Planning Commission approves remediation-services permit for Patriot Environmental with firewall, flood plan and storage conditions

The Sparks Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit allowing remediation services and associated outdoor storage at 2302 Larkin Circle, subject to nine conditions that address separation from adjacent operations, flood mitigation and outdoor storage controls.

Scott Carey, the city’s development services manager, described the proposal from Patriot Environmental (a subsidiary of Crystal Clean LLC) to occupy a portion of an existing industrial building on Larkin Circle for environmental remediation and response operations. Carey said Patriot currently operates at the site and that remediation services are allowed in the industrial zoning district with approval of a CUP. "We will not issue a permanent business license until these conditions of approval ... are satisfied," Carey told the commission when staff described enforcement and licensing steps.

Carey reviewed three primary staff concerns: the need for a fire-rated separation between adjacent tenants, how outdoor storage would be controlled, and flood risk because the Truckee River is 900–1,000 feet north of the site and much of the parcel is within FEMA flood zone AE. Staff said the outdoor storage area would be within secured fenced areas on the north and west portions of the property and estimated the outdoor storage footprint at approximately 9,718 square feet; the motion approving the CUP later described the permit area as a 9,452-square-foot portion of the building (both figures appear in the hearing record).

Carey said operations on the site involve sealed waste containers and equipment storage, no long-term hazardous-material consolidation on-site, and federal/state rules that require materials be transferred off-site for final disposal within 10 days or less. He said there are no liquid transfers on-site and that, under Sparks code and state law thresholds, the quantities on-site do not meet the definition of a hazardous-materials use under the fire code. The Fire Marshal, Pat Chu, was not at the hearing but Carey relayed the marshal’s support for the proposed condition requiring a separation wall.

Representatives of the owner and operator said they are working to bring the site into compliance. Chris Schuberg, real estate operations manager for Crystal Clean LLC, said, "We certainly ... want to make sure we are compliant and, moving this thing in the right direction." Gary Mosser, facility director of operations, said the property owner has contracted a builder and that wall construction is expected to begin soon; Mosser estimated permitting and construction would likely take about 60 to 90 days.

Carey said the city had issued a provisional business license while Patriot pursued the CUP; the provisional license was described in the hearing record as expiring at the end of the month. Staff said it would not issue a permanent business license until the specified conditions had been satisfied; staff also noted the fire department has scheduled code compliance inspections and would perform an annual inspection in September.

Commissioner Sperber moved to approve the conditional use permit; Commissioner Nieberlin seconded and the motion passed. The staff recommendation and the adopted conditions require installation of a fire-rated separation wall to the satisfaction of the building official and fire marshal, preparation of a flood mitigation plan, designation of outdoor storage areas behind secured fencing, and a landscaping inventory and maintenance plan. Staff recorded two public comments in the file expressing no opposition and one other inquiry; no public speakers appeared at the hearing.