estimated level of trip generation is below the threshold of 80 peak hour trips that would require a full traffic study. City transportation staff has reviewed the trip generation letter provided by the applicant and had no objections to the findings. Although nearby residential neighborhoods exist north and east of the shopping center, the proposed billiards parlor and standard operations are contained indoors within the existing building and are separated by internal access roads, other commercial uses and public streets. The closest residential use are single family homes, which are located approximately 220 linear feet to the north. Staff believe the proposed use is compatible with the existing character of the commercial shopping center and the surrounding properties. With the background analysis concluded, I'll transition over to the five required findings, all of which staff can make. For finding C1, use of the subject site as a pool hall directly provides Sparks residents with access to recreation in support of policy CC7. The proposed use supports goal MG2 by expanding recreation opportunities available within the city and encouraging reinvestment in existing commercial center. In addition, allowing the proposed use within an appropriately zoned commercial development supports a local operated business in accordance with policy EV6. For finding C2, Staff believe the proposed minor recreational facility is compatible with the surrounding land uses because it'll occupy an existing tenant space without expanding the current commercial footprint or modifying the site's access. The subject site is again located in this established commercial shopping center that has historically accommodated a wide variety of retail, restaurant, bar and lounge, financial institution, medical office, and personal service uses. Surrounding properties are generally developed with a mix of commercial uses with an undeveloped property owned by Truckee Meadows Water Authority and commercial center to the west. An apartment complex located further to the east across North McCarran Boulevard and a commercial center to the south across East Prater Way. However, those existing single family residences are located in north, which again are approximately 220 linear feet away. For these reasons, staff believes that finding C2 can be made. For finding C3, the potential impairment of natural resources and the total population which available natural resources will support without reasonable impairment was previously considered when the site was assigned a mixed use commercial land use designation within the city's comprehensive plan. City staff does not believe approval of this conditional use permit will impair the availability of those natural resources. Finding C4 relates to mitigating impacts through conditions. The applicant has indicated that operational hours will generally occur between 12 p.m. and 12 a.m. Monday through Friday and between 9 a.m. and 12 a.m. Friday through Sunday. Staff is proposing condition of approval number five to limit the hours of operation for the, excuse me, I have a typo in here. for the pool hall to be from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Sunday. This is intended to allow flexibility for the applicant's operations while still maintaining or mitigating noise from late night operations. Proposed condition of approval number six requires all event activities associated with the proposed pool hall occur indoors within the existing building unless a temporary use permit is attained at least seven days prior to an outdoor event in accordance with the applicable provisions of Sparks Municipal Code for outdoor events. In addition, the application for the temporary use permit would need to include a parking plan to make sure that the site's able to accommodate all of the parking. For finding C-5, public notice was sent to 61 property owners and published in RGJ on August 6th, 2026, as prescribed by NRS and the Sparks Municipal Code. And as of today, staff has received no public comment for this case. Staff believes that the required findings can be made and is recommending that the Planning Commission approve the conditional use permit. And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Are there any questions for Kobe? Seeing no questions for Kobe, is the applicant here? Any questions for Mr. Kapanek? Okay, I think we're good. Thank you. Please, oh, this is a public hearing. Yeah, this was a public hearing. Is there anybody from the public wanting to make a comment on this item specifically? Okay, seeing nobody from the public wanting to make a comment, please cast your votes.

Sorry, my bad. I move to approve conditional use permit CU 26-0010 associated with PCN 26-0009 to establish a minor recreational facility for a billiards parlor within a 4,542 square foot portion of an existing commercial building located at 520 East Prater Way APN 033-151-09 based on finding C1 through C5 and the fact supporting these findings as set forth in the staff report and subject to the eight conditions of approval.

I second. Okay, we have a motion by Commissioner Niederle and a second by Commissioner Cramer. Is there any discussion? Okay, seeing no discussion, please cast your vote. Okay, and the motion passes. Thank you, appreciate it. Congratulations, thank you. Okay, now we go to 8.2. I'm gonna go PCN 07056026-0018. Y'all are busy tonight. We are very busy. Good evening.

