Planning commission partially approves abandonment of two access easements at Sweet Clover property

The Washoe County Planning Commission on April 1 partially approved an application by Sweet Clover Residential Trust to abandon two 40-foot access easements and reduce two public utility easements on a 1.25-acre parcel at 15870 Caswell Lane, retaining a 20-foot public access easement along the northern property line and reducing utility easements to 10 feet as a condition of approval.

Staff said the partial approval balances the applicant’s request and the county’s obligation to preserve potential legal access to two adjoining undeveloped parcels. Cat Oakley, senior planner with Washoe County Planning, recommended retaining 20 feet of the northern easement so the county could make the required findings that no detriment would result.

Oakley said the property was created from government patent parcels under federal land disposition law and that the subject parcel is currently accessed by Caswell Lane. She told commissioners that the northern easement links to two undeveloped parcels that currently use an unpermitted route across U.S. Forest Service land and that the Forest Service indicated those unpermitted accesses “can potentially be legalized if other legal accesses are infeasible.” Oakley said staff received comments from 13 agencies, provided conditions in Exhibit A, and notified 12 parcels adjacent to the easement.

Mark Gunderson, representing the Travis family (the applicants), asked the commission to grant full abandonment of the northern easement, saying the easement has not been used in decades and that building a road there would be difficult and costly. Gunderson said the southern access easement provides existing access to neighbors and that abandoning the northern easement would create no public detriment.

Public commenters split on the request. Several residents on Caswell Lane, including Louise Travis and Alana Wilds, spoke in favor of full abandonment, citing the street’s residential character, mature trees, steep topography, snow removal burdens and a 1993 road maintenance agreement among neighbors. Opponents, including Nancy Davis and residents who use Rose Rock Lane, said abandoning the easement could eliminate a legal access option for two undeveloped parcels and urged the commission to preserve opportunities for legal access. Davis said the parcels behind the subject property currently rely on an unpermitted access across Forest Service land and warned that abandonment could leave properties inaccessible if other options were not legalized.

Commission discussion focused on the narrow legal question of whether the commission could make a finding of “no detriment” required for full abandonment. Commissioner Dan Lazarecki said he could not find no detriment without a developed legal access and supported staff’s partial-approval recommendation. Commissioner Jim Barnes seconded Lazarecki’s motion.

The commission moved that, after giving reasoned consideration to the staff report and public testimony, it partially approve abandonment case WAB24-8 for Sweet Clover Residential Trust by retaining a 20-foot-wide public access easement along the northern property line and imposing the conditions in Exhibit A. The motion passed by voice vote with all present commissioners voting yes.

The decision leaves in place a 20-foot public access easement on the northern boundary and requires the applicant to work with utility providers to relinquish their interest before the utility easements are reduced to 10 feet. Oakley said an applicant could return later with a new application for full abandonment if circumstances change and a legal access to the affected parcels is developed or legalized by the Forest Service.

Appeal information: Planning staff read the appeal procedure at the meeting, noting that decisions of the Planning Commission are appealable to the Board of County Commissioners in writing within 10 calendar days and that planning staff can be contacted at (775) 328-3610 for appeal procedures and fees.