The Sparks City Council voted 4-1 to approve a development agreement for a new townhouse project on Los Altos Parkway Monday night. The "No" vote came from Councilwoman Bybee - the site is in her Ward. The plan is to build 75 townhomes in the Vistas neighborhood. It's the last vacant parcel in the development and the only one that could end up as multi-family housing.
"From a technical perspective, from a staff irrespective, it'd be difficult for finding a basis for saying 'no' on this," said Armando Ornelas, Assistant Community Services Director for the City of Sparks. "Council has some legislative discretion that staff doesn't but the reality is that site has been designated for multi-family development for 30 years so that's been the intended purpose for a long time."
That's according to the Vistas Master Plan, approved in 1988. At that time, several sites were approved for multi-family living - but none were ever built that way. Now, those that live nearby have some concerns.
"I've seen traffic that will not stop for children," said one resident during public comment. "They're standing in the crosswalk and they cannot get across. At the roundabout, I'm worried about somebody's child getting killed."
Some also thought lack of infrastructure was a problem.
"There's no fire station, there's no park, there's no community center," another neighbor told the Council. "And now it's cause to develop this plot that's in the middle of single family homes."
Other areas of concern included parking, noise issues, school overcrowding, crime and strain on emergency services. Every citizen that signed up to speak or put their comments on the record opposes the project.
According to developer, the townhouses will all have two-car garages and average 1,600 square feet. They're estimated to sell for $350,000 to $400,000.
Some council members touched on the topic of tax revenue and how projects like these are helpful to the city as a whole.
"Older homes generate less tax revenue than newer homes so it's an unfortunate aspect of the Nevada tax structure that we do need new development," Ornelas said. "That's something we're looking at very carefully moving forward in terms of really trying to highlight projects and the fiscal impacts on the city, and the city's ability to provide services and infrastructure."
The next step in this process is for the developer to come up with a tentative map for the project, and that timeline is at their discretion. That step is a way to address some of the concerns and questions that residents and Council Members have about this project in a more detailed way. That map will have to go to the Planning Commission and the City Council before a final map can be drawn, so there will be future opportunities for community input and public comment.