I am still Dani Ray planning, city planner. And this is a request for a conditional use permit to establish a major utility, a new dewatering facility over at the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility or TUMWRF and to allow for the intensification of this facility without providing the required amount of landscaping. Development Services Manager Scott Carey is the planner of record for this item, but he is on leave, so I'll be presenting in his stead. Casey Mentzer, Director of the Tumor Facility, is here tonight with members of his team, and he can answer any technical questions related to the project or any specific processes that you have questions about. The subject site is part of the overall 247.42 acre Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility site. The Tumor facility is charged with the task of treating wastewater, responsibly reuse and discharge reclaimed water for the city and the region. The project site for the proposed dewatering facility is located at the rear of the Tumworth facility shown here at the Southern end, right along this area here. Over on the left, Right here, you can see the location of the existing dewatering building. The proposed project includes the construction of the new dewatering facility, including an approximately 8,600 square foot dewatering building, cake storage silos, an odor control system, an electric yard, and associated utility infrastructure. So for some background, Tunmorph has been in operation serving the city and region since 1967. In the 1980s, the existing dewatering facility was constructed. The Tunmorph site was annexed into the city of Sparks in 2009 and given its underlying CF master plan land use designation and PF zoning designation. Dewatering is the process in which pollutants removed during wastewater treatment are centrifuged and concentrated into a biosolid product suitable for landfill disposal. If you have questions about what this all means, again, we have Director Casey Mentzer available for any technical questions about this process. A major utility use is for the larger utility uses such as sewer treatment facility or a power plant. A major utility use is permitted in the PF zoning district with approval of a CUP. So here are images of the existing dewatering facility on the site. The building will remain on the site unused until such time in the future when a new use will be considered, such as for boiler equipment or other necessary use. Here are images of the proposed dewatering facility. Let you look at that for a minute. So Tumwarp was legally and lawfully established prior to the adoption of the Sparks Municipal Code. However, it's considered substandard in part because it does not meet landscaping requirements in the current code. Because the new dewatering facility will be taller than the existing facility, the proposed project is considered intensification of a substandard development. Typically this would trigger a landscaping requirement. The Sparks Municipal Code allows for changes and enlargements to a substandard development without providing the required proportion of landscaping when considered through the CUP process and proposed changes are not detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare. For sites located in the PF or public facilities zoning district, the Sparks Municipal Code requires 20% of the site to be formally landscaped. In addition, SMC requires one tree for every 500 square feet of minimum landscaped area and one tree for every 30 feet of public street frontage and one tree for every seven parking spaces. For the 2.5 acre project site where the dewatering facility is proposed, a total of 21,780 square feet of landscaped area and approximately 45 trees would be required. Installing landscaping on the Tumworth site is highly challenging due to the facility's unique operational safety and environmental conditions. Because of how the facility was developed over several decades to serve the region, existing site constraints would force any required landscaping to be placed along the perimeter of Tumworth. TUMOR staff have engaged the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to identify physical security vulnerabilities and best practices for the site. As part of this effort, the agency has recommended removing vegetation from both sides of the exterior fencing to maintain clear visibility and unobstructed sight lines along the security perimeter. Installing landscaping and trees in these areas would introduce additional security risks, including creating hiding places or opportunities for climbing and breaching perimeter fencing. Another challenge to the site is that Tumorf contains extensive subsurface infrastructure, such as force mains, electrical duct banks, communication conduits, and chemical distribution piping. Many commonly used landscaping species have root systems capable of intruding into underground pipes, joints and conduits, potentially disrupting critical operations and affecting regional environmental permit compliance. The CUP process outlined in the SPARCS municipal code also provides flexibility in determining the amount of landscaping required for a substandard development. Based on the operational constraints, extensive subservice infrastructure and security considerations for the Tom Wharf site, staff find that providing the generally required landscaping would not serve as a buffer for neighboring uses and is not operationally feasible. Staff further conclude that allowing the project to proceed without the required landscaping will not be detrimental to the public health, safety or welfare and is consistent with the intent of the CUP process and the substandard development provisions of the code. Now to the five required findings for a CUP. The proposed dewatering facility without the general required amount of landscaping advances goal CF1. by upgrading critical city-owned infrastructure to meet current operational needs and preparing Tamor for future water capacity demands. The project resolves longstanding space constraints by relocating dewatering operations from a confined non-expandable building to a more suitable footprint capable of supporting both current functions and future growth. Project further supports policy RC2 and goal RC2 by strengthening Tom Morris' ability to meet federal and state water quality standards for the Truckee River and improving the facility's resilience to environmental changes, including extended droughts and extreme weather events. By upgrading a modernized shared infrastructure, the proposed project supports policy CD12, which calls for cooperation among regional partners to maintain and improve joint use facilities. Enhancing the dewatering system strengthens the reliability and performance of the overall TUMWRF, which serves multiple jurisdictions and relies on longstanding interagency coordination. So immediately to the north of the subject site is the Truckee River and the Truckee River Pathway. Further to the north across the Truckee River is a developed industrial property that's currently operated as an automotive salvage yard, pick and pull. To the east are vacant lands under the jurisdiction of Story County that have a resource master plan land use and forestry zoning. To the south are vacant lands owned by the Bureau of Land Management or BLM that are designated with open space land use and zoning by Washoe County. To the west is a portion of the Universal Farms operated by the University of Nevada, Reno. This property is located within the city's sphere of influence and designated open space with a GR or general rural zoning by Washoe County. Staff does not believe that approval of the CUP would impair the availability of natural resources or the region's ability to support its population. The subject site has long been developed with buildings and water reclamation infrastructure and has operated as a wastewater treatment facility for many decades. The proposed dewatering facility directly supports the core purpose of safeguarding natural resources by improving treatment reliability, increasing system capacity, and ensuring continued compliance with federal and state water quality standards as the region grows. Because the project strengthens Essential wastewater infrastructure, rather than increasing demand for natural resources, staff conclude that it will not impair resource availability or the region's ability to support its population. Instead, the improvements enhance the facility's long-term capacity to manage wastewater in a manner that protects natural resources. And finding C4 looks to address identified impacts. So proposed condition of approval number five requires the applicant to submit colored architectural elevations that are in substantial conformance with those included in the CUP application. During review of the CUP request, the Sparks Fire Department provided several formal comments regarding the proposed project. These comments address technical assistance requirements, automatic fire sprinkler and fire alarm systems, fire department connections, hazardous materials review and necessary fire apparatus access, water supply and construction related permits. Proposed condition of approval number six requires the applicant to comply with all fire department comments to the satisfaction of the fire marshal prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the dewatering facility. And finally, public notice was published in the Reno Gazette Journal on August 6th. Notices were also mailed to 50 owners of property within 500 feet of the subject's property on August 4th. Staff have not received any public comment or inquiries related to this project. So overall, city staff recommends approval of the CUP request. Staff believes the proposed major utility and proposal to intensify a substandard development without providing landscaping are in conformance with the goals and policies of the comprehensive plan, is compatible with adjacent uses, and will not adversely impact the health and safety of residents, visitors, and businesses within the city. Tunmorph occupies a large isolated site, with no neighboring residential or commercial uses. The major utility, the proposed dewatering facility is located at the rear of the property adjacent to underdeveloped lands offering significant separation from any surrounding uses. As proposed improvements would occur entirely within established Tumor footprint and are therefore consistent with the type and intensity of activities historically conducted on the site. Based on the operational constraints, extensive subsurface infrastructure and security considerations of the Tom Wharf site, staff find that providing the general required landscaping would not serve as a buffer for neighboring uses and is not operational. operationally feasible. So that concludes my presentation. As I said, Director Menser is here along with members of his team and the recommended motion is on your screen. That concludes my presentation. Thank you.

