The developers waited until two whole days after the election.
Last Thursday, Summit Engineering held a raucous mandatory neighborhood meeting inside the corpse of the now-defunct Garden Shop. (“Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” Barbwire 20 Sept. 2016)
Following the letter but not the spirit of local Phariseean protocol, the pros only served notice to those ensconced within 750 feet. The usual surprise-attack complaints from angry neighbors were expressed. Loudly.
The only reason I knew was TV-4’s followup which you will find linked to the expanded Internet edition of this column at Barbwire.US/
As I noted in September, this presents Washoe County commissioners with a minor opportunity to make up for the $13.5 million debacle perpetrated by their predecessors in losing the huge Ballardini Ranch to bulldozers.
The Nov. 10 event dripped with chutzpah. City of Reno representative Jeff Borchardt attended as a “mediator,” according to TV-4 reporter Diane Thao. However, the land in question, at Mayberry and W. McCarran, is not only outside city limits but also surrounded by county parkland from Mayberry all the way south to Plumb Lane.
Do Summit and Reno City Hall know something we don’t? Bet on it.
Thao noted that the next step is “the planning commission.” Hmm. Does not something involving two jurisdictions first need to go before the Regional Planning Governing Board?
Annexation would create a 3.77-acre city island. I wonder about contiguousness. Checkerboard annexation was illegal last time I looked. (Stead is the only exception of which I am aware. That came decades ago and probably involved legislative permission.)
A few years back when Reno was looking at a northern Washoe project, the city developed a very creative annexation gerrymander to make the far-flung rural property contiguous with the city although nowhere near it. The project was never built.
The Bath family owns the property. My sources say they plan to go mondo condo with 20 or so luxury units. Ms. Thao reported that “Summit president Tom Gallagher would not confirm how many lots they were interested in building, but he stated they could range from 4,000 to 15,000 square feet.”
The location lies within newly re-elected Commissioner Marsha Berkbigler’s district.
The former Garden Shop could remain a garden, a mini-Rancho San Rafael. Let your public officials know. Now.
MEA CULPA. Last week, I was one year off describing county commission refusal to raise taxes for schools. It was 2013. The Washoe County School District was the source of research about local car sales increasing when sales taxes were previously hiked.
GET OUTTA DODGE. TV-4 reports that madcap Storey County Sheriff Gerald Cook-Antinoro is now subject of a recall campaign. Read more than you’ll wanna know about this guy linked to this column at Barbwire.US/
GET OUTTA DODGE PART DEUX. A Barbwire reader informed me that the Canadian government immigration website crashed due to overwhelming traffic on Wednesday morning. I wonder why.
Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno.
Andrew Barbano is a 48-year Nevadan and editor of NevadaLabor.com. E-mail <barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us> Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Tribune since 1988.
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