Reno planning panel recommends 6–1 in favor of Lakeridge Resort SPD, with traffic and time-limit conditions

RENO — The Reno City Planning Commission recommended approval on Nov. 20 of a proposal to convert 12.5 acres of the Lakeridge Golf Course from Parks, Greenways and Open Space (PGOS) to a Specific Plan District (SPD) that would allow a 100-room non-gaming hotel, 15 villas and limited resort amenities.

Leah Piccati, an associate planner with the City of Reno Development Services, told commissioners the application (LDC25-00061) seeks two changes: a master-plan amendment from PGOS to Suburban Mixed Use for the 12.5-acre parcel, and a zoning change from PGOS to an SPD tailored to the site. Piccati said the SPD limits uses to those shown in a handbook, imposes enhanced residential-adjacency standards (setbacks, shading studies above 35 feet, lighting and signage limits) and would revert the site to PGOS if the handbook’s buildout deadline is not met.

"This is just the first of many" public hearings, Piccati said, explaining the Planning Commission’s action would be a recommendation; City Council and regional planning boards must still review the change.

The applicant, Duncan Golf Management, presented the project as a strategy to sustain the golf course. TJ Duncan, the company president, said the family has operated local courses for decades and described the plan as a way to preserve Lakeridge’s viability. "Our family has invested in the community for more than 45 years," Duncan said. Andy Dirling, the project consultant, said the team reduced the scope of the initial submittal to focus on the clubhouse parcel and had tightened standards for lighting, landscaping, building height and event hours.

The SPD would limit maximum hotel height to 55 feet, add a 2:1 tree mitigation ratio, require 25% landscaping, restrict pickleball courts to daytime hours, and omit gaming. The applicant also proposed sustainability measures — native drought-tolerant planting, at least 10 EV charging spaces, cool-roof membranes and preferred parking for carpool/EV vehicles — and offered to include those measures in the SPD handbook.

Traffic dominated opposition testimony. Residents said the nearby Plumas Street/McCarran Boulevard intersection already operates at or near an unacceptable level of service, and they questioned whether the applicant’s traffic analysis accounted for nearby development and cumulative impacts. "You can't approve projects without requiring traffic studies include this cumulative impact analysis," homeowner Terry Rupert told the Commission.

The applicant’s traffic consultant, GCW, said the project creates roughly 1,700 additional daily trips but that the applicant will pay regional road-impact fees (about $250,000) and, if the regional McCarran widening is not completed before the hotel opens, will construct a northbound right-turn overlap phase at McCarran and Plumas to mitigate the project’s incremental impact. Engineer Lauren Chilson said models show that with the widening the intersection would perform at LOS D and that the proposed signal modification would reduce right-turn delay if required.

Speakers for Save Lake Ridge and many neighbors urged denial, citing loss of codified open space (rezoning first enacted in 2006), diminished neighborhood character, nighttime lighting and noise, increased traffic, and concerns the limited rezoning could be a step toward larger development. John Marshall, representing Save Lake Ridge, argued the commission "can't make the findings on the record before you" because he said several required policy tests remain unresolved.

After nearly three hours of public testimony and detailed questioning of staff, the applicant and traffic engineers, commissioners debated whether the SPD strikes an appropriate balance between protecting neighborhood character and supporting an existing business. Commissioners pressed the applicant to make binding commitments; the applicant agreed to shorten the maximum buildout window and to provide periodic status updates. Specifically, the applicant consented to change SPD language from a 10-year maximum completion window to "substantial completion in 7 years" and to provide written updates roughly every 24 months.

Commissioners also added a condition, adopted as part of their recommendation, that the developer shall, prior to issuance of the hotel's certificate of occupancy, construct the northbound right-turn overlap signal modification at McCarran Boulevard and Plumas Street if the McCarran widening project is not completed before that time. The Commission further directed SPD handbook changes to reduce parking adjacent to residences to the minimum code requirement and to incorporate the applicant's pledged sustainability measures.

A motion to adopt staff's recommendation, including the additional SPD changes and conditions described above, passed on a 6–1 vote; one commissioner recorded a dissenting vote citing insufficient public benefit to justify the PGOS conversion.

The Planning Commission's recommendation advances the master-plan and zoning amendments to Reno City Council, which holds the final authority. City Council will review the SPD handbook, the recommended conditions and the environmental and technical analyses before making a final decision. If Council approves, the amendment must still proceed to regional review for tier change considerations.

For now, the key procedural outcome is that the Commission has recommended approval with four headline conditions: (1) add sustainability language to the SPD handbook; (2) limit parking adjacent to eastern residential properties to the minimum code requirement and remove excess stalls nearest those homes; (3) shorten the time-to-completion standard to substantial completion in seven years with periodic written updates to staff; and (4) require construction of a northbound right-turn overlap signal at McCarran/Plumas before hotel occupancy if the RTC widening is not completed.

City Council will set the next public hearings and consider the full record; opponents and the applicant indicated they expected to continue negotiation and outreach ahead of that decision.