Does anybody have any questions for Danny? No, I just have one. Do we know what the percentage of enhancement or accommodation of our, what's the word I'm trying to think of? Thank you, capacity is the word. Thank you, exactly. That would be a technical question for Director Mincer. If you'd like to come down. I've been curious about that. Okay. Please identify yourself.

All right. Yes. Casey Menser, Talmorp director for the record. And if you could please repeat the question.

What percentage does this new facility increase the capacity?

So... Currently, our existing capacity with the dewatering facilities that exist today has been identified as being roughly what we currently have, which is 30 million gallons per day. For us, capacity is defined with a certain level of redundancy being provided. Right now, we have two existing centrifuges and they both run all of the time. So we're effectively already at our capacity. This proposed facility will be bringing us up to our permitted maximum capacity of 44 million gallons per day with a level of redundancy that is sufficient.

Okay, because that's a big question that we get all the time is, do we have a sewer capacity for more development? So in terms of numbers of houses, can you give us an estimate of what that increased capacity looks like?

Right, so as I said, going from 30 million gallons per day with zero redundancy to 44 million gallons per day with an appropriate level of redundancy, each ERU or equivalent residential unit produces approximately 165 gallons per day of wastewater. So it'd be roughly 14 million, which is several thousand single family homes equivalent.

Thank you, any other questions?

