Neighbors are fighting against a planned housing development in Sparks, hoping to sway the city away from approving it.
The development is planned for a vacant lot on Los Altos Parkway, where it intersects with Vista Heights. The proposal is for 75 town homes on a 7.7 acre parcel, which would have to be rezoned for a multi-family development.
Residents like Nick Williams are fighting it.
"It's just a variety of issues that make it a bad fit for this community," Williams said, citing traffic and safety concerns.
Williams said the whole neighborhood is single-family homes, and he wants it to stay that way.
"I think this would be a wonderful lot for single family homes, or even higher density single family homes with smaller lots, or even single-story single family homes that would be great for senior citizens," Williams said. "It's just high-density, multi-story town homes crammed in as tightly as they can is just a horrible fit for the community."
This is the second time the developer, Landstar Companies, has asked for a zoning change to develop this property. The first time, there was so much opposition to the project from neighbors that Landstar withdrew the request.
Now, they're trying again with a new, lower-density project: 75 homes, rather than the 108 that would be the maximum for that zoning designation.
Still, Williams thinks 75 new homes in that area is too many.
"While I do understand that there's this huge housing imbalance right now, having been in Reno for my whole life, you see this come and go," Williams said, "and these structures are going to be here for the next 30 to 50 years."
City of Sparks staff have already made a recommendation to approve the project. It's up for discussion and a possible vote at the Sparks Planning Commission meeting on Thursday, June 7. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the Sparks City Council Chambers.
If the Planning Commission approves it, it will go to Sparks City Council for a vote.
