The need for housing in our area continues to be a hot topic.
Reno’s Planning Commission discussed four different housing projects Wednesday night. They denied one set for Military Road, continued another, and approved two others.
One of those plans approved was for West Granger Road. The second one approved and discussed for a long period of time, was a project denied back in 2018.
The Ventana Ridge Housing Development set for North of Peavine Pines Court now has new life, after being approved by the committee by a vote of 5 to 1.
The housing complex is set to have 67 units, down from the originally proposed 75. One of the biggest reasons the project was previously denied was because it didn't meet fire code.
Response time to the nearest station was more than 6 minutes. A requirement change in 2019 however changed that requirement, and the developers adjusted building designs to fit the change.
“Any house built outside the recommended six minute response time is OK, as long as it has sprinklers. So the developer is putting sprinklers into these buildings, so that developer will met the fire code,” said Reno Fire Dept Fire Marshal Tray Palmer. “With wildfires or other medical emergencies, sprinklers are just not going to solve all those problems,” said one local resident to the commission.
The builder changed building plans to reduce the grade of the roadway, put in a snow removal plan, and submitted a vegetation plan to minimize fire risk. Some residents however, have other concerns.
“I feel like I haven't been considered with the commission’s decision. It feels like they are trying to fill every open space. I grew up here. You used to see deer down by Mae Anne. Now you see them all the way up at Peavine. As development continues on Peavine, I am just concerned the deer are going to abandon the area all together,” said John Jorgesson who lives near the Ventana Ridge site.
The two approved developments now go to city council to be approved or denied.