I have a question. With this increased capacity, and obviously you'd be creating more of the solid waste, do you anticipate that there'd be significantly more traffic in terms of trucks coming to haul it away? Or are you sort of at a point right now where you have the capacity to load more than you currently are?

So we do have the design for the Hopper, the cake storage facility, which is what the dewatered biosolids product is called. That stores a sufficient amount for us to be able to maintain a reasonable level of of truck travel and space it out over however many days in the weekend. So to your question, obviously, as we get more flow, then we'll have a proportionate amount of increased truck traffic. Our existing dewatering facility has that storage capability. And so there's not a difference in terms of what we could store and then haul out of the existing facility. It's more so about the actual processing equipment. And so that won't be changing between the existing and the proposed. Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Do you want to add anything?

Yeah, Dylan Mannies with Jacobs Engineering, for the record. Adding the new centrifuges would add about 85,000 homes worth of capacity for dewater. Now, that doesn't mean it's the entire plant's capacity. There's multiple systems that would...

Okay, very good. Thank you so much. Any other questions?

So I just, this is not the only sewer treatment facility. There's one south of Reno that the county owns. There's one in North Reno as well, right? And there's a couple more that are probably in the works as well. So this is not just a one-stop shop. There are a variety of, areas within this community that we have wastewater treatment plants, correct?

For the Truckee Meadows and for our surrounding area, that is correct. For the city of Sparks, we are your one-stop shop. Right.

But we have other availability in other areas. That is correct, yes.

Any other questions? No? Okay, thank you, gentlemen. Thank you. Appreciate it. if we could have a motion. Oh, sorry. Is there any public here to comment on this item specifically? Okay, seeing no public, would you like to add a motion?

Madam Chair, I move to approve the conditional use permit CU26-0011 associated with PCN 07056 to establish a major utility facility, a new dewatering facility for operations at the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility and intensify a substandard development without providing the generally required amount of landscaping for intensification of a substandard development on a 2.5 acre portion of the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility site located at 8500 Clean Water Way, APN 021-020-02, based on finding C1 through C5 and the fact supporting these findings as set forth in the staff report and subject to the six conditions of approval.

Second.

That's why I didn't want to make that. Wow.

We have a motion by Commissioner Kramer and a second by Commissioner Niederland. Is there any discussion? Okay, no discussion. Please cast your vote. Okay, and the motion passes. Thank you. And agenda item 8.3, public hearing PCN 0154 CU26-0009.

Good evening again, Chair and members of the Planning Commission. Again, Coby Guano, planner with the City of Sparks. This next item is a request for a conditional use permit to allow for the operation of an event center in the C2 zoning district on a 5.6 acre site located on the corner of Greenbrae Drive and Pyramid Way. The proposed event center falls under the event center banquet hall use as defined in Sparks Municipal Code, which is contingent upon approval of the conditional use permit by the Planning Commission. I would like to note that the tenants previously did hold a city business license for an event center. However, a conditional use permit was never issued for that use prior to the business license issuance. Through a building investigation, it did come to staff's attention that the tenant space was expanded within the building without a building permit. Due to that expansion of the event center use, staff is requiring the applicants to obtain a conditional use permit and the applicants are working with the building department to permit the construction and undergo proper inspections to ensure safety and that it was all constructed according to code. The project site is currently developed with a 53,410 square foot two-story multi-tenant commercial building. one 31,380 square foot, one-story multi-tenant commercial building, and an 892 square foot drive-through building, which is Dutch Bros. The two primary buildings were constructed as part of the second phase of the Greenbrae Shopping Center in the 1960s, and then Dutch Bros was constructed in 2024. The applicant is proposing to occupy the southeast portion of the larger existing building, or Suite E, which is approximately 9,242. Again, that's in front of my mouse, this area here in this building. It's that old bowling alley, tennis space. The applicant or El Grande Events Center is a private events facility that is proposing to host large gatherings for parties, weddings, birthday parties, or similar. The applicants are proposing to hold these events Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And then during the remaining weekdays or when events are not scheduled, the facilities proposed to operate is a typical bar lounge use, which is permitted in the C2 zoning district by right. And again, these are just some photos. The first one being the exterior of the building, and then the other ones are the interior. Staff analyzed three main components with the request. Primary access to the project site is provided from existing driveways on Greenbrae and Pyramid Way. A SPARCS municipal code requires one parking space for every 150 square feet of building floor area for an event center banquet hall use. Based on the 9,242 square foot tenant space, the proposed use requires 62 parking spaces. In total, SMC requires a total of 271 parking spaces for all existing proposed uses on the subject site. The site currently provides 298 shared parking spaces that serve all existing tenants. It should be noted that the previous use of, I already stated that it was the bowling alley in that tenant space, excuse me. According to the trip generation letter provided, the bar lounge use is estimated to generate a total of 600 daily trips with four of those trips in the a.m. peak hours and 60 of those trips in the p.m. peak hour. During scheduled events on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, the project is anticipated to generate approximately 77 peak hour trips based on the maximum attendance of 300 guests, both of which are below the City of Sparks established threshold for requiring a traffic impact analysis. The bar and lounge use would be closed to non-attendees during scheduled events. So overlap of the two operations would not occur. And city transportation staff has reviewed that trip generation letter. And again, has no objections to its findings. Although nearby residential neighborhoods exist north and east of the shopping center, the proposed use is contained indoors within the existing building and is separated by internal access roads and other commercial buildings on the site, as well as public streets. The closest residential use is an apartment complex off of Richards Place that is approximately 170 linear feet to the northeast. And staff does believe that the proposed use is compatible with the existing character of the commercial shopping center, its historic uses, and the surrounding properties. Moving on to the five required findings the Planning Commission is required to make in order to approve, all of which staff can make. For finding C1, the proposal does not require expansion of the existing buildings or public infrastructure and all necessary public services are currently available to serve the site consistent with policy CF1. The proposed use would advance policy EV2 by broadening Sparks Entertainment's social event offerings. These gatherings often draw extended family and guests from across the region, bringing visitors who may not otherwise travel to the region. In addition, allowing the proposed use within an appropriately zoned commercial development supports a locally operated business in accordance with policy EV6. For finding C2. The subject site is located in an established commercial shopping center that is historically accommodated a variety of retail, restaurant, office, health club, and personal service uses. The surrounding properties are developed with a mix of commercial uses, a park to the west, and an apartment complex located to the northeast of the site. Staff believes the proposed event center is compatible with the surrounding land uses because it'll occupy an existing tenant space without expanding the existing commercial footprint or modifying the site. And operational impacts related to parking and hours of operation are addressed through the conditions of approval. And for those reasons, staff believes finding C2 can't be made. The potential impairment of natural resources in the total population which available natural resources will support without reasonable impairment was previously considered when the site was assigned a commercial land use designation within the city's comprehensive plan. City staff does not believe approval of the CUP or conditional use permit will impair the availability of those natural resources. And finding C4 relates to mitigating impacts through conditions. Proposed condition number five limits the approved hours of operation for the event center from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday through Sunday while allowing the existing bar lounge to continue operating as otherwise permitted by right within the C2 zoning district. Proposed condition of approval number six further requires all event activities to occur within the building with limited accommodations for food trucks and outdoor catering associated with scheduled events. These conditions are intended to minimize potential impacts to surrounding businesses and nearby residential properties while allowing the proposed use to operate as represented by the application. Proposed condition of approval number six would also require, or excuse me, restrict food truck and outdoor catering for events not to extend beyond 10 p.m. and would limit food truck or similar to outdoor catering operations to the area outlined in blue as shown on the screen. this area here. So it's not... Yeah, so that's as to make sure that we're not staging in the area where normal circulation throughout the parking lot is occurring. It's also... Yeah, yeah, with the roofs. But yeah, and it's also directly adjacent to the tenant space as well. To cover parking again, the proposed use requires 62 parking spaces. Total required parking for the commercial center is 271, and the currently provided number is 298. And I'd also like to point out again that the bar and lounge use would be closed to non-attendees during the scheduled events, so there would be no overlap of the two operations within that tenant space at the same time. Proposed condition of approval number seven is intended to place the burden of parking provisions on this discretionary use and protect the by right commercial uses by requiring the event center to submit an updated parking analysis if parking conditions intensify due to changes in by right uses or intensity of the uses on the site. That would essentially allow the planning commission to reconsider the conditional use permit if necessary, and possibly add new or more stringent conditions to the conditional use permit or revoke the conditional use permit. For finding C-5, public notice was sent to 85 property owners and published in RDJ on August 6th, 2026, as prescribed by NRS and the Sparks Municipal Code. And as of today, staff has received one public comment being-

Okay. Are there any questions for the applicant?

Welcome back.