RPC finds Stonegate Hines Ranch a project of regional significance despite member concerns about truck traffic

The Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Commission on Nov. 17 voted to find the Stonegate Hines Ranch master plan amendment a project of regional significance and in conformance with the 2019 Truckee Meadows Regional Plan for the change in estimated employment.

TMRPA staff and the applicant presented a conformance review and supplemental analyses showing the change from primarily residential to industrial land uses on roughly 1,767 acres in Cold Springs, which the staff said would increase the employment threshold applied to the site from 2,257 jobs to approximately 8,881 jobs under the proposed master plan configuration. Chris Tolley, TMRPA, said staff’s independent, range-based estimate was on the order of 6,000 to 10,000 jobs depending on eventual buildout.

Commissioners pressed the applicant and staff on traffic and safety. The meeting record cites a Wood Rogers traffic memo figure of 49,778 daily external vehicle trips associated with the proposed buildout and applicant traffic staff explained that prior Stonegate traffic studies had been reviewed by NDOT and that each phase will require updated traffic impact studies for city and NDOT review. Chair Pierce said he was “concerned” about safety on steep stretches such as Anderson Hill and the potential for heavy truck traffic; another commissioner said, “Safety of our residents should be number 1.” Applicant and city staff responded that typical industrial uses would produce heavy-vehicle shares in the range of 15–35% of industrial trips and that project mitigation and NDOT-required improvements would be addressed through future entitlements.

Eugenia Larimore, who prepared the applicant’s fiscal impact analysis, explained the methodology used by the City of Reno (square-feet-per-employee ratios by land use) and confirmed the 8,800 figure represented operating employees (not construction). TMRPA legal counsel Jessica Prunni advised the commission to limit its review to whether the estimated employment increase conforms to regional plan policies (RC9/RC10) and not to consider the merits of the underlying project.

After discussion, Commissioner Shelley Reed moved to find the Stonegate Hines Ranch project a PRS and in conformance with the 2019 Truckee Meadows Regional Plan; the motion passed on a roll-call vote with six yes and three no votes. Commissioners who opposed cited unresolved concerns about transportation adequacy, the uncertainty of long-term job counts and a potential housing-employment imbalance in Cold Springs. Staff noted that subsequent entitlements, traffic studies and local approvals remain necessary and that the commission could revisit pieces of the review if new thresholds are triggered